Article snippet: WASHINGTON — Few people have more power in President Trump’s White House than Madeleine Westerhout, his executive assistant who controls access to the Oval Office, delivers the president’s marker-scribbled messages, sends orders to top military officials, prints emails and articles to show Trump, and seeks to keep a tight grip on his schedule. But she was not always a staunch supporter of the president. On election night, Westerhout, then a Republican National Committee aide, broke down crying, ‘‘inconsolable’’ over Trump winning the election. ‘‘To the amusement of her RNC peers, she was later chosen as the president’s executive assistant and now sits just outside the Oval Office,’’ writes Tim Alberta in ‘‘American Carnage,’’ a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post ahead of its scheduled release Tuesday. The book is filled with vivid details and on-the-record quotes from prominent Republican officials and includes an interview with Trump, who gleefully takes credit for the GOP’s shift while standing over the Oval Office desk and waving a poll that shows his approval numbers as soaring from his State of the Union. ‘‘Can there be a question?’’ Trump says, smirking, when asked by Alberta if he is transitional or transformational. ‘‘Honestly, can there even be a question?’’ ‘‘The tea party still exists — except now it’s called Make America Great Again . . . The Republican Party was in big trouble. I brought the party back. The Republican Party is strong.... Link to the full article to read more