“When you’re in the middle of the hurricane, it’s hard to see the destruction on the outer bands.”
I’m sure some will see this as a rationalization, but it’s just the truth. I was so embattled by negative headlines about what I was or was not really doing in the White House, by outside groups who hated the president and the administration, by other appointees, and inside the White House, getting tackled every day by my teammates. It was difficult to process the anxiety and pain others were suffering as a result of the administration.
When the Stormy Daniels hush money scandal broke in January and appeared on front pages around the world, I felt sorry for Michael Cohen. His biggest shortcoming was his one-hundred-percent loyalty and worship of Donald Trump. That has also become his downfall. If it weren’t for Trump, Michael would be running his deals and doing other stuff, probably just as questionable, but not under a microscope. If you think about it, Cohen’s side deals weren’t all that different from the kind that Jared Kushner and his family make, or from Ivanka’s receiving seven new trademarks for kitchenware and furniture brands from China while her father is negotiating trade deals with that country. Many people in Trumpworld are side hustling every which way to Sunday. It’s what they do.
His relationship with Trump destroyed Michael Cohen. Michael was just doing what he was told to do. He was a middleman. There would be no payoff to Stormy Daniels if Trump weren’t on one end of the phone line. Cohen was not the first collateral damage in Trumpworld and he is not the last. He just got caught, and as soon as he was no longer useful to Trump, he was written off. Trump loyalty, in this and other cases, was a one-way street.
Another comment I made was “As bad as you think Trump is, you should be worried about Pence. So everyone wishing for impeachment might want to reconsider it. We would be begging for the days of Trump back if Pence became president.”
When the Stormy story broke, I wondered what Mike Pence had to say about it. Surely he would express indignation. Where was his outrage about the porn star, the payoff, and the president?
Pence was silent on the issue. He and his team are simply biding their time until Trump is impeached or resigns. He is definitely a swamp creature, opening the White House doors to lobbyists and being controlled by donors of his various campaigns for Congress and the governorship of Indiana.
For this reason, along with so many others I’ve explained in this book—the fact that our president is mentally and physically impaired, that Betsy DeVos intends to destroy public education in this country, that Jeff Sessions thinks it’s okay to separate children from their parents, that dark money continues to control Washington, that the White House is packed with people who are only advancing their own interests—I told my housemate on Big Brother, “It’s not going to be okay; it’s not. It’s so bad.” When I implied on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in February 2018 that I was only referring to immigration—and we should be very afraid about what Stephen Miller is doing on that regard—I had to edit myself a bit. I was, and still am, negotiating with John Kelly to get back my personal items that are still being held at the White House. I didn’t want to poke the bear too hard . . . then.
One person who knows better than anyone just how broken and flawed Donald Trump is? Melania. She’s been trying to tell the world all this time, and on June 22, 2018, she took her sartorial rebellion to the next level, by wearing a Zara jacket with the worlds I DON’T REALLY CARE. DO U? printed on the back, while on her way to visit detained immigrant children at a Texas border facility in the wake of the controversy about the Stephen Miller–penned “zero tolerance” family separation policy. The message on the jacket was debated in the media for days. Only Melania knows for sure what she was trying to convey, but I have a theory that no one else picked up on.
Melania’s style rebellions throughout the campaign and Trump presidency have been intentionally misleading. As a student of fashion and a keenly image-conscious woman, she knows that every one of her style choices will be scrutinized and debated. Why did she wear a Gucci “pussy bow” pink blouse to the presidential debate immediately after the Access Hollywood bombshell? Did she purposefully wear a Hillary Clinton–esque white pantsuit to Trump’s first State of the Union address? Did she mean to come off as out of touch and tone-deaf by wearing snakeskin stiletto heels to hurricane-ravaged Texas? The messages behind her style choices aren’t always clear, but they are never accidental.
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. I believe Melania uses style to punish her husband.
It’s my opinion that Melania was forced to go to the border that day in June, essentially, to mop up her husband’s mess. She wore that jacket to hurt Trump, setting off a controversy that he would have to fix, prolonging the conversation about the administration’s insensitivity, ruining the trip itself, and trying to make sure that no one asked her to do something like that again. Not that Melania doesn’t have compassion for immigrant children; I’m sure she does. But she gladly, spitefully, wrecked her husband’s directives to make him look foolish.
It was often discussed among Trumpworld intimates that Donald had something to do with Melania’s obtaining a rare Einstein Visa, a.k.a. an EB-1, that gives immigrants with “extraordinary ability” or “sustained national and international acclaim” US citizenship. Many have questioned her qualifications for receiving this visa, and have speculated that Trump was able to use his networks and resources to secure it or expedite it. Since Donald is fully aware of however she acquired her permanent citizenship, he could, if there were anything fishy around it, expose the methods and somehow invalidate it. He is a vindictive man, and I would not put anything past him. If Melania were to try to pull the ultimate humiliation and leave him while he’s in office, he would find a way to punish her. This is a man who has said he could pardon himself from the Mueller investigation. Why not pardon himself over an alleged visa payoff?
