Trump's 'big mouth' and Ivanka's 'aggressive' behavior led Chris Christie to reject chief of staff job: book
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie claims he rejected Donald Trump's offer to serve as his chief of staff in part because of the former president's "big mouth," according to a report from the Daily Beast.
In his new book, "Republican Rescue," Christie writes that Trump leaked details of their meeting about the chief of staff job to the media — and later admitted to it proudly in a phone call.
"If I had any doubts about my decision, at that moment they entirely disappeared," Christie writes of his decision to reject Trump's offer after the former president admitted being responsible for the leak.
Christie says another factor in his decision was "aggressive" behavior on the part of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, the Daily Beast reports.
When he was a federal prosecutor, Christie sent Jared Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, to prison for tax fraud, resulting in a "long-standing beef" with the family.
As a result, during his meeting with Trump, the former president agreed with Christie's suggestion that he shouldn't manage Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump.
"The next morning, Christie claims, he received a phone call from Jared, who extended an olive branch and offered that he would be 'fine' with the man who locked up his dad becoming chief of staff. 'I'll be fully supportive of you,' he allegedly told Christie," according to the Daily Beast.
Meanwhile, Ivanka Trump called Christie's wife and said: "I know there have been problems between the governor and my husband's family in the past. But you have my word, wife to wife, mother to mother, that I will make sure that nothing like that happens if the governor comes here."
Christie says his wife, Mary Pat, was "taken aback" by the conversation.
"By that point, I had pretty much decided there was no way I was going to take this job," Christie writes. "And the high-pressure campaign from the next generation, especially Ivanka's call to Mary Pat, wasn't about to convince me otherwise."
At the time, it was reported that Christie withdrew from consideration for the chief of staff position due to family reasons or because he wasn't formally offered the job. But Christie says he actually rejected it due to Trump's "loose lips," the Daily Beast reports.
"The meeting, Christie recalls, featured Trump aggressively selling the job and erupting when the ex-governor demanded he would have the right to decide if and when a chief of staff does media appearances," according to the site.
Trump reportedly shot back: "No, no, no, no, no. I control those.'"
Trump ultimately offered Christie the job and gave him the night to think about it. Within hours, the media was reporting about their meeting.
"I couldn't help but wonder," Christie writes. "There were only three people in that room at the White House. I knew I didn't leak the story. It seemed unlikely to me that Melania did. Who was left? Did Trump really have someone leak that story even before I'd gotten off the train?"
When Christie called Trump to reject the offer, he asked about the leak.
"There were only three of us in the room. I can tell you for sure I didn't leak it," Christie told Trump.
Trump immediately confessed to doing the deed himself, the Daily Beast reports.
"He sounded very proud when he said that," Christie writes, adding that Trump's admission affirmed his decision to turn down the position.
In another chapter, Christie writes that in several 2020 debate prep sessions, "Trump either grew bored or disinterested with the task at hand, often ending the meetings early or suggesting he did not need any preparations whatsoever."
According to Christie, Trump "seemed keenly interested" in reviewing his book before publication. But he declined because he feared the manuscript "might fall into the wrong hands."
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