Donald Trump ripped into then-White House transition chief Chris Christie on election night for arranging to have President Barack Obama call his phone and not Trump's if he pulled out a victory over Hillary Clinton.
According to the new book Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump and the Storming of the Presidency, as it started to become clear Trump would win the White House, the billionaire sat and processed the enormity of what was happening.
That's when the New Jersey governor burst through the crowd surrounding Trump and offered him his cell phone, telling him Obama was going to call his cell if Trump won and then he could hand it over to Trump. Christie had gotten to know Obama when Superstorm Sandy ravaged New Jersey in 2012.
Trump, a germaphobe, looked "repulsed" and said, "Hey Chris, you know my fucking phone number. Just give it to the president. I don't want your fucking phone." The Daily Mail reports:
Aides said that Christie's move was the 'ultimate mistake' and one from which he 'wouldn't recover'.
It was Bannon who broke the news that Trump had won and told him: 'Hey, look, we're gonna win this thing'.
Trump nodded and said: 'Let's go get this done', referring to his victory speech - because he did not have one.
Christie was dropped as transition chief that week in favor of Vice President-elect Mike Pence and does not have a role in the administration, despite being a friend of Trump's and one of the first major Republicans to endorse him last year.
The Daily Mail also reported details on how Paul Manafort was forced out as campaign manager last year, aside from his reported Russian connections. Trump reportedly was angered by a story that his advisers used cable news appearances to communicate with Trump; the candidate lashed out at Manafort and said he was being treated like a baby.
The book, by Bloomberg's Joshua Green, also delves into Bannon's rise through Hollywood and right-wing media to become Trump's chief strategist.