ionigeria.com Nigerian Newspaper (Online)
Donald Trump‘s coffee table book Our Journey Together has raked in a hefty $20 million in a sales in the less than two months since its debut, it was reported on Monday.
The book, a departure from traditional post-presidential memoirs that involve detailed reflections on the commander-in-chief’s White House and hundreds of pages of narrative, went on sale less than two months ago.
The collection of images from the Trump presidency and handwritten captions by the former president himself also lined his pockets with a multi-million dollar advanced payment, sources told DailyMail.com.
News of the book’s impressive run so far was first reported by CNN.
Copies of the book are available on the publisher’s website, titled 45books.
An unsigned version retails for about $75, while a copy with Trump’s instantly recognizable signature is offered at $230. The latter sold out less than two days after going on sale.
Sergio Gor, a longtime Republican operative who’s behind Winning Team Publishing, which released the book, told DailyMail.com: ‘President Donald Trump’s success in publishing is unmatched. No one has ever sold a premium product this fast to such a large number of people.’
Monday’s report credits the unique messages as a main facet of the book’s unexpected popularity.
In pages obtained by DailyMail.com, the president looks back on his foreign policy in his signature blunt phrasing, writing under a picture of China’s President Xi Jinping, ‘President Xi understood we had to get tough, but we were making true progress. If COVID didn’t happen, our nations would have both prospered.
He also took aim at members of his own administration. In an image featuring Germany’s last Chancellor Angela Merkel, Trump calls National Security Adviser John Bolton ‘dumb as a rock.’
Previous include a famous 2018 photo of Trump facing off with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, captioned: ‘Attempting to listen to crazy Nancy Pelosi in the Oval Office — such natural disagreement.’
The book includes a photograph of Trump inspecting the Honor Guard with Queen Elizabeth II during his visit to London in 2018
The lines reveal the extent to which the ex-president felt free to rip on his enemies and give his unvarnished opinion.
On another image of Pelosi, Trump scrawled: ‘She was screaming and shaking like a leaf, she’s f***ing crazy, hence the name ‘Crazy Nancy’.’
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg also made it into the book, with Trump claiming he ‘would come to the White House and kiss my a**.’
It appears no one who crossed the ex-president was off limits, including late Arizona Republican Senator John McCain.
‘Asking for a job for his wife and I am smiling but I didn’t like him even a little bit,’ Trump captioned the image.
He also hit Biden for the withdrawal from Afghanistan and inflation, which has hit an annual rate of seven percent.
‘You look at what’s happening from $1.87 a gallon to just see in California, it’s now over $7 a gallon, for gasoline for your car,’ he said. ‘It’s so sad to see what’s happened to our country.’
He also tore into political enemies like disgraced New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
‘Then-Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York who was forced out of office without, surprisingly much of a fight. I gave New York everything it wanted, including hospital ships, rooms, thousands of ventilators, and ultimately vaccines,’ reads the caption from a photo of Cuomo in the Oval Office.
He takes aim at frequent foes including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who he called ‘Crazy Nancy’ in a caption below a 2018 Oval Office meeting
Publishers said Trump wrote all the captions himself and the words carry the full force of his usual delivery
Gor founded Winning Team Publishing with the help of Donald Trump Jr., the ex-president’s oldest child.
An initial print run of 200,000 copies sold out in under six weeks.
People clamoring to buy one of Trump’s picture books may be out of luck in the short term, with new orders expected to be filled in late February or early March.
Our Journey Together is the only published work they’ve put out but Gor told DailyMail.com that his company has captured the interest of national conservative figures.
Their first author after Trump, Gor revealed, will be conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
‘We are thrilled that we have multiple authors signed with Winning Team Publishing, this week we will announce best selling author Charlie Kirk. We’ve been approached by everyone from tv anchors to sitting members of Congress with interest in publishing with us,’ Gor said.
The few copies available from third-party sellers feature a hefty asking price. A ‘collectible’ copy on Amazon is listed for nearly $1,800. Unsigned copies on Ebay are being touted for nearly double the original retail price, while sellers with signed books are asking for more than $899.
Gor confirmed last month that talks were under way for a second Trump book.
‘We are in active discussions with President Trump to publish his next book, and expect an announcement very soon,’ he said.
Gor, a Trump World insider, solved a publishing conundrum for the ex-president.
A string of industry insiders had suggested Trump would struggle to land a deal for a memoir with mainstream publishers wary of acting as a launchpad for more unfounded claims about the 2020 election.
