While Fire and Fury launched another round of a national book club, I feel like Siege was published under the radar- sure, it's a postmortem of year 2 of the Trump presidency, but we're all exhausted living in it to look back. An awful lot of things happened in 2018, though, and even though it was only two years ago it feels more like five.

Siege continues to rely on Steve Bannon and other unnamed yet high ranking sources on the insider infighting of the inner circle, and various delusions held (Bannon comes across as most pragmatic: he'll embrace falsehoods and blind followers for power, even while ridiculing the entire enterprise). I don't necessarily find anything to be stunning new revelations, but rather unsurprising pettiness. Definitely interesting as a snapshot in time, though we'll see if its texture changes after the 2020 general. ( )

I am crying in anger. ( )

Disturbing Black Comedy

Alan Dershowitz called Siege “fiction and bad fiction at that.” Oh, if that Dershowitz, a man with his own problems and issues, was right. Unfortunately, given what we know of Donald Trump’s past behavior and his very apparent mental issues, we can probably safely assume that at least ninety percent of what Michael Wolff reports is, sadly, true. What come through loud and clear in this book, confirmed again and again off these pages, and most recently with Trump’s Impeachment Hearings, the guy is filled with wile, very slippery, and without shame of any sort (a key characteristic of a sociopath). Incident after incident, indiscretion after indiscretion, bad decision after bad decision, and on and on, Trump gets away with it.

In real life, Trump makes your head spin with his antics, so much so that you can’t remember from day to day what the heck he’s done. All part of the Trump strategy it would seem: keep them dazed and confused. And don’t forget to appeal to the lowest and basest common denominator in the electorate. All this comes to the fore in Siege. In a way, reading Siege will serve as a purgative of sorts for those able to see through Trump in that it confirms everything you know and think about the man. Trump supporters will never read the book, and maybe not even look at the cover, fearing it might sear their corneas with the bright light of a truth they assiduously avoid.

Siege covers the period of Trump’s presidency from February 2018 to March 2019. Wolff claimed to have interviewed and confirmed incidents with at least 150 sources. However, he cites none in the book, most assuredly for fear Trump would take revenge on them. Correction, none but for Stephen Bannon, whom Trump kicked out. And after all Bannon, according to him and recounted in this volume, did for him. Bannon really dishes in these pages and no matter what you think of him, his disheveled appearance, his radical right-wing views, his incredible hubris, the man can be engaging, even in print. In the world according to Bannon, had Trump heeded his advice, this president would be leagues ahead of where he is now, and maybe even would find himself in the mid rank of presidents.

There’s so much reported here and in small capsules, that recounting even a few, let alone all, would require another book. But a few will suffice to give you an idea of what to expect.

Rudy Giuliani and Trump really do appear to be fast friends, though we can’t discount that soon Rudy may have tire tracks on his back. Many things account for this and one of these is Rudy’s relationship with his son Andrew. When Rudy’s second marriage blew up, his children shunned him. Trump was able to effect something of a reconciliation between Rudy and his son Andrew. So, as Wolff relates, Rudy owed Trump “a debt of the heart.” On such human things self-destructive loyalty rests.

Another loyalist, at least it appears for the time being loyalty is his play, is Mike Pence. Pence really strikes people as a weird bird indeed, what with that whole bland face countenance, the impeccable hair, the Robert Hall suits, and his hangup with women. What’s with him, anyway? This is what: “Early in the administration, an article in Rolling Stone had quoted Pence referring to his wife as ‘Mother.’ Since then, Mrs. Pence has been known throughout the West Wing as Mother, and not with affection. She was seen as the power behind the vice presidential throne—the canny, indefatigable, iron-willed strategist who propped up her hapless husband. Think about it, if Pence ever became president, we then would have our first female leader, since, doubtless, she would run the show. Shades of Abbess Aunt Lydia. Scary.