In my opinion, Melania is counting every minute until he is out of office and she can divorce him.
It’s been several months since I said, “It’s not going to be okay,” and I have had time to reflect. When I first spoke those words, I was thinking short-term. My entire life for two years was about going from minute to minute, crisis to crisis, without having time to step back and see the big picture. So, in the short term, knowing what I know about the Trump administration, I couldn’t see how we were going to be okay.
But now that I have been able to step back and see the long-term prospects for our country, I can provide a clearer perspective.
We are in a very critical time in history, with racial strife, class and cultural divisions, immigration issues, and economic disparities. However, I am convinced that we, as a nation, will summon the will to overcome these obstacles. Our history says that we always do. We overcame slavery and Jim Crow; we’ve made progress on racial and gender inequality. We will continue to improve, not that it will be simple and easy. Perfecting our nation, to borrow the words of Abraham Lincoln, is a pursuit and a process. We will take steps up, and steps back. We’ll walk through peaks and valleys, but eventually, we will get to where we need to go.
Right now, I believe we are in a deep valley, and I acknowledge my role in our being here. I also have faith that we will march upward and out of it, very soon.
I believe in our country, and I believe in the people of this republic.
I believe that we will come through this period recognizing that division for political ends is vapid and empty.
Playing upon people’s fears for the sake of legislative expediency is not a sustainable model for a healthy democracy, and, ultimately, we will reject it.
We will come to the conclusion that the apparent gains of division pale in comparison to the benefits of unity and the pursuit of the common good.
I cling to the indefatigable American spirit of fairness and faith. I’m a
patriot and I love my country enough to criticize it when it strays from its better self, but also hold on to the belief that our greatest days are still ahead of us.
Change is coming. To bring it about we must be participants and not spectators in the pursuit of equality and unity. Together, we can make this country honor the sacrifices of our ancestors. Whether we came in on the Mayflower, through Ellis Island, or on slave ships, we are all in the same boat now.
Will we survive Trump?
Will the presidency ever be the same?
Is our democracy safe?
The answer is yes! We’ve survived wars, segregation, recessions, terrorist attacks. We will survive this, too.
As someone who knows his tricks and has seen the machine from the inside for many years, I have some suggestions on how to do it.
All we need to remember is that Trump loves the hate. He thrives on criticism and insults. He delights in chaos and confusion. Taking to Twitter to call him names only fuels him and riles his base. To disarm him, starve his ego: don’t feed into it.
Also, the public needs to recognize that not all Trump supporters are the same. While you rail against one policy of his or another, you may not know you are speaking to a closet Trumplican. As I traveled the country, the most unsuspecting people whispered to me that they voted for him. People of all shapes, sizes, backgrounds, races, religions. It’s dangerous to group all his voters into one box and insult them, when you could be listening to them and understanding their point of view, and finding common ground instead.
Rest assured that there is an army of people who oppose him and his policies. They are working silently and tirelessly to make sure he does not cause harm to the republic. Many in this silent army are in his party, his administration, and even in his own family.
We are reminded daily that Trump is still in the throes of the Mueller investigation. The special investigators are conducting interviews with subjects who have stories to tell. In early 2018, I, too, received a call from the FBI. We’ll see how that goes.
But for me, fifteen years later—through The Apprentice, the campaign, and the White House—I can finally exhale. I’ve escaped from the cult of Trumpworld.
I’m free.
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Acknowledgments
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Mom, I honor and thank you for being an incredible example of grace and beauty all my life. I am grateful for your remarkable life as a gifted artist, author, speaker, minister, confidante, and friend. You are my hero!
I wish to thank my wonderful husband, John, for loving and supporting me through this entire project. Your love, guidance, counsel, and especially prayers have sustained me throughout. As you always say, “Love is what you do.” Thank you for doing exactly that, John. I love you, honey. I’d also like to thank the members of our congregation, the Sanctuary @ Mt. Calvary Church. You have been so supportive and understanding when I’ve had to be away while working on this book. Even from a distance, I’ve felt your love and support throughout this journey. Thank you from the depths of my heart.
My agent John Seitzer is awesome! Thank you, Sheva Cohen. A special thank you to my literary agent, Steve Fisher. Thank you to everyone at the Agency for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.
To Robert Walker and the entire American Program Bureau team, thank you for standing with me for the last ten years. Flip Porter, I’m looking forward to all that you have in store for me.
