- Trump screamed at his aides for not taking more action to respond to
protests last summer. - "We're not doing a damn thing," Trump yelled, according to a new book.
- Insider obtained a copy of the forthcoming book by the journalist
Michael Wolff .
President
Trump "screamed" at then-chief of staff Mark Meadows and White House counsel Pat Cipollone to figure out how to put an end to the violence unfolding in cities like
According to the book, Trump's frustration stemmed in large part from criticism he'd received from the Fox
"I'm getting killed on Tucker and we're not doing a damn thing," Trump yelled in the Oval Office at Meadows and Cipollone, the book says. The scene was described in Wolff's upcoming book, "Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency," which is expected to be out on July 13. Insider obtained an advance copy of the book.
Cipollone said "they had things in motion" to respond to the violent clashes between protesters and law enforcement, the book says.
But Trump was not pleased, replying: "I don't give a s--- what you have in motion. I want them in jail," he said, referring to the protesters. "They should get ten years in prison for toppling a statue. And that Mayor Wheeler ... what a loser. Can't we just send in the Guard?"
The former president then pressed his staff on whether the White House could deploy
"You've been telling me that s--- for weeks," Trump said, Wolff writes. "I'm getting killed. Tucker is talking to millions of people."
Trump continued to rant about the lack of federal interference, turning his anger to then-Attorney General William Barr, according to the book.
"You and Barr and all of my 'great lawyers' aren't doing a damn thing," he said, according to the book. "Shut it down! Arrest them! Do what you have to do!"
Trump added: "I have the worst lawyers. Get the radicals locked up! You guys can't even do that. What is wrong with you? I have to do everything myself."
The president got into a similar shouting match with the top US military officer Gen. Mark Milley over the protests last summer, according to a book by the Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender. Trump had floated the idea of sending in federal troops to stop the protests but was met with pushback.
Bender's book says Trump wanted to see law-enforcement officials "getting physical" with protesters and suggested they "crack their skulls" and "beat the f--- out" of them.