Now, we all know Paul Manafort, to be kind, is a real piece of work. Wolff relates an incident that occurred when Bannon discovered the Trump Tower campaign headquarters deserted on a weekend after Manafort had signed on, for free, as campaign chair. Bannon wanted to see him and Manafort invited him up to his Trump Tower apartment. According to Bannon, “I go up and walk in and he’s got a beautiful apartment and there’s a lady of a certain age in a white caftan spread on the soft. When Manafort’s daughter’s phone got hacked in 2017, we learned that Paul likes to see multiple guys fuck his wife—his daughter asks her sister in one of the emails, ‘Has Mom been tested for STDs?’ Well, that’s Mom lying on the sofa.” So, yes, if you are wondering, the book does contain some salacious material, but not nearly a representative amount given this crowd.

The Trump-Melania, or Melanie, as Trump once addressed her (which speaks volumes, no?) fascinates many. As you would expect, it’s a marriage in name only. In Washington, Melania maintains a home in Maryland, where she and Barron live. Trump doesn’t have much of a relationship with his son, and can be cruel to him, as in: “Trump had a fetish about being the tallest person in the room; by 2018 Barron, after a sudden growth spurt, was approaching six feet: ‘How do I stunt his growth?’ became a chronic mean joke made by Trump about his son’s height.”

And so it goes. The book runs 315 pages and its guaranteed to make your head spin on each page.
( )

Disturbing Black Comedy

Alan Dershowitz called Siege “fiction and bad fiction at that.” Oh, if that Dershowitz, a man with his own problems and issues, was right. Unfortunately, given what we know of Donald Trump’s past behavior and his very apparent mental issues, we can probably safely assume that at least ninety percent of what Michael Wolff reports is, sadly, true. What come through loud and clear in this book, confirmed again and again off these pages, and most recently with Trump’s Impeachment Hearings, the guy is filled with wile, very slippery, and without shame of any sort (a key characteristic of a sociopath). Incident after incident, indiscretion after indiscretion, bad decision after bad decision, and on and on, Trump gets away with it.

In real life, Trump makes your head spin with his antics, so much so that you can’t remember from day to day what the heck he’s done. All part of the Trump strategy it would seem: keep them dazed and confused. And don’t forget to appeal to the lowest and basest common denominator in the electorate. All this comes to the fore in Siege. In a way, reading Siege will serve as a purgative of sorts for those able to see through Trump in that it confirms everything you know and think about the man. Trump supporters will never read the book, and maybe not even look at the cover, fearing it might sear their corneas with the bright light of a truth they assiduously avoid.

Siege covers the period of Trump’s presidency from February 2018 to March 2019. Wolff claimed to have interviewed and confirmed incidents with at least 150 sources. However, he cites none in the book, most assuredly for fear Trump would take revenge on them. Correction, none but for Stephen Bannon, whom Trump kicked out. And after all Bannon, according to him and recounted in this volume, did for him. Bannon really dishes in these pages and no matter what you think of him, his disheveled appearance, his radical right-wing views, his incredible hubris, the man can be engaging, even in print. In the world according to Bannon, had Trump heeded his advice, this president would be leagues ahead of where he is now, and maybe even would find himself in the mid rank of presidents.

There’s so much reported here and in small capsules, that recounting even a few, let alone all, would require another book. But a few will suffice to give you an idea of what to expect.

Rudy Giuliani and Trump really do appear to be fast friends, though we can’t discount that soon Rudy may have tire tracks on his back. Many things account for this and one of these is Rudy’s relationship with his son Andrew. When Rudy’s second marriage blew up, his children shunned him. Trump was able to effect something of a reconciliation between Rudy and his son Andrew. So, as Wolff relates, Rudy owed Trump “a debt of the heart.” On such human things self-destructive loyalty rests.

