Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House Hardcover – August 14, 2018

Like my title says, Stephanie Grisham's book on the same subject, entitled "I'll Take Your Questions Now", is better. Omarosa doesn't seem to know political issues in depth, especially regarding those illegally in the U.S. And she also serves up too heavy a dose of identity politics. I'm sure white people know that they are supposed to hate themselves by now. Yet, I gave her book 3 stars because she does write with a periodic boldness that I like.In reading Manigault Newman's book, I acknowledged that she has a very biased filter. So, I tried to sift through her book for discernibly less-biased perspectives and find the sentences that resonated. The page numbers refer to my paperback copy.Like Stephanie Grisham, Omarosa picks up on the pimping undertones Trump has toward his daughter, Ivanka. Omarosa says she "was used to the SICKENING FEELING I had whenever they touched or kissed, or he openly admired her form" (p.126). But, instead of recoiling, Ivanka "uses his obsession with her to her advantage" (p. 126).I've noted before that Trump did NOT raise Ivanka or his other children--that job fell to his first wife and their mother, Ivana. Normal child-rearing lacks the excitement and interest that someone like Trump gravitates towards. Ivanka, to him, is more likely just like any other woman who is subject to his sexual evaluations, NOT "really" a daughter. It IS so creepy when he sexualizes her appearance in front of audiences in an effort to brand her, his nominal daughter, as a kind of prized prostitute progeny.And Ivanka sees it and accepts it. So, it is on the administrations Day 69(!) that Ivanka officially becomes Assistant to the President (p 233). Ivanka's gimpy, exploitative husband, Jared, also accepts his father-in-law's lust for his wife, because he assesses all things in terms of what's in it FOR HIM. Jared himself, as Omarosa points out on p. 175, was responsible for Governor Chris Christie's ousting from the campaign because Jared "hadn't forgotten that Christie, as New Jersey's US attorney prosecuted Jared's father, Charles".Omarosa also notes that Trump, at least as first, was cognizant enough to dislike Jared, thinking Jared was just using Ivanka as a "beard" to hide his closet homosexuality behind. But, of course, Trump doesn't put it that way, instead saying that he thought Jared "seems a little sweet" (p.178).Now, onto Omarosa's biased perspective. Her bias is spelled out for the readers on p. 210. She views herself to "be the voice of my community and women of color in the White House". Her use of "my community" here is NOT all Americans, but black Americans only. Fine. But, as a mixed woman myself (and Obama was mixed, quite to the contrary to her, and many others, rampant depiction of him as solely a black man), I recognize the filter of identity politics from a mile away.Furthermore, the black "community", or any other race-based "community", is far from a monolith, which Omarosa herself is forced to acknowledge by how this "community" treats her. On p. 168, she writes: "I was called every single racial slur in the book that you could direct towards an African American by African Americans".Race-based "communities" are far from homogenous, with intra-race differences equaling, if not surpassing, inter-race ones. On p. 263, Omarosa reaches out repeatedly to the Congressional Black Caucus, only to have her hand "slapped down again and again" (p. 263). She has entered the territory of not being the "right kind of black" for their politics.Omarosa's lack of knowledge about political issues is probably most obvious when she writes about the hot-button issue of those illegally in the U.S. On p. 215, she delivers ignorance when she writes disparagingly about "the tactic of separating children from their parents at the border if they tried to enter the country illegally". This "tactic" has to be done--these "parents" could be sex traffickers and previous administrations have done this, including Obama's.Furthermore, as a sovereign country, we have to move past the notion that the mere mention of the word "children" means all focus is lost. Manipulative foreigners know this--that's why they are always sounding off about "children" and "separating families". And, if these are really the biological parents, they are most often using their children as pawns to gain a foothold into American sympathies and soil.The other hot-button issue that Omarosa only has surface-level knowledge, but expounds upon, is abortion. Though she doesn't explicitly say she is pro-abortion ("pro-choice") which I find shady in and of itself, her perspective is transparent, and it lacks knowledge of biology.She begins by railing against people who oppose abortion on the grounds that it is "destroying human life" (p. 209). I'm sure she is familiar with how black people were also once held to be "not fully human". If zygotes (this is biology, which is not her forte) are not "human" life, then WHAT KIND of life are they--rodent?!Then Omarosa makes the outlandish statement that opposing abortion makes the administration undo "any hope of connecting with women and minorities" (p. 209). Should I identity-politic clapback and state that I myself am a woman and a minority who does not believe in abortion? I view my body as both my temple and my tank. The notion that women can only connect over wanting to kill our fetuses is absurd.And, if the issue is NOT really whether human zygotes, embryos, and fetuses are human, but whether they are "life"--then scientifically, the implanted embryo will GROW along an imprinted genetic pathway WITHOUT A LOT OF CONSCIOUS DECISION-MAKING FROM THE MOTHER. So, yes, undoubtedly, it's life. I would have much more respect for abortion proponents if they simply stopped playing semantics and acknowledged that this is a human life that they want to end because the pregnant woman's life matters more to them.Here's one topic that Omarosa SHOULD have expounded upon, as should any book about this subject: Why did so many Americans vote for Trump? A "Joe Schmoe" average guy Donald Trump is NOT. And he is even less of a Bible Thumper. The fact that a widely perceived political novice could harness the hope of millions of Americans speaks to widespread disappointment and disillusionment with the current corrupt state of affairs that many are desperate to have come to an end.

