--- title: Fire and Fury Publisher Calls Trump's Block Unconstitutional description: The publisher of Michael Wolff's Trump expose is calling the President's attempt to stop publication of the book "unconstitutional." canonical: https://time.com/5092923/fire-fury-michael-wolff-publisher-trump-unconstitutional/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-08T16:41:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T23:05:39.000Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 'Fire and Fury' Publisher Attacks Trump's Attempt to Block Book og:description: The publisher called Trump's move "flagrantly unconstitutional" og:url: https://time.com/5092923/fire-fury-michael-wolff-publisher-trump-unconstitutional/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt320d846b81368b6a/6988f77586f68e0dc86e7d37/trump-fire-fury.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: Trump Fire and Fury og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Fire and Fury' Publisher Attacks Trump's Attempt to Block Book twitter:description: The publisher called Trump's move "flagrantly unconstitutional" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt320d846b81368b6a/6988f77586f68e0dc86e7d37/trump-fire-fury.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Flagrantly Unconstitutional.' _Fire and Fury_ Publisher Attacks Trump's Attempt to Block Book > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=7281b840-7ee1-4005-a649-8deee671e298&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump Criticises Author of "Fire and Fury" And Defends Tweet about His Own Intelligence [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Criticises Author of "Fire and Fury" And Defends Tweet about His Own Intelligence](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/M9R0HGkK.m3u8) (0:59)  _Published 2018-01-06. US President Donald Trump on Saturday defended his tweets about his own mental state and intellect, and hit out at Michael Wolff, the author of a controversial new book bashing Trump's White House._ by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Updated: Dec 12, 2023 11:05 PM UTCPublished: Jan 8, 2018 4:41 PM UTC by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Updated: Dec 12, 2023 11:05 PM UTCPublished: Jan 8, 2018 4:41 PM UTC The publisher of [Michael Wolff’s](http://time.com/5089728/michael-wolff-fire-and-fury-trump-white-house/) explosive exposé on the [Trump White House](http://time.com/5088984/trump-women-michael-wolff/) has called the President’s attempt to stop publication of the book “unconstitutional.” In an email to all employees on Monday morning, Macmillan CEO John Sargent recapped the timing of last week’s demand from President Trump that the publisher cancel its plans to put out Michael Wolff’s [_Fire and Fury_](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250158060/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time037-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1250158060&linkId=96bdf4f8318571f17a706d207d350f42). Instead, Macmillan [pushed up publication to the following day](http://time.com/5088835/donald-trump-michael-wolff-early-publication/), four days earlier than initially planned. The book has since gone on to top bestseller charts, selling out at many retailers. Sargent wrote to his staff to emphasize the importance of the decision to move ahead with publication. “The President is free to call news ‘fake’ and to blast the media,” he wrote. “That goes against convention, but it is not unconstitutional. But a demand to cease and desist publication — a clear effort by the President of the United States to intimidate a publisher into halting publication of an important book on the workings of the government — is an attempt to achieve what is called prior restraint. That is something that no American court would order as it is flagrantly unconstitutional.” Sargent went on to detail Supreme Court cases that support his argument, including the [Pentagon Papers case](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/06/10/times-1971-cover-stories-on-daniel-ellsberg-and-the-pentagon-papers/), in which Justice Hugo Black wrote, “The press was to serve the governed, not the governors. The Government’s power to censor the press was abolished so that the press would remain forever free to censure the Government.” “We will not allow any President to achieve by intimidation what our Constitution precludes him or her from achieving in court,” Sargent wrote. “We need to respond strongly for Michael Wolff and his book, but also for all authors and all their books, now and in the future. And as citizens we must demand that President Trump understand and abide by the First Amendment of our Constitution.” Later in the day, Macmillan’s Henry Holt imprint made its response with a lawyer’s letter to Trump’s attorney. On behalf of Holt, Elizabeth A. McNamara (a partner at Davis Write Tremaine, and, incidentally, counsel for Simon & Schuster in its Milo Yiannopoulos lawsuit) notes that the original letter “broadly challenges” _Fire and Fury_ with containing “false/baseless claims,” but “stops short of identifying a single statement in the book that is factually false or defamatory.” “Instead,” she continues, “the letter appears to be designed to silence legitimate criticism. This is the antithesis of an actionable libel claim.” Responding to a request by Trump’s lawyer that Holt and Wolff retain all documents relating to the book, McNamara writes that the publisher and author will comply with the law’s obligations — and requests that the Trump administration do the same. “Should you pursue litigation against Henry Holt or Mr. Wolff, we are quite confident that documents related to the contents of the book in the possession of President Trump, his family members, his businesses, his campaign, and his administration will prove particularly relevant to our defense.” ## Transcript This morning you were tweeting about your mental state. Why did you feel the need to tweet about that this morning? Well, only because I went to the best colleges or college. I went to a, I had a situation where I was a very excellent student and came out made billions and billions of dollars, became one of the top business people Went to television and for ten years it was a tremendous success as you probably have heard. I ran for president one time and won and then I hear this guy that does not know me, doesn't know me at all, by the way did not interview me for three. He said he interviewed me for three hours in the White House. It didn't exist, okay? It's in his imagination. He was never in the Oval Office. We didn't have an interview and I did a quick interview with him a long time ago having to do with an article but I don't know this man and I guess sloppy Steve brought him into the White House quite a bit and it was one of those things that's why sloppy Steve is now looking for a job ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5092923/fire-fury-michael-wolff-publisher-trump-unconstitutional/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5092923/fire-fury-michael-wolff-publisher-trump-unconstitutional/"},"headline":"'Flagrantly Unconstitutional.' 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