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The former Apprentice contestant left the Trump White House with a bang — in the form of her new tell-all book, that is. Wild details from Omarosa Manigault Newman's new book "Unhinged" paint a picture of a chaotic White House plagued by random firings, ignorant staffers, and alleged marital problems that undermine the president's responsibility to serve the country.
Bustle obtained a copy of Unhinged: An Insider Account of the Trump White House ahead of its release on Tuesday. Manigault Newman's account of the year she served as the director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison before she was fired comes across as a very public way of airing her grievances about former coworkers. Her book has already been the subject of angry tweets from the president, who called her "Wacky Omarosa" and claimed people in the White House "hated her." Trump tweeted that Manigault Newman "only said GREAT things" about him until she was fired — and the most shocking passages in Unhinged portray him in a light that's far from flattering.
With that said, many of Manigault Newman's claims are unverified and have been denied by former and current White House staffers. She also told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that she was "complicit with this White House deceiving this nation." So readers may want to take each juicy anecdote that "Unhinged" offers up with a grain of salt.
A Tanning Bed In The White House
Manigault Newman refers three times in the book to a tanning bed in the White House — and claims that President Trump fired the former chief usher over it. Angella Reid, who was appointed by Barack and was the second African-American and first woman to ever hold the position, was fired in May 2017. As The New York Times notes, ushers are not in a political position, so they typically serve through multiple administrations.
In the book, Manigault Newman claims she heard that Trump was "unhappy" with how Reid handled the alleged tanning bed. White House officials have denied the existence of a White House tanning salon, however.
Trump Caught Munching On A Sensitive Note
Trump enjoys using stacks of paper as symbolic props, but Manigault Newman alleges that she once saw him eat a piece of paper as she escorted Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney at the time, into the Oval Office.
"I saw him put a note in his mouth,” she writes. “Since Trump was ever the germaphobe, I was shocked he appeared to be chewing and swallowing the paper. It must have been something very, very sensitive."
Several White House aides told The Washington Post that simply never happened. Cohen himself denied it in a tweet on Sunday:
The Art Of The Swearing-In
Ahead of his inauguration, Trump was tasked with choosing a book for his swearing-in ceremony. Elected officials aren't required to use a Bible, and Manigault Newman claims that Trump floated using his 1987 book, The Art of the Deal, instead.
"The Art of the Deal is a bestseller! It's the greatest business book of all time. It's how I'm going to make great deals for the country. Just think of how many copies I'd sell — maybe a commemorative inauguration copy?!" she writes that Trump said to her at the time.
Manigault Newman speculates that it might have felt "disingenuous" to Trump to swear on the Bible since it "has little significance to him." But, she says, "Art of the Deal meant a lot to him. Nothing has more meaning to Donald than himself."
Nevertheless, he ultimately placed his left hand on the Bible at his inauguration.
Trump's First Impression Of Jared Kushner
The "Apprentice" contestant and Trump go way back — so far back, in fact, that she knew the current president when Ivanka Trump first started dating her husband, Jared Kushner. Trump's daughter and son-in-law each serve as presidential advisors, and are believed to be two of his most trusted allies in Washington.
But Manigault Newman claims in her book that Trump didn't like Kushner right off the bat.
"By the way, Donald wasn't always such a fan of Jared," she writes. "When he and Ivanka first started dating, I asked Donald what he thought of Jared. 'He seems a little sweet to me,' he said, using his phrasing for 'gay.'"
More White House Staffers Are Having A "Fling"
A former White House communications director, Hope Hicks, reportedly dated two other staffers while working for the president: Corey Lewandowski, a Trump 2016 campaign manager; and Rob Porter, a Trump aide who resigned in February amid domestic abuse allegations. Now, Manigault Newman claims another Trump staffer is dating a coworker — but she's not naming names.
"Hope was not the only female assistant to the president to have White House flings," she writes. "Another highly visible assistant to the president might still be carrying on her affair right now."
Trump Called Haiti A “Shitty Country”
Manigault Newman writes that when she was gearing up for a trip to Haiti for the inauguration of President Jovenel Moïse in 2017, Trump asked her: "Why did you choose that shitty country as your first foreign trip?"
This alleged remark mimics reports from January that Trump called Haiti and some African nations "shithole countries." The president denied that comment in a tweet at the time, writing that he "never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country."
Trump's Response To George Conway's Critical Tweets
Kellyanne Conway's husband, George Conway, frequently criticizes President Trump online. After one such incident, Manigault Newman claims Trump used two racial slurs to describe Conway, whose mother is Filipino.
"I was in the Oval Office with Donald and he picked up an article about George Conway's counterpunch and ranted, 'Would you look at this George Conway article? F*cking FLIP! Disloyal! F*cking Goo-goo," she writes.
However, George Conway explicitly denied that this took place when he replied to a reporter on Twitter that Manigault Newman's claim is "not credible" and "ridiculous." It's also important to note that the vast majority of Conway's critical tweets came after the "Apprentice" star was fired from her White House gig.
A Theory Explaining Melania's Controversial Fashion Choices
When Melania Trump showed up to a 2016 presidential debate donning a pink "pussy bow" blouse, the nation wondered whether or not she was sending a message about the Access Hollywood tape that revealed her husband talking about grabbing women without consent. Nearly two years later, her clothes are still raising questions about her true intentions. Take, for example, the jacket she wore to visit the U.S.-Mexico border that read "I REALLY DON'T CARE, DO U?"
Manigault Newman believes none of this is coincidence.
"Taken as a whole, all of her style rebellions have served the same purpose, and not only misdirection and distraction — strategies her husband knows all too well," she writes. "I believe Melania uses style to punish her husband."
She goes on to write that she believes the first lady wore that infamous Zara jacket because she didn't want to make the trip to South Texas to help clean up the mess her husband made with his "zero tolerance" immigration policy. "She gladly, spitefully, wrecked her husband's directives to make him look foolish," Manigault Newman theorizes.
An Insulting Nickname For Betsy DeVos
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was President Trump's most controversial Cabinet nominee, and was eventually confirmed only after Vice President Mike Pence broke a tie in the Senate. According to Unhinged, Trump called her "Ditzy DeVos" after she left Manigault Newman behind at a hotel in Florida last year.
Manigault Newman makes clear in the book that she is no fan of DeVos. "The depth and breadth of her ignorance is a travesty for the children," she writes.
Whether any of these claims are true or not, Unhinged promises more shade than a crowded beach covered in sun umbrellas.