Overview
- The excerpts, obtained by CNN and Politico June 18–20, quote President Trump calling Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick a “p*ssy” during an April 2025 disagreement over tariffs.
- Haberman and Swan’s book is described as based on more than 1,000 interviews and contemporaneous notes and recordings that the authors say support the passages.
- The White House did not directly deny the quoted language and instead issued a statement from spokesperson Kush Desai praising the working relationship between the president and Secretary Lutnick.
- Televised coverage highlighted the episode’s shock value, with a CNN correspondent refusing to speak the explicit word on air while reading the book excerpt.
- The Lutnick anecdote sits alongside other sensational claims in the book and is likely to drive further scrutiny of the authors’ sourcing and of how outlets present advance excerpts ahead of full publication.