During President Donald Trump’s second term, White House staff began “monitoring” the president’s trash after it was discovered he had been discarding potentially valuable White House property, according to a new book from two New York Times reporters, the Daily Mail reported Friday.
The book, “Regime Change,” is written by Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan and is scheduled for release next week. After getting a “sneak peek” at the book, the Daily Mail reported on one bizarre detail regarding the White House’s high-end silverware.
“The staff had to begin monitoring the trash after it was discovered [Trump] was sometimes throwing out White House sterling silver utensils,” reads an excerpt from the book, according to the Daily Mail.
According to the Minnesota-based precious-metals buying business Gold Guys, sterling silverware is 92.5% pure silver, “mixed with a small amount of copper for strength,” meaning each piece of silverware could be worth more than $30.
The forthcoming book has sparked panic within the White House amid fears that Haberman and Swan had somehow obtained audio recordings from within the White House Situation Room, arguably the most secure facility in the complex where top officials discuss highly sensitive matters.