Team of Vipers cover art

Team of Vipers

My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House

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Team of Vipers

By: Cliff Sims
Narrated by: Daniel Thomas May, Cliff Sims - introduction
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About this listen

Note: Per author's request, profanity has been removed from both the book and the audio program.

The Instant New York Times Best Seller

"Sims’s vivid portrait of Trump shrewdly balances admiration with misgivings, and his intricate, engrossing accounts of White House vendettas and power plays have a good mix of immersion and perspective. The result is one of the best of the recent flood of Trump tell-alls." (Publishers Weekly)

The first honest insider’s account of the Trump administration. If you hate Trump you need the truth; if you love Trump you need the truth.

After standing at Donald Trump’s side on Election Night, Cliff Sims joined him in the West Wing as special assistant to the president and director of White House message strategy. He soon found himself pulled into the president’s inner circle as a confidante, an errand boy, an advisor, a punching bag, and a friend. Sometimes all in the same conversation.

As a result, Sims gained unprecedented access to the president, sitting in on private meetings with key congressional officials, world leaders, and top White House advisors. He saw how Trump handled the challenges of the office, and he learned from Trump himself how he saw the world.

For 500 days, Sims also witnessed firsthand the infighting and leaking, the anger, joy, and recriminations. He had a role in some of the president’s biggest successes, and he shared the blame for some of his administration’s worst disasters. He gained key, often surprising insights into the players of the Trump West Wing, from Jared Kushner and John Kelly to Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway.

He even helped Trump craft his enemies list, knowing who was loyal and who was not.

And he took notes. Hundreds of pages of notes. In real-time.

Sims stood with the president in the eye of the storm raging around him, and now he tells the story that no one else has written - because no one else could. The story of what it was really like in the West Wing as a member of the president’s team. The story of power and palace intrigue, backstabbing and bold victories, as well as painful moral compromises, occasionally with yourself.

Team of Vipers tells the full story, as only a true insider could.

©2019 Cliff Sims (P)2019 Macmillan Audio
Political Science Politicians Politics & Activism Politics & Government Presidents & Heads of State United States World

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All stars
Most relevant
The narrator was less than electrifying, the swear words were bleeped out and it generally came across as pretty self-serving.

Bleeping out swear words? Really?

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Thought I’d listen to this in the interest of balance. I’m about half way through this Trump loving tosh!

Not so much nest of vipers, more pile of poop!

Trump Hugger Fuction

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I think it was a well balanced biok.

However, the guy reading it out made Trump sound like Micheal Jackson from South Park.

i think it was well balanced

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Whilst I expected this to be balanced against the less complimentary Trump accounts (which was my reason for listening), I did not expect it to be quite so biased as if a paid piece of PR. This is an echo chamber from a pro Trumper. About 20% was interesting and added a different slant but overall, not great.

Well, its another view...

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I’m not sure what I expected but had I given it thought, it probably would have been what I got.

With Cliff Sims giving his account of the White House calamity, he, at best, supports some of the other accounts that have already been described in other books, interviews and newspaper articles about the Trump administration.

If you’re anti-Trump, you’ll be disappointed in the lack of scathe Sims inflicts upon him. If you’re pro-Trump, the few occasions Sims did paint Trump in a less-than-positive light will still, no doubt irk you. If you’re a true conservative and concerned about the current state of the Republican party, you are probably the right audience for this.

I’m neither of these positions so I am usually able to approach books like this with a fair amount of objectivity. Sims sides with Trump on many of his policy positions (immigration being the main one) and saves most of his criticism for his fellow White House staff members - John Kelly, in particular.

But the book brings us nothing new, as far as I’m concerned. Bob Woodward’s ‘Fear’ was very enjoyable and informative. Even Michael Wolffs ‘Fire and Fury’, for all of its tabloid-esque sensationalism and questionable claims, was a more enjoyable book.

Maybe Team of Vipers is just a victim of timing. Had this been released 12 months ago, I’m sure I’d have a more favourable opinion of it.. but that’s not the case and I found myself a little bored at times.

Self serving and nothing new revealed

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