Fire and Fury: Trump tell all set to become biggest-selling non-fiction book in recent times

In less than three-weeks, Michael Wolff's tell-all has sold more than 1.7 million copies

The book detailing Donald Trump’s first year in office appears on track to become one of the fastest selling nonfiction books in recent years.

Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House has sold more than 1.7 millions copies in hardback, e-books and audio since it was published less than three weeks ago, publisher Henry Holt & Co said.

Author Michael Wolff behind the scenes tell-all of the Trump administration's first year in office remains at No 1 on Amazon.com and other bestseller lists.

NPD BookScan, which tracks around 85 per cent of sales for physical books, said that its numbers for Fire and Fury rose for the third straight week.

The firm said Fire and Fury sold more than 300,000 copies last week and more than 500,000 copies overall as retailers are finally catching up with demand. NPD BookScan does not register a sale until the book has actually been sent to the customer.

John Sargent, CEO of Holt's parent company MacMillan, said that e-book sales for Fire and Fury had exceeded 250,000 copies and more than 100,000 have been sold in audio form.

Only 150,000 copies were printed for the books initial run.

Nonfiction books rarely sell 1 million copies so quickly, although Bill Clinton's My Life and Sarah Palin's Going Rogue, both reached seven figures two weeks after publication.

Holt president and publisher Stephen Rubin recently said that he first learned about a possible Trump book when he and Mr Wolff dined late in 2016.

Shortly after Mr Trump's surprise election victory, Mr Wolff told him that he had a "really good chance" to get White House access for the new administration.

Mr Rubin, who had released Mr Woolf's 2008 biography of Rupert Murdoch, The Man Who Owns the News, said he quickly worked out a deal to publish the Trump book.

"A 150,000 first printing, in today's world, speaks to being widely confident in what we had," Mr Rubin said. "Did we know it would turn out like this? Of course not. No one would know that. But we knew we had a really good book that was going to make noise."

Announcing Fire and Fury last November, Holt promised a "white-hot light on a president who made it possible for his family to take over 'the people's house,' even as other members of Trump's inner circle tried to govern while serving their unpredictable and often vituperative boss."

Mr Rubin said he was hoped Mr Trump would tweet about the book, which the President duly did. Sales exploded after he not only tweeted but also threatened to sue the publisher and author.

The book claims Mr Trump never really wanted to be President and First Lady Melania Trump is said to have wept on election night because she had not wanted him to win.

One with a former campaign aide told the author that they had tried to teach Mr Trump about the US Constitution, only for him to get bored after the Fourth Amendment.

Additional reporting by AP