Omarosa, as she prefers to be called is a great writer. This book kept my sister and I read within two days. We downloaded it a day after it hit the online stores. It is riveting. She did come from a background of poverty and misfortune. We get it. We can say many of us have the same story, but I did not feel that Omarosa realized it or ignored it much like Donald J. Trump does. I felt that she believed she was "special" because of her misfortunes. Which is not the case as she learned. Many families have suffered unjustified deaths of their men and boys in the African-American community from police officers, gang violence or domestic crisis. But as she wrote, Omarosa tried to defend a person (DJT) that really didn't give a damn about the thorny issues within our community when she met him, and he still doesn't.I commend her for going to college, of course. How she did so well is her networking skills. Her ability to garner partnerships with the right people--until she applied and won a chance to compete in The Apprentice Show. That was her curse and her blessing. I think in hindsight Omarosa would have been better served after she was fired from The Apprentice Show, to have moved on to bigger and better things. I personally never would have put my faith and time behind a man like Trump. Never. The rest of those people in the White House will learn that as well. Give them time.I hated the way they treated her at the White House but not totally surprised. See Omarosa, in the "real world" and you’ve worked for certain people; you don't get credit for your ideas (if they're listened to at all). You also don't get to sit with the CEO of the company and tell him your problems in the “real world.” Those types of privileges are not for us and never have been. And most black employees also get fired at a whim—without warning or recourse. You, on the other hand, you were lucky. But you trusted a man that you should have never trusted to the extent that you did. I came from a two-parent home. So, what you may have felt is below my pay grade. Perhaps you needed a father figure and you clung to this older man for that reason? I could never see myself trusting a man like that under any circumstances.I wondered in the book -- why? Why did you place all your heart and soul in this man? The most important thing in life is to be respected. They did not respect you. His family tolerated you. It doesn't matter if Trump has dementia or he's just the most ignorant man in the universe to hold the office. My concern is where do you go from here? You have spent a major part of your young life being attached to DJT. A man that is a horrific role model by any standards. I don’t believe Omarosa knew what a “good” man was and how he should carry himself in a dignified way. DJT has never espoused that type of demeanor.He showed signs over 15-years ago that he was "dirty, unethical, disrespectful, dishonorable and unworthy" of being in the White House in spite of being in there with the rats. He's in the company of the right species--if you ask most people. It doesn't matter if he and Melania are separate or apart or if they have a tumultuous relationship or not. We don't give a damn. Restoring your own path in life and unhitching yourself from the debacle of a Presidency that everybody regrets who voted for him is your attempt (before your firing and before the book Unhinged) to try and make us believe our eyes and ears.It's almost unforgivable. Even after the book has been published, will you gain any self-respect among your peers? I’m certain you will gain somewhat of a platform. Just don’t know what that might be now.Omarosa, in my view--you owe the African-American community an apology. There is no other way to see it. Until that happens, I don't see you gaining a modicum of self-respect within your community. You owe your family an apology like friends and your mom. You supported for over a decade a man who looks down on them or us (and you). He only used you according to your book. The more I read the more I saw you need to hitch yourself to something you never thought you would experience—a rich dad. In turn, DJT hitching himself onto you because nobody else would fool with him on a serious level unless they needed him for something and I can’t imagine for what.Time and time again they (Kellyanne, Lara, Ditsy DeVoss) used your ideas and overstepped every suggestion that you put forth. As far as General Kelly goes—there are no words for how I felt when you described how he treated you. It’s typical of military men; a misogynist, intolerant, prejudice. When you went to the convention you loved being there with the Republicans; a party who has never embraced anyone black, prison reform, women’s human rights, nor healthcare for all. You have a reckoning that I only hope you understand. You said with Craig Melvin on MSNBC, you're under-girded by the church. I hope you are. I absolutely understand your need to have a job and wanting to grow and achieve and accomplish great things. However, looking at the leapers you surrounded yourself with is mind-boggling to me as to --why?The book overall was well-written. I did not give it five stars because I felt that Omarosa should have gone much, much deeper into her soul to discover why she hitched herself onto this disaster of a man, DJT. I was looking for an explanation as to why she admired him. Furthermore, it’s highly, highly unusual, honestly to see a black woman that was that loyal to an older white man in the way she described. It's a very eccentric and awkward partnership, to say the least. I’m happy you’re free from the chaos and the spell you were apparently under. Omarosa, consider this review as a mini-advisement session about issuing an apology. I believe it would be cleansing and therapeutic for you moving forward. Not sorry for having the experience, but for how your association with a racist made the rest of us feel during the campaign and afterwards. It’s worth considering.

