A forthcoming book about the early days of the current US administration alleges Donald Trump never wanted to become President.
Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House is a new book by Michael Wolff that pieces together accounts of people who witnessed firsthand the turbulent first few months of the Trump presidency.
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Due to be published on January 9, New York Magazine has released a lengthy excerpt that contains explosive allegations about the President and other inhabitants of the White House.
In the excerpt, Mr Wolff alleges Mr Trump ran for office with the sole intention of boosting his own profile.
"I can be the most famous man in the world," he reportedly told former campaign aide Sam Nunberg, who also claimed Mr Trump ordered him to explain the United States Constitution to him early in the campaign.
Mr Trump allegedly never expected to become President, but hoped to secure a narrow defeat that would reinvigorate the Trump brand, paving the way for profitable future endeavours.
He allegedly told Roger Ailes, a longtime friend and the former head of Fox News, that he "[doesn't] think about losing, because it isn't losing. We've totally won."
The excerpt theorises that for everyone involved in the Trump campaign, "losing would work out for everybody. Losing was winning."
Melania Trump was reportedly "assured by her husband that he wouldn't become president", and that once the campaign was over, she could return to her previously low-profile but luxurious existence.
When Mr Trump won the election on November 8, 2016, his wife was allegedly "in tears - and not of joy." Meanwhile, the then President-elect himself "looked as if he had seen a ghost", according to son Don Jr.
A spokesperson for the First Lady has denied Mr Wolff's claims, saying that Mrs Trump supported and encouraged her husband to run for President.
"She was confident he would win and very happy when he did."
Newshub.
