Stephanie Grisham's "Insider Look at the Trump White House: What I Saw and What I Learned"

MysteronMan: This book was about as insightful as a tweet. Filled with self reflection and angst, the author is obsessed with the persona of Melanoma Trump to the point of obsequiousness.
The only thing this book achieves is underlying how yet one more utterly unqualified person managed to squirm their way into the Whitehouse in the backs of the equally unqualified Trumps and messed it up.

United Kingdom on Feb 19, 2023

Online Shopper: Book had the typical stories you would expect but you could really hear the voices she is describing and I found that particularly pleasant. I have read other reviews that characterize it as a mad women looking for bare it all and there is a self serving feeling when you read it that you pick up on, but it didn’t really bother me I just enjoyed the stories about at the craziness that was in the Whitehouse for that term. It seemed exactly as I believed it would probably be.

Canada on Nov 19, 2021

Jan M: I really enjoyed this book. It was very well-written and I could not put it down. It is not a tell-all--in many cases, she speaks positively of Trump sets the record straight, admiring his accomplishments. But she does admit the Trump admin was often "a clown car alit with fireworks." Grisham exposes her own vulnerabilities in the midst of the previous dysfuctional West and East Wings. She is not on an ego trip--the book is not meanspirited. This memoir is true, heartfelt, and sad on some levels. Grisham learned from her experience in the Trump orbit, and how one-sided loyalty is at play with not only Donald Trump and many of his sidekicks but with his first lady who Grisham admired deeply. Still I think Grisham came out a stronger, healthier person even after her own personal heartbreak during the Trump era. And I wish her well.

Canada on Oct 27, 2021

Wendy Bartlett: It was good to read about the behind the scenes dramas. The author was very honest, which is very refreshing!

United Kingdom on Oct 20, 2021

Lee Emerson: I found this book to be a scary indictment of how the careless actions and loose mouth of one person in power has the potential to change the world. Thank you Stephanie Grisham!

Australia on Oct 20, 2021

Ditoso: Grisham notes early in the book that you don’t have to like her to read the book. I totally agree. In my opinion she was vastly under-qualified for the plum roles that we as American taxpayers funded for her - White House press secretary and communications director, at the same time; communications director and chief of staff to the First Lady, with part of the latter responsibilities being carried out at the same time she was WH comms dir/press sec.

But undeniably, she had a front row seat to the goings-on of the chaotic Trump Administration and she comes across as believable. From that standpoint, I appreciated the opportunity to read some insider details that had not previously been shared. Like those around her, Grisham never seemed to understand that she was serving on behalf of the American public. Until January 6, 2021 she performed her job in total fealty to Donald Trump and his wife and did things that she knew were not in the best interest of America. She admits that Trump was not President for the entire company but only President for his political base. In the end, this book will not change your mind about Trump and the sycophants he surrounds himself with but...

United States on Oct 15, 2021

LIttle Girlie: First I want to say, anyone who is a Grandpa's Girl has to be a good person! I am one myself. Even though he has passed now and I am in my late 60's. From the time I was old enough to start to talk I would yell out before dinner, if we were there or they were at our home, I am sitting NEXT to Grandpa!! I did it every single meal we had together. I loved my grandma too, but... I am a Grandpa's Girl! Stephanie, you did a wonderful job on this book, however I wish you had not put in the part about those who want to read and those who don't. Everyone should read all that they can to learn the truth, and just because someone doesn't like a person does not mean they can't write a wonderful book, which this one is. I read all that I can get my hands on, all books are a learning experience and you learn to take what you except and leave the rest behind. I am so glad you filled us in on so many of the backroom stuff that I and I am sure many others wondered about. I also loved the quotes above each chapter, extra work, but an excellent way to do a book!! One of the things that really stuck out to me was the trip to England. My family is about 50% English and 50% Scottish. I have always...

United States on Oct 12, 2021

Elisa 20: This insider account is different from the others like Bolton or Comey because Grisham's #1 preoccupation is the personalities of the people around her. Some, like Jared and Ivanka, come across as both imperious and incompetent. (Ivanka frequently pulls rank while Grisham blames Jared for many of the failures of the Trump presidency--covid among them. When they interject themselves into a dinner with the Queen of England, Grisham compares them to the Beverly Hillbillies--basically, inappropriate and not knowing their place.)

Of course, most of the anecdotes are about the First Lady and President. Grisham was with Trump from the 2016 campaign until the Jan 6, 2020 insurrection when she quit. (She first texted Melania if she'd like to issue a statement supporting political speech but condemning violence. She received one word from the First Lady who was busy with a photo shoot of a new rug..."No".) Melania, though generally detached and apathetic about her role, IS energized by her many photo albums of herself as First Lady. Although per Grisham, they occasionally tamped down a Trump tirade or attack on someone, overall Melania agrees with him and isn't interested in the...

United States on Oct 05, 2021