President Donald Trump has ushered disgraced filmmaker Brett Ratner into his inner circle, and his former biographer offered an explanation.
The 57-year-old director accompanied the 79-year-old president to China last week ostensibly to scout filming locations for "Rush Hour 4," a franchise reboot Trump helped greenlight last year, and author Michael Wolff told The Daily Beast's "Inside Trump's Head" podcast he had an idea why Ratner been added to his orbit.
“Why was Brett Ratner in China? Other than to be there as Donald Trump’s BFF and security blanket, and the guy he could talk to?“ Wolff said. "In fact, when the trip ended, Donald Trump said to Brett Ratner, ‘I’ve got to be able to get in touch with you at all times.’”
The filmmaker, who's name and photograph appears in the Jeffery Epstein files, fell from Hollywood prominence after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct. Warner Bros. severed ties with him in 2017, and he relocated to Israel in 2023.
Ratner was recently tapped by first lady Melania Trump to direct her documentary, which Amazon acquired for $40 million, although the film underperformed significantly, earning only $16.6 million against a $75 million budget, and crew members requested their names be removed from credits.
Wolff characterized Ratner's presence in Trump's orbit as symptomatic of deeper problems. "There's no one around him," Wolff stated. "Everybody is now someone to blame."
Trump's approval ratings have deteriorated as the Iran conflict enters its 11th week — substantially longer than his initial "four to six weeks" prediction, and the war has resulted in 13 American service member deaths and hundreds of wounded. Gas prices have surged to $4.55 per gallon, intensifying economic concerns among voters.
Trump stated last week that he doesn't "think about Americans' financial situation" while negotiating with Iran, a comment that compounds concerns about rising living costs affecting the broader population.
“Now, in his way of processing that, is to blame someone else,” Wolff said. “But, of course, that doesn’t change how bad things are, and things are very bad.”
“The other takeaway is a character takeaway,” Wolff added, “that the friendship with Brett Ratner exactly goes to the character of it all, or the Epstein of it all, or the Trump of it all, or the grab them by the p---- of it all.”
White House spokesperson Steven Cheung dismissed Wolff's characterization in a statement, calling him "a lying sack of s---" and accusing him of fabricating stories.
Daily Beast's piece is called, "I Know the Secret of Trump’s Creepy New Friendship: Biographer."