Helped me to understand what's really going on behind the scenes and why. It was important to hear it from an insider who was close to 45 for a long time. She was so close to him for a long time that it was hard for her to realize how destructive Trump could be to our nation and the world. As she says in the end, he doesn't deserve our attention. Negative or positive - both feed his ego. He is indeed a narcissist. Not fit to run a country.

... but one I've quite enjoyed reading. I had no real knowledge of the author beyond an occasional glimpse on the news, I've never watched The Apprentice either the UK or US version, it just doesn't appeal to me, so I can only draw my opinion of Omarosa from this book. I can't understand why she stuck around so long but then I'm sure we've all, at some point, stayed put long after we should have moved on especially if we'd already invested a lot of time. Being a Trump watcher I haven't really learned anything new about him but it was good to see it all set out chronologically and written from a personal perspective. I would recommend the book.

If you like Trump you will hate it however I do not have that problem

Badly written for a start! In my opinion this is nothing more than a cheap justification of the author's long-term adherence to Trump and all that he stands for. She bleats like some poor misguided victim, pleading that she is merely a very loyal person who sticks to a "long-term friend". She also whimpers that she didn't see that he was such an awful person, that he was really a lovely man when she first knew him through "The Apprentice" and that he only went bad when … he had her sacked! She is a shameless social and political climber whose utter naked ambition shines through her transparent excuses. She would still be there covering and excusing his criminal misdeeds had she not been thrown out. A cheap revenge saga of her own unashamed ambition. Nauseating.

This is an exposé of massive proportions. I couldn’t put it down and finished it in four hours! The difference between this book and Bob Woodward’s “Fear: Trump in the Whitehouse” is that she recorded EVERYTHING whilst it was actually occurring! What a courageous woman! Still.. it makes you wonder whether this will affect the current WH administration status. How about the recent anonymous Op-Ed? I’m not sure whether such books or editorials would make a difference to American politics. With ones like Sarah Huckabee Sanders and General Kelley (to name a few), who are willing to LIE and DECEIVE the American people to protect the POTUS — evidently, the Republicans don’t give a monkey’s — as long as they’re in power! A fantastic read but unless Omarosa Manigault-Newman releases more tapes soon to corroborate her writing; I think this could be just yesterday’s news!