met Donald Trump while she was a contestant on the first season of The Apprentice. She continued to appear with Trump on The Celebrity Apprentice and The Ultimate Merger. In July 2016, she joined Trump's 2016 presidential campaign as the Director of African-American Outreach. Following Trump's victory, she joined the Trump administration as Director of Communications for the Office of Public Liaison. She was fired by John F. Kelly, White House Chief of Staff, in December 2017. In the book, Manigault Newman labels Trump a "racist", and states that witnesses have confirmed the existence of tapes of Trump repeatedly saying "nigger" during filming of The Apprentice. She stated that Trump's cognitive functioning is declining, and that she turned down an offer made by Lara Trump of a $15,000 per month "senior position" in Trump's 2020 re-election campaign, which came with a non-disclosure agreement that was as "harsh and restrictive" as she had seen in her television career.
Manigault Newman had made secret audio recordings while working at the White House as part of the Trump administration and released some before and some after the book came out. She played a recording of Kelly firing her during an August 12 appearance on the NBC morning program Meet the Press. Manigault Newman also released a tape in which several Trump advisers discuss the potential existence of a tape in which Trump uses the "n-word" and how to deal with the fallout if it was ever made public. Manigault Newman made the accusation that this discussion took place and released the tape after Katrina Pierson, the spokesperson for Eric Trump, denied on Fox News that such a conversation took place. Another released tape appears to confirm Manigault Newman's claim that Lara Trump, President Trump's daughter-in-law, promised her a $15,000 per month "senior position" on the 2020 Trump campaign, if she kept quiet. The offer was made after Manigault Newman had already left the White House. According to Manigault Newman, the offer was an "attempt to buy my silence".
Responses by the Trump administration
said that the book is "riddled with lies and false accusations", and accused Manigault Newman of "trying to profit off these false attacks". Trump reacted by referring to Manigault Newman as a "lowlife" and "that dog".
The Trump campaign filed for arbitration against Manigault Newman for allegedly violating a confidentiality agreement she signed in 2016. The campaign hired Charles Harder, who previously represented the Trump campaign in legal action taken against Michael Wolff following the publication of his book, Fire and Fury. Simon & Schuster proceeded with the publication of the book despite receiving a warning letter from Harder.
