Summary Of I Will Take Your Questions Now By Stephanie Grisham

Executive Summary: Stephanie Grisham’s I’ll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw At The Trump White House provides great insight into the presidency of Donald J. Trump, covering his time from the campaign trail all the way to January 6th, 2023, the day of the Capitol insurrection and the day Grisham resigned. Though trying to distance herself from many of the controversies of Trump’s presidency, Grisham provides readers with greater knowledge and perspective into the Trump White House, enabling readers to better understand the mass turnover, his controversial decisions, and who gave information and advice to Trump. Using this memoir, Grisham helps to illustrate four main themes of the presidency: management styles, personality,

“Trump could be funny and charming when he wanted to be, and everyone in a new job got a honeymoon period with the boss” (Grisham, 2021, p. 190). Fourth, Trump scores low on agreeableness, asserting his own rights and becoming irritable, uncooperative, and rude. Grisham had been on both sides of Trump’s anger, witnessing and receiving the brunt of it. Grisham describes this anger as “swift, loud, jarring, vicious, and not always just” (Grisham, 2021, p. 194). She further described tactics he employed, stating that he would go after “whatever he thought would do the most damage to someone’s psyche” (Grisham, 2021, p. 198). Lastly, Grisham’s account paints a neurotic Trump, constantly worrying about little things. Grisham details accounts of his obsession over germs, the grease on her hair that was touching his tie, and approval ratings. “I noticed he was obsessive about not getting anything onto his ties ever---and could be weirdly awkward about it” (Grisham, 2021, p. 190). In addition, his anger ties into his neuroticism, turning on a dime and unleashing his rage onto anyone for even little

Decisions generally included campaign folks, crafting the messaging around polling numbers and what his base would accept. One notable instance of this reliance on polling occurred on September 11, 2019, when Melania Trump, briefed by a passionate Kellyanne Conway, wanted to regulate the sale of e-cigarettes. The First Lady wanted to make an announcement immediately, yet Trump’s campaign advisor Brad Pascale advocated for not doing anything as it would “piss off the base” (Grisham, 2021, p. 201). Melania Trump did not back down, making it clear that she wanted a press conference held for Trump to make a statement. Giving into his wife’s demand, Trump brought in the press and declared that flavored e-cigs would be pulled from sale. However, “[a] few weeks later, he backtracked after Pascale told him how angry his supporters were” (Grisham, 2021, p.