For many, the start to the new year is filled with resolutions and promises of personal improvement. For Donald Trump, 2018 began with a stunningly bizarre tweet storm, attacks on the media, infighting amongst his political circle, and more sabre rattling with various foreign adversaries.
The year so far has looked a lot like 2017.
READ MORE: Here are 5 of the biggest risks to global security in 2018, according to experts
And despite returning to Washington from the holidays with the passage of a sweeping Republican tax bill, the Trump White House has been blindsided by a new book that painted a more than unflattering portrait an accidental election win and the alarming chaos inside his presidency.
Here is a look at what you missed this week in the world of Donald J. Trump.
Jan. 4: Fire and Fury
In the wake of excerpts published from an explosive tell-all book, Trump‘s legal team is attempting to stop next week’s publication due to be released Tuesday.
The book’s U.S. publisher brought publication forward to Friday, according to Michael Wolff, author of Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. Some, including The Washington Post, have questioned the veracity of Wolff’s claims.
WATCH: Trump team tries to halt publication of explosive book
“Here we go. You can buy it (and read it) tomorrow. Thank you, Mr President,” Wolff tweeted.
READ MORE: Donald Trump left ‘furious,’ ‘disgusted’ by Steve Bannon over book
Trump has also threatened to sue his former chief strategist Steve Bannon over “defamatory” statements in the book about a meeting Trump’s son and son-in-law held with Russians during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.
Charles Harder, Trump’s personal lawyer, told Reuters that “legal action is imminent” regarding Bannon.
READ MORE: Donald Trump trying to halt publication of tell-all book about White House
Meanwhile, North Korea and South Korea have reopened a border hotline with talks likely to focus on the North’s potential participation in the upcoming Winter Olympics, scheduled to be held February in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang.
“With all of the failed ‘experts’ weighing in, does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasn’t firm, strong and willing to commit our total ‘might’ against the North. Fools, but talks are a good thing!” Trump tweeted early Thursday morning.
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READ MORE: White House bans use of personal cellphones in West Wing
Jan. 3: ‘Treasonous’ and ‘Unpatriotic’
Former White House adviser Steve Bannon called actions by members of the Trump campaign treasonous. Rupert Murdoch called Trump a f**king idiot. The U.S. first daughter poked fun of her father’s comb-over” and an adviser said the president didn’t understand the Constitution.
WATCH: Besides Bannon comments, new book on Trump admin also contains allegations about other staffers
Excerpts of Wolff’s bombshell new book, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, were published Wednesday offering a candid look at the first year of the Trump presidency, based on more than 200 interviews.
READ MORE: 8 startling revelations from new book about Donald Trump’s White House
The book, which portrayed Trump as a distracted man-child who didn’t actually want to win the White House, drew a sharp and immediate response from the White House who stated the book was full of “false and misleading accounts.”
Trump was especially “furious and disgusted” by Bannon’s comments who referred to a June 2016 meeting between a group of Russians and top Trump campaign officials, including Donald Trump Jr., as “treasonous” and “unpatriotic.”
READ MORE: Steve Bannon called Trump Tower meeting with Russians ‘treasonous’ in new book
In a lengthy statement, Trump insisted Bannon had little to do with his victorious campaign and “has nothing to do with me or my Presidency.”
“When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind,” Trump said Wednesday.
WATCH: Trump ‘not particularly close’ with Steve Bannon
Trump also announced he is disbanding his controversial voter fraud commission amid infighting, lawsuits and state officials’ refusal to co-operate.
The president has repeatedly alleged, without evidence, that 3 million to 5 million people voted illegally in the 2016 election. Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, received 2.8 million more votes in the popular vote than Trump.
Jan. 2: Mine is bigger than yours
In just three hours on Tuesday, Trump unleashed a barrage of tweets that picked a fight with the “deep state” inside his own government, called for a political opponent to be jailed, took undeserved credit for airplanes not crashing, and continued his war of words with North Korea by stating his “Nuclear Button” was bigger than that of Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un.
WATCH: Trump says his nuclear button is ‘bigger’ than North Korea’s
“Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!” Trump wrote.
He also returned to a familiar target: the “fake news” media.
“I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 o’clock. Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media,” he wrote.
READ MORE: From North Korean nukes to elections at home, Trump faces a slew of challenges in 2018
Trump also took credit for the zero fatal commercial jet crashes in 2017, something aviation experts said he had nothing to do with.
“Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation,” he tweeted. “Good news – it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record!”
Jan. 1: Trump goes after Iran, Pakistan
Trump said the United States had “foolishly” handed Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid in the last 15 years and had been rewarded with “nothing but lies and deceit.”
“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
READ MORE: Iran blames CIA for deadly protests, White House denies having any part
Pakistan summoned the U.S. ambassador following Trump’s angry tweet, with the Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif dismissing the outburst as a political stunt.
Trump also offered his full support for anti-government demonstrators in Iran amid the deadly unrest that broke out in the country.
WATCH: Anti-Trump protesters in Pakistan call U.S. President’s tweet ‘lies and deceit’
“Iran is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the Obama Administration. The great Iranian people have been repressed for many years. They are hungry for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted. TIME FOR CHANGE!” Trump tweeted.
READ MORE: Pakistan leaders fire back after Donald Trump’s ‘lies and deceit’ tweet
The ongoing protests could complicate Trump’s decision about whether to rip up the nuclear deal struck under former president Barack Obama.
In the coming weeks, the president will face a series of deadlines on whether the U.S. should re-impose sanctions on Iran that were lifted as a result of the agreement, where Iran agreed to reduce its nuclear capabilities.
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