I would like to thank Leslie Moonves, Julie Chen, Kelly Kahl, Sharon Vuong, Brian Speiser, Thom Sherman, Peter Golden, Dustin Smith, Allison Grodner, and Shawn O’Neil.
Valerie Frankel, as I told you multiple times a day, I appreciate you and can’t thank you enough for going through this experience with me. Considering the intense pressure we were under and the—at times—painful subject matter, we sure did laugh a lot and had way more fun than I thought possible when writing a book. Thanks again for helping me share my memories and make happy new ones.
My deep gratitude goes out to everyone at Gallery. I’m much obliged to Carolyn Reidy, Jonathan Karp, Jennifer Bergstrom, Aimee Bell, Jen Long, Jennifer Robinson, and especially Natasha Simons for all of your insightful and helpful editorial guidance. Hannah Brown and Laura Waters provided unparalleled support.
On the production and design side, a hearty thanks to Navorn Johnson, John Paul Jones, Irene Kheradi, Monica Oluwek, Caroline Pallotta, Larry Pekarek, Lisa Litwak, John Vairo, Math Monahan, Jaime Putorti, and Bryden Spevak. Much thanks for the wise counsel of Felice Javit and Elisa Rivlin.
Without researchers Beatrice Hogan and Lucy Rosenberg and transcribers Bliss Blood and Stephen Quint, this book would not have been possible. Thanks to all of you for your hard work and attention to detail.
A special thanks to Ann Billingsley for your gracious hospitality.
Pastor K.W. Tulloss and my Weller Street family, thank you for everything!
My dear friend and personal editor Bryan Monroe, thanks don’t begin to cover it. Bryan is an award-winning, nationally recognized journalist, a recent author, and an educator in his own right, but for this project, he was my sounding board. Even though Bryan would regularly and aggressively challenge my positions, disagree with my politics, and push back on whatever my crazy former boss did, he was also always, I mean always, in my corner.
I also acknowledge the assistance of Scotton Communications Network.
Where would I be without my village: Ervin Bernard Reid, Aisha, Shannon, Esdra, Richard and Ari, Steve, Mary Love and Vivian, Damola, Lashawn, Ashley, Astrid, Betty, Mwenza, Charita, Kionna, Jawalyn, Chris, Jackie, Kimra, Kim and Paul Long, J. Wyndal, Monique, Myran, David, Lezli, Krita, Ella, Martin, Cliff, Wayne Fredrick, Kim Wells, Dean Barron Harvey, Verna, Lynne, Jerri and Pat, Kris, Pella, Pastor H. B. Hicks, Ivan, Tom, Shirmichael, Armstrong Williams, Earl, Tucker, Joe, Harold, Najee Ali, Brandon, Natasha, Heaven, Keenan Towns, Mrs. Dabney, Stephanie, Althea, Donna, Gerry and Matt, Minyon, Hanny, Dione and Kenny, Kent and Ashlea, Carlton, Emil, Turk, Don Anthony, Ashley Bell, Bruce, Darrell, Dee, Malesa, Pam, Michael Todd, Andrew Coppa, William, Barbara, Sam, Kevin Parker, DeeDee, Derrick, Vanessa and Estee, my JCREW: Michael, Sonja, Donald, Donald, and Sherman. Jackson, Wendy and Roosevelt, Cynthia, Alexis and Max, Quentin and Terri, Craig Kirby, Qasim, Dest’n, Marcia, Kevin, Uncle Robert and Aunt Sherry, Aunt Evelyn, Darian, ReRe, Avia, Alix, Kera, Nathaniel, Justice, Melky, Wyclef, Claudinette, Cleve, Katrina Campins, Rob, Marie and Laila, Brad, Noel and Loretta, Rick, Trystin, Michelle, Nina, Joanie, Datari, John Guns and Sonjanique, Rudy, Freddy, Keisha, Marrissa, Metta, Shannon, Mark, Wendell and Kym, Kelly Day and Robin Eisner, Dr Dea and Michelle. The Walker Family, The Manigault Family, The Niccole Family, Michael and Penny. I’m blessed to have you all in my life.
To God be the glory!
www.Omarosa.com
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About the Author
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AUTHOR PHOTOGRAPH BY LEIGH VOGEL/GETTY IMAGES
Omarosa Manigault Newman is the former Director of Communications for the Office of Public Liaison in Donald Trump’s White House, and was an aide in the office of Presidential Personnel and the Office of the Vice President in the Clinton White House. She has served as an adjunct professor in the Howard University School of Business. Prior to joining the Trump Administration, Omarosa served as a chaplain in the California State Military Reserve. She currently serves in pastoral ministry at The Sanctuary @ Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, where her husband, John Allen Newman, is the senior pastor.
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First Gallery Books hardcover edition August 2018
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Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House Page 29