After Trump's inauguration and continuing through most of the first year of his presidency, Wolff was allowed access to the West Wing of the White House, conducting research for his book through interviews and as a "fly on the wall" observer.

He said he conducted over 200 interviews with Trump and his associates including the senior staff[4] and was allowed to witness events at the White House without his presence being managed.

[7] Wolff chose the title after hearing Trump refer to "fire and fury" when discussing the conflict with North Korea.

"[12] Bannon also said that Mueller's investigation would likely uncover money laundering involving Kushner from loans received by his family business from Deutsche Bank.

"[15] For example, Sam Nunberg, a campaign advisor, reportedly tried to explain the United States Constitution to Trump but could not get past the Fourth Amendment.

[24][25] On January 4, Harder sought to stop the release of the book, sending a cease-and-desist letter to the author and publisher with the threat of a lawsuit for libel.

[33] On January 6, Trump continued to attack the book, calling it "a complete work of fiction" and "a disgrace", and labeling Wolff a "fraud."

"[39] In a January 8 interview with Dana Loesch, Vice President Mike Pence described Fire and Fury as a "book of fiction."

"[44] D'Antonio criticized Wolff's "tabloidy prose" and reminded the reader to treat the book with a degree of skepticism, but concluded that it was "essential reading" that will provide a framework on which future writers may build.

[45] Jake Tapper of CNN said that Fire and Fury "should be met with skepticism" as it was "riddled with errors and rumors",[46] while Isaac Chotiner in Slate wrote that "Wolff is not merely out of his depth—he frequently seems confused by even basic matters of political ideology.

D'Ancona described Wolff's version of President Trump and his daughter Ivanka as "the world's stupidest King Lear" and a "clueless Cordelia."

Warning the reader against distraction by those searching for "minor errors," d'Ancona described Wolff as a "brilliant journalist," who has a "terrier-like pursuit of the truth."

Kilian argued that Wolff's book was substantively much like rhetoric he ascribed to Trump, being composed of "mere assertions, rarely attributed to specific individuals", who themselves were "highly unreliable".

He predicted that the Mueller special counsel investigation then in progress would be the most likely source for the true inside story of Trump's campaign "and likely far, far more shocking" than Fire and Fury.

Robinson also expressed a lack of confidence in Wolff's trustworthiness based on his refusal to share his recordings of interviews to corroborate his claims.

[50] In a Wall Street Journal review, Barton Swaim sees the book as an unverifiable "gossipy" collection of "every unseemly tidbit he could extract from murmuring White House staffers" written as though he "were the omniscient narrator of a novel."

[51] Axios reporters Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen wrote that parts of the book were "wrong, sloppy, or betray[ed] off-the-record confidence.

"[53] Aaron Blake of The Washington Post wrote that "Wolff seems to have arrived at a stunning amount of incredible conclusions that hundreds of dogged reporters from major newspapers haven't.

"[55] David Sexton of the London Evening Standard said the book is a political exposé worth reading and is "destined to become the primary account of the first nine months of the Trump presidency.

"[56] While being interviewed during Fire and Fury's publicity tour, Wolff told Bill Maher that he was "absolutely sure" President Trump was having an affair, and said that a close reading of his book could reveal who his partner was.