Former Trump Aide Scoffs at Karoline Leavitt’s Claim Trump Is ‘Most Well-Read Person in the Room’

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Miles Taylor, who served as chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security during President Donald Trump’s first term, scoffed Friday at claims by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt about the president’s reading habits.

Taylor held several defense and national security roles in the federal government before he was appointed deputy chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security in 2017. He later became the department’s chief of staff.

In 2018, he wrote an op-ed as “Anonymous” for The New York Times with a scathing critique of the Trump administration; this was followed by an also anonymous book in 2019, a few months after he left the agency. Taylor revealed his identity before the 2020 election, publicly campaigning against Trump’s re-election and has remained an ardent critic of the president.

On Friday, Leavitt was interviewed by Turning Point USA’s Erika Kirk on conservative network Real America’s Voice on a variety of topics. Asked her for advice, Leavitt replied that she would “encourage everyone in this room to try to be the most well-read person in every room that you’re in.”

Leavitt added that she got that advice from one of her predecessors, Dana Perino, President George W. Bush’s press secretary who is now at Fox News.

“You always want to be the most well-read person in the room,” Kirk quoted Perino.

“And I try to be, every day,” she continued, “but Donald Trump always is. That man does not miss a story, let me tell you. He is always reading the papers and watching the TV, he doesn’t miss anything anyone says, anywhere in the world, I don’t know how he does it and consumes it all.”

Taylor scoffed at a clip of Leavitt making these claims.

“I remember the first piece of advice I got on briefing President Trump in 2017: He doesn’t read,” Taylor wrote. “Bring pictures. Only try to impress ONE thing on him. And if there has to be words, single page only.”

Trump has been called out for his reading habits before. He has repeatedly said that his memoir, The Art of the Deal, is his second favorite book, and the Bible is his favorite. Tony Schwartz, who ghostwrote Trump’s book, said in 2016 that Trump did not write any of the book, although he did read the manuscript and ask Schwartz to delete a few passages that were critical of his business associates. Schwartz also called the book — and resulting boost to Trump’s reputation as a savvy businessman — his “greatest regret in life, without question.” Regarding the book Trump says is his favorite, the Bible, he refused to identify any of his favorite verses when asked.

It’s also been reported for years that Trump would skip reading the President’s Daily Brief, preferring to get an oral summary from his advisers instead. From a 2018 Washington Post report:

Trump has opted to rely on an oral briefing of select intelligence issues in the Oval Office rather than getting the full written document delivered to review separately each day, according to three people familiar with his briefings…

Soon after Trump took office, analysts sought to tailor their intelligence sessions for a president with a famously short attention span, who is known for taking in much of his information from conservative Fox News Channel hosts. The oral briefings were augmented with photos, videos and graphics.

After several months, Trump made clear he was not interested in reviewing a personal copy of the written intelligence report known as the PDB, a highly classified summary prepared before dawn to provide the president with the best update on the world’s events, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

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