President Trump has once again proved that he is the best promoter since P.T. Barnum, even when it makes his own administration look like a three-ring circus.

Trump’s over-the-top reaction to Michael Wolff’s book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” guarantees it will be a best-seller.

It was probably going to be one anyway. But now the sales will be off the charts — what better press could an author get than the president himself trying to block a book’s publication?

Trump is the marketing tool from heaven.

If I didn’t think he was genuinely upset about his daughter and adviser, Ivanka, being labeled as dumb as a brick, or his adviser son Donald Jr. and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, being portrayed as lightweights, I’d say he was getting a cut of the royalties.

Trump’s tirade is renewed proof that he has an insatiable need to be at the top of every news cycle. For Trump, plain old good news like the stock market going through the roof or the jobless rate going down just doesn’t cut it.

Slamming former top adviser “Sloppy Steve” Bannon for his comments in “Fire and Fury” or telling North Korea’s nuclear tyrant that “my button is bigger than your button” is much more Trump’s style.

He wants to talk about the book. He wants to have people raise questions about the insults to his daughter, to his son. He wants to be seen as the father-in-law rushing to the defense of his daughter’s husband.

I mean, this guy is a piece of work.

Meanwhile, his top immigration officer tells Fox News that the feds will be coming into California in force, his attorney general takes the gloves off on recreational marijuana, and his interior secretary moves to allow oil drilling off the California coast.

But once again, what gets the nation’s attention is another Trump tantrum.

That’s the bottom line. His biggest need is to be the first story in every newscast. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a news show, a soap opera or reality TV.

He wants to be everywhere. And believe me, he knows better than all of us how to get there.

Dem delight: The new year started on a positive note for Democrats, with the swearing-in of two new U.S. senators, Doug Jones of Alabama and Tina Smith of Minnesota. The event also saw the reunion of two Democratic former vice presidents, Joe Biden and Walter Mondale.

California’s two distinguished senators, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, were on prominent display.

The Senate now has the most women it’s ever had, 22. It also has three African Americans, four Latinos and three Asian Americans. Not exactly what you call diverse, considering there are 100 senators, but it’s moving in that direction.

Tell you another direction in which it’s moving — Democratic control. And maybe the House, too, come November.

I’m not predicting. I’m just saying.

But if the Democrats want to get there, they’ll have to pick candidates with general-election appeal — not just the pure ones who can win a primary and lose the campaign that counts. The lessons of Virginia and Alabama should not be forgotten.

Roll out: On the local front, former Supervisor Angela Alioto’s stage-managed submission of her San Francisco mayoral campaign papers was the best political theater I have seen in years.

It looked like the wedding party, with Alioto surrounded by guys in black suits and white shirts and a contingent of equally well-dressed children and a host of other supporters, all carrying “Angela for Mayor” signs.

With Alioto leading the way. It was the perfect backdrop for her long-overdue return to politics.

The Alioto brand is widely recognizable, and with her sense of theater still intact, she will command attention come June.

Cap it: We have got to do something about traffic in the city. It is getting more dense and congested by the day.

Maybe it’s time for the state to put a cap on the number of ride-hailing cars we can have on any given day. A cap would probably raise prices, but it would also help the drivers make a decent wage.

False hope: The Raiders’ season just completed its crash and burn, leaving only the smoldering remains — a fired coach and a roster of underperformers, led by a quarterback coming off a broken leg and fractured back.

You think Jon Gruden is going to fix this mess? It makes about as much sense as bringing me back as interim mayor.

Of course, I might do it for $100 million.

Want to sound off? Email: wbrown@sfchronicle.com