Another loyalist, at least it appears for the time being loyalty is his play, is Mike Pence. Pence really strikes people as a weird bird indeed, what with that whole bland face countenance, the impeccable hair, the Robert Hall suits, and his hangup with women. What’s with him, anyway? This is what: “Early in the administration, an article in Rolling Stone had quoted Pence referring to his wife as ‘Mother.’ Since then, Mrs. Pence has been known throughout the West Wing as Mother, and not with affection. She was seen as the power behind the vice presidential throne—the canny, indefatigable, iron-willed strategist who propped up her hapless husband. Think about it, if Pence ever became president, we then would have our first female leader, since, doubtless, she would run the show. Shades of Abbess Aunt Lydia. Scary.

Now, we all know Paul Manafort, to be kind, is a real piece of work. Wolff relates an incident that occurred when Bannon discovered the Trump Tower campaign headquarters deserted on a weekend after Manafort had signed on, for free, as campaign chair. Bannon wanted to see him and Manafort invited him up to his Trump Tower apartment. According to Bannon, “I go up and walk in and he’s got a beautiful apartment and there’s a lady of a certain age in a white caftan spread on the soft. When Manafort’s daughter’s phone got hacked in 2017, we learned that Paul likes to see multiple guys fuck his wife—his daughter asks her sister in one of the emails, ‘Has Mom been tested for STDs?’ Well, that’s Mom lying on the sofa.” So, yes, if you are wondering, the book does contain some salacious material, but not nearly a representative amount given this crowd.

The Trump-Melania, or Melanie, as Trump once addressed her (which speaks volumes, no?) fascinates many. As you would expect, it’s a marriage in name only. In Washington, Melania maintains a home in Maryland, where she and Barron live. Trump doesn’t have much of a relationship with his son, and can be cruel to him, as in: “Trump had a fetish about being the tallest person in the room; by 2018 Barron, after a sudden growth spurt, was approaching six feet: ‘How do I stunt his growth?’ became a chronic mean joke made by Trump about his son’s height.”

And so it goes. The book runs 315 pages and its guaranteed to make your head spin on each page.
( )

Bannon Snipes From the Sidelines
Review of the Henry Holt & Co. hardcover edition (June 2019)

He has no idea what can happen, no f***ing idea. Totally la-la. He thinks Nancy Pelosi is an annoying elderly lady rather than a steel-tipped bullet aimed directly at him. - Steve Bannon as quoted on pg. 270 of Siege

Siege: Trump Under Fire is currently (as of mid December 2020) the 8th most top voted book in the Trump Tell-alls List on Goodreads, which has the somewhat shocking current total of 226 books. The list is likely going to increase by 100+ with the Trump era ending and many retrospectives and memoirs yet to be written* and published.

I found Siege: Trump Under Fire to be slightly less engrossing than Wolff's 1st Trump book Fire and Fury. The main reason for this is that Wolff's prime source is Steve Bannon, who had been fired from his strategic advisor role in the White House in August 2017. Siege continues the story into 2018 with the focus towards the November 2018 mid-term elections. Fire and Fury provided more drama with the inside the White House views of the power struggle between Bannon vs. Jarvanka (the Jared Kushner & Ivanka Trump contingent).

Siege thus has Bannon sniping from the sidelines at the idiocy of the Trump White House while he still seeks to mobilize what he, at various times, calls the "deplorables", "hobbits" and "peasants" for his populist crusade which he views as something that will persist without Trump. He does still try to manipulate Trump via his proxies such as Fox News commentator Sean Hannity, who was apparently a regular late night phone caller with Trump during those days. The rest of the book tends to lean more towards the tawdry and seamier side with the stories of lawyer Michael Cohen and the various payoffs. The Mueller investigation grinds on in the background throughout.

I do enjoy Wolff's style though and thought his 1st one, Fire and Fury, to be the best of all of the several Trump books I've read. Hopefully Wolff will do a 3rd book to cover the end of the story.

I read Siege: Trump Under Fire as part of my reading survey of various books in relation to the 2020 American Election. As a Canadian I’ve generally ignored American politics and elections in past years, but the drama of the situation in 2020 has heightened my interest.

Trivia
* Already announced are a 3rd, as yet untitled, book by journalist Bob Woodward and a 2nd book titled "The Reckoning" (July 2021) by estranged niece Mary Trump. ( )