The information about Donald Trump isn't so much angering as it is pathetic. He comes across as pathetic, sad, alone, and completely unable to process any information. Strangely for a businessman, he totally lacks attention to detail, hates data dumps (no Excel, no PowerPoint for him) and has an almost unhealthy unhinged desire to be respected. In many ways, he appears to be his own worst enemy, literally making his life as awful as it is.
Steve Bannon has easily some of the best lines in the entire book. Of course, this is taking at face value that Michael Wolff is telling the truth 100%, which is pretty hard to fully embrace. Yet, considering the persona of Bannon, where he came from (Breitbart) and his general scavenger/troll personality, it does not seem too much of a stretch to picture him saying most of the things attributed to him.
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner fare the worst in the whole book. Everyone around them agrees they are completely out of their league and will destroy themselves. The two of them appear to be the most liberal individuals in Trump's entourage, essentially trying to get Donald to be a bit more appeasing. Completely and totally failing most of the time, the few times they succeed only make Donald's life worse. Michael Wolff states it was these two who convinced him to fire Comey, a decision basically everyone else was truly terrible.
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump come across as the dumbest people in the book, which is no mean feat considering all the stupidity surrounding the campaign at large. Even their own father heaps scorn on them, saying they must have been absent when they handed out brains. It was, according to the book, this duo that tried to score some dirt on Hillary Clinton by inviting relatively dubious international businessman to the Trump Tower. Bannon found this so infuriating that he stated you meet such people (if you really, really wanted to which should not have even been a thing to want) but if so meet them at a Holiday Inn, not at Trump Tower.
Sean Spicer basically was doomed from the beginning, almost knowing it even, asking people if it would destroy his career. Much of the book focuses on those on the sidelines of Trump's administration, those whose lives were essentially destroyed in the non-stop, ever-swirling controversy.
Everyone is unspeakably cruel. Yes, politics can be a bloodsport but it appears the worst part of the meanness comes from how out of their league everybody is. Steve Bannon is a neophyte who understands online trolling and never compromising, yet he comes across almost as being one of the smarter ones. Others are even more hopeless. Donald Trump insults whoever is near him, people praising him, people trying to feed him information. Nobody comes across as being remotely good or even passably competent: the few who are get destroyed by the nonsense they have to work with.
It is a juicy book, pretty fun, and ridiculous in how it neatly summarizes all the ill-advised madness that makes up Trump's administration.
