NEW: Melania Trump shared her husband's low opinion of the late Sen. John McCain's military record. She agreed with Trump when he said during a '16 primary event that McCain was "not a war hero," per ex-campaign manager Cory Lewandowski. @thisisinsider businessinsider.com/melania-donald…
Lewandowski spoke to @thisisinsider as part of our oral history project on Trump's GOP takeover, said he & Trump met up w/ Melania in NJ as political pundits & conservative talk-show hosts were saying Trump had to apologize. He thought the comment would end Trump's campaign.
@thisisinsider "As we walked in the door, Mrs. Trump was waiting for us," Lewandowski said. "She said: 'You're right. John McCain isn't a war hero. What he has done for the veterans has been shameful.'"
Michael Cohen, who worked during the 2016 campaign as Trump's personal attorney, acknowledged to Insider as part of the oral history project that Melania Trump wasn't shy about sharing her thoughts to her husband.
"Melania played a very limited role during the campaign not believing Donald would actually win," Cohen said. "However, when directly asked for her opinion on a matter by Donald, she offered it readily."
This nugget is one of many in our deep dive oral history on how Trump took over the GOP back in 2015-16, a crown he still wears today. Check that out w/ a @thisisinsider subscription by clicking here: businessinsider.com/how-trump-took…

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More from @dsamuelsohn

21 Jul
THREAD: Tonight is the 5-year mark of Trump's 2016 RNC acceptance speech. Given he remains king of the GOP, the speech became our north star as reported the definitive oral history of that crazy primary cycle. Our story is here & requires a subscription. businessinsider.com/how-trump-took…
We ended up collecting many amazing anecdotes during the course of the reporting. Along the way we've published free stories in front of the paywall teasing them. You may have seen this one this week. businessinsider.com/trump-aide-say…
Another one here on the 2016 pre-debate Aerosmith 'party': businessinsider.com/donald-trump-2…
Read 9 tweets
21 Jul
NEW: Today marks the official end of Trump’s post-presidential transition period, meaning the government will cease to provide Trump & Pence w/ $ for staff & office space to wrap up their official transition duties. ($) ⁦@thisisinsiderbusinessinsider.com/donald-trump-s…
All members of Trump's transition team will be offboarded on July 21, according to GSA, but some of them will be onboarded on July 22 as members of the former president's official post-presidency staff. By @rbravender & @tomlobianco
Outgoing presidents typically use their first 6 months out of office to organize their documents, think about their legacies, and plan for presidential libraries, said Max Stier, president and CEO of the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service.
Read 12 tweets
20 Jul
NEW: Our latest short peel from the Trump oral history project gets into a moment in early 2016 when his aides told him over a McDonald's meal to stop bitching about losing in Iowa to Ted Cruz @thisisinsider businessinsider.com/trump-mcdonald…
It's long been known that Donald Trump has an affinity for fast food.

His love affair with burgers & fries also features prominently in a key part of the story into how Trump aides thought he was on the verge of nearly blowing his chance to be the '16 GOP presidential nominee.
Upset about losing the Republican Iowa caucuses in 2016 to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the future president's aides placated him over a McDonald's meal in New Hampshire.
Read 6 tweets
20 Jul
NEW: 5 years ago today Ted Cruz delivered a widely-panned speech to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Trump supporters booed. Here, he shares w/ @thisisinsider his recollections and intentions. businessinsider.com/donald-trump-t…
Cruz had prepared a "vote your conscience" speech he said was designed to unite conservatives – even though he hadn't yet endorsed Trump:
Cruz: "What I said in the speech is vote for candidates who you trust to defend freedom and to defend the Constitution, & that is very much what I hoped Donald Trump would do. At the time I didn't know if he would or not. There were reasons to have concerns. I did have concern."
Read 4 tweets
19 Jul
NEW: About a month ago, Jason Miller met with Donald Trump at the ex-president's Bedminster, NJ golf club. The goal; to coax his former boss to join the new conservative social media network, GETTR. ($) by ⁦@tomlobianco⁩ ⁦@thisisinsiderbusinessinsider.com/gettr-trump-ja…
In an exclusive interview, the former senior advisor for Trump's reelection campaign, described to Insider how he's pitching Trump on GETTR.
The two men discussed a possible — undisclosed — pricetag for getting Trump on the platform, the newly-minted CEO of GETTR told Insider. Miller also gave Trump a spin through the social network's app.
Read 6 tweets
19 Jul
NEW: Another newsy nugget from the @thisisinsider Trump oral history project.

Corey Lewandowski acknowledges Trump 2016 did indeed pay actors to appear at the Trump Tower campaign announcement event.
businessinsider.com/trump-aide-say…
Donald Trump's top 2016 aide previously denied the campaign paid actors to appear at the future president's big campaign launch announcement at Trump Tower, yet that same official recently told Insider people were indeed hired to show up.
The Trump campaign in 2016 fiercely rejected the claims. Corey Lewandowski, then-Trump's campaign manager, told Insider at the time that he "unequivocally" denied the allegations. businessinsider.com/donald-trumps-…
Read 15 tweets

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