WASHINGTON — As President Donald J. Trump’s term of office came to an end, the chief White House photographer, who had traveled the world with him and spent countless hours in the White House taking photographs, released Mr. Trump’s aides know that she planned to publish a book collecting some of her most memorable images.
This was hardly a radical idea: Official photographers from every White House since President Ronald Reagan’s have published their own books. Barack Obama and George W. Bush were so helpful that they wrote forewords for them.
But like so many other things Mr. Trump is involved in, the plan of his chief photographer, Shealah Craighead, did not follow this two-pronged standard.
First, Trump aides asked her to cut her book’s prepayment in exchange for writing a foreword and helping promote the book, according to former Trump associates.
Then Mr. Trump’s team asked Ms. Craighead to postpone her book project so that the former president can take Ms. Craighead’s photos and those of other White House photographers and publish his own book, now for a whopping $ 230 is sold. a copy.
That the profits from Mrs. Craighead’s labor are now going into Mr. Trump’s pocket has upset several of Mr. Trump’s former associates — but not exactly surprised.
“Shea is a very talented photographer and this was really all her hard work,” said Stephanie Grisham, who was the White House press secretary for Mr. Trump and wrote her own book, referring to Ms. Craighead by her nickname. “I just keep thinking: what a shame that he is actually taking advantage of it. But again, this is the guy who is currently selling hats and all kinds of things to raise money for himself.”
Eric Draper, the White House chief photographer during Bush’s tenure, said the move was disrespectful to Ms. Craighead.
“It’s a slap in the face,” Mr. Draper said, adding that he had spoken to Mrs. Craighead last year about her plan to write her own book. “I would be disappointed if I were in her shoes.”
Taylor Budowich, a spokesperson for Mr. Trump, did not dispute that an associate had discussed the possibility that Mr. Trump might write a foreword to Ms. Craighead’s book and perhaps take some of her advance. Her tentative deal with a publisher included an advance of hundreds of thousands of dollars, an industry executive said.
Instead, said Mr. Budowich, decided Mr. Trump to write his own book first, a separate deal that involved a much larger multi-million dollar advance.
“President Trump has always had an eye for beautiful and engaging curation, which came to life through the pages of his book,” he said in a statement.
Ms Craighead said in an interview that she would not comment publicly on cases involving a former client. But she did confirm that she has decided, at least for now, to stop her own book project.
“I remain as apolitical as possible, as I am a neutral historical documentary maker,” she said. “By staying neutral, I can remain a keen observer.”
The 317-page book that Mr. Trump published in December, titled “Our Journey Together,” does not include photo credits. No mention is made of the photographers who took the photos until the last page, where he briefly offered a “grateful acknowledgment” to “all the phenomenal photographers of the White House” naming them, including Mrs. Craighead, whose photos make up a large part of the book.
There is no legal prohibition on Mr. Trump from taking and publishing photos taken by a White House employee during his tenure; under federal law, those photos are considered public domain and are not subject to copyright. There is a public Flickr account, now operated by the National Archives, that contains 14,995 photos of the Trump White House, a third of which credits Mrs. Craighead as the photographer.
But in dealing with Ms. Craighead, Mr. Trump appears to have become the first former president to attempt to monetize a book planned by a former White House photographer, said John Bredar, a documentary filmmaker and author who explored the history of the United States. the White House photographers. (Profit from the book published by George HW Bush’s chief photographer David Valdez was donated to his presidential library, Valdez said in an interview.)
The first volume of Obama’s memoirs written after he left office featured a selection of nearly 50 photographs taken by White House photographer Pete Souza during his tenure. George W. Bush and Bill Clinton also published autobiographies with some photos of the White House.
But there is a long tradition of former White House photographers assembling their work individually into books.
“It’s valuable for any lead photographer to create a book just for the historical record and put it together in a way that kind of tells their story and puts images into context,” said Mr. Souza, who worked as a White House photographer under Mr. Reagan and under Mr. Obama, and who has published several books of photographs of the White House.
Mrs. Craighead had served as a White House photographer during George W. Bush’s tenure and was known for her work with primarily Republican politicians, including Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Joni Ernst of Iowa.
But unlike most of her predecessors, who had built relationships with presidents before arriving at the White House, Ms. Craighead had not worked closely with Mr. Trump when she was hired just before his inauguration after his first choice for the job was failed.
Mr. Trump sometimes said insulting things about Ms. Craighead, told other White House guests that he questioned her skills as a photographer, and surprised other White House officials and photographers in attendance.
Mr. Trump, former White House aides, was heavily involved in selecting photos of himself to be released to the public, with Ms. Grisham recalling how, during long flights on Air Force One, he often took time to organize folders of photos. after he demanded that they be printed first so that he could hold them and pick the winners one by one.
Since leaving office, Mr. Trump has sought multiple ways to monetize his presidency, from asking supporters to attend an event and taking photos with him to selling MAGA merchandise. He also has a long history of pre-political disputes with business associates and has been accused of failing to properly compensate contractors over the years.
The plan to publish “Our Journey Together” quickly came about after Ms. Craighead had already chosen a book agent and negotiated a contract to publish her own book and received a commitment from Mr. Trump to write the foreword, they said. former White House officials.
Mrs. Craighead herself had some questions about whether she wanted to move forward with her own book, and told others that she did not feel comfortable publishing a book that would be seen as an endorsement or a disdain from Mr. Trump.
While Ms. Craighead was discussing this question, she learned from a representative of Mr. Trump that he would no longer be able to give her a foreword to the book right away, because Mr. Trump had a “non-compete agreement” with his own publisher.
Donald Trump Jr. and Mr. Trump’s campaign machinery soon began sending emails to his political fundraising list, urging his supporters to buy “Our Journey Together,” perhaps as a Christmas present — an example of how Mr. Trump is promoting his political efforts and his pursuit of personal gain since he left the White House.
Mr. Trump’s book was published by Winning Team Publishing, a company founded only in October and co-founded by Donald Trump Jr. and Sergio Gor, a former Capitol Hill aide and Republican campaigner.
Gor said the company had sold out the first 300,000 copies — which at $75 each for the unsigned version suggests gross sales of at least $20 million, assuming not many have been given away. In addition to his upfront payment, Mr. Trump will likely earn a share of all book sales.
The book isn’t the only way the Trump family is cashing in on photos from White House photographers. On Presidents’ Day, Ms. Trump opened a set of digital images of Mr. Trump’s tenure in the White House – photos of Mr. Trump on Mount Rushmore, leaving Air Force One, and in a tuxedo for dinner at the White House – for $50 each.
This week, after The Times asked his office about the book, Mr. Trump called Ms. Craighead. It was the first time they spoke directly since he left the White House. Mr Trump told her he was still willing to write a foreword to a photo book they could make together in the future, Mr Budowich said.
“It would be nice to do that,” Mr. Trump told her.