A Warning By Anonymous

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Part of a series on New York Times "I Am Part of the Resistance" Op-Ed. [View Related Entries]

About

A Warning is an upcoming tell-all book written by an anonymous "senior Trump administration official. The book, a follow-up to an anonymous editorial published by the New York Times entitled "I Am Part of the Resistance," purports a "firsthand account" of working in the administration of United States President Donald Trump.

History

"I Am Part of the Resistance"

On September 5th, 2018, The New York Times^[1] published "I Am Part of the Resistance," a "rare" anonymous editorial written by a "senior official in the Trump administration," who, along with others in the White House, has vowed to thwart parts of [President Trump's] agenda and his worst inclinations." The essay states that resistance against the president within his own administration has formed. The author writes, "From the White House to executive branch departments and agencies, senior officials will privately admit their daily disbelief at the commander in chief’s comments and actions. Most are working to insulate their operations from his whims."

A Warning Announcement

On October 22nd, 2019, the publisher Hachette Book Group^[2] announced the release of A Warning, a followup to the op-ed in the New York Times. They describe the book as "an unprecedented behind-the-scenes portrait of the Trump presidency."

The publisher continues, “Picking up from where those first words of warning left off, this explosive book offers a shocking, firsthand account of President Trump and his record

The author's literary agent Matt Latimer said of the author's anonymity, "There obviously will be those who want the author to reveal themselves publicly, but there are good reasons for that not to happen. The author feels their identity is almost irrelevant because there is scarcely a sentiment expressed in this book that is not shared by numerous others who have served and continue to serve this administration at its highest levels."

Reception

Announcement Response

Much like the op-ed, the announcement of the book was controversial, as people were split on whether or not an anonymous book is a good or bad thing. MSNBC analyst Matthew Miller tweeted, ^[3] "At a time when State Department employees are risking their careers to testify about wrongdoing in this administration, I can't think of anyone I want to hear from less than this person." The tweet received more than 11,000 likes and 2,000 retweets (shown below, left).

Twitter^[4] user @nycsouthpaw tweeted, "Common Sense was published anonymously. The Federalist Papers were published under a shared pseudonym. Many of the Founding Fathers were publishing broadsides against one another from time to time under pseudonyms. It's as American as apple pie." The tweet received more than 3,800 likes and 725 retweets in 24 hours (shown below, center).

Twitter^[5] user @brianklass tweeted, "If you want to speak out about the horrors of the Trump administration, stop being a part of it. The lack of mass resignations from the White House from Charlottesville to 'send them back' to the endless corruption scandals is a glaring indictment of who was hired to begin with." The tweet received more than 235 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

That day, Twitter^[6] published an Events page on the reaction to the book.

Media Coverage

Several media outlets covered the announcent of the book, including The Washington Post,^[2] The New York Times,^[7] Politico,^[8] CNN,^[9] Fox News,^[10] The Guardian^[11] and more.