Aides trick Trump into reading with a ‘book’ that’s basically just photos of cable news chyrons: report

A new report from Axios' Mike Allen reveals that President Donald Trump's aides have to go to extraordinary lengths to get him to read.

According to Allen, White House staffers compile a briefing binder for the president every day that is internally known as "The Book." However, the book is not filled with detailed reports and policy analyses -- in fact, the aides who compile the book often avoid using complete sentences all together.

"The more effective approach with Trump is to use simple, short bullets, or a graphic or timeline -- anything demonstrative," Allen writes. "The packet can even include screen grabs of cable news chyrons."

Trump aides explain that giving the president short soundbites is the only way to get him to pay attention, as otherwise he will get all his information through Fox News.

In particular, they say that former national security adviser H.R. McMaster used to test Trump's patience by giving detailed presentations about complex national security issues.

"He used complete sentences!" complained one staffer.

Allen says that, even though "The Book" is not an ideal way of delivering information to the most powerful man in the world, it is the only way "to get real news and real facts into the president's hands and head once he's spooled up about a specific idea."