Donald Trump reportedly has a mafia-themed nickname for one of his most loyal aides.
According to a new book by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, the president refers to White House Communications Director Steven Cheung as “Luca Brasi,” the fictional, ruthless enforcer who serves mafia boss Vito Corleone in “The Godfather,” one of Trump’s favorite films.
In “Regime Change,” Haberman and Swan describe Cheung as “an astonishing sight roaming through the West Wing: physically enormous, with a low brow, a shaved head, great slablike hands, and an omnipresent sneer,” according to excerpts shared by The Daily Beast’s Tina Brown on her Substack, Fresh Hell.
Trump has also praised Cheung as “a more violent version of” North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, per the book.
In recent weeks, Cheung has targeted a former top Trump official with an f-bomb outburst, warned people doubting Trump’s power to “fuck around, find out” and used the “R-word” during an online spat with a Democratic staffer.