Remember Fire And Fury? The shocking book written by the only somewhat reputable Michael Wolff, who — through the Donald Trump‘s sheer mismanagement — had been given free reign in the White House?
This is so much worse.
Fear: Trump In The White House still shows an administration lacking competence and compassion, but this time it’s from a more reputable source — Bob Woodward, one of the two reporters who broke the Watergate story.
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Through hundreds of hours of taped interviews with White House aides and their associates, Woodward has come up with a picture very much like what it appears to be on its face.
Trump is an “idiot” and “unhinged” with no idea how to govern the White House let alone the country. Just look at some of the most unnerving passages obtained in advance by CNN (below):
1. “He’s An Idiot”
Woodward reports that Defense Secretary James Mattis tried to explain why the United States even had troops in South Korea, telling him in a January 2018 meeting it was “in order to prevent World War III.”
Trump said the U.S. was being played for “suckers.”
Later Mattis told associates Trump had the national security understanding of a “fifth or sixth grader.”
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is quoted as saying at a staff meeting about Trump:
“He’s an idiot. It’s pointless to try to convince him of anything. He’s gone off the rails. We’re in crazytown. I don’t even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I’ve ever had.”
Remember, this isn’t some anti-Trumper. This is Trump’s right hand man, the hand of the king.
And even he thinks the POTUS is an idiot.
2. “Got To Protect The Country”
According to the book, former chief economic adviser Gary Cohn realized Trump might sign a letter withdrawing the U.S. from our trade agreement with South Korea — limiting our ability to keep tabs on North Korea’s missile launches.
So he literally hid the paper to keep the POTUS from signing it. He told an associate:
“I stole it off his desk. I wouldn’t let him see it. He’s never going to see that document. Got to protect the country.”
He wasn’t the only one doing this.
Former staff secretary Rob Porter, who himself was ousted due to a domestic violence scandal, said he too was constantly stealing and hiding documents from Trump:
“A third of my job was trying to react to some of the really dangerous ideas that he had and try to give him reasons to believe that maybe they weren’t such good ideas.”
3. “Weak D**k”
We’ve already seen how Trump calls people names.
But anyone who still thinks that’s some public facade and that the POTUS is playing “three-dimensional chess” should take a look at how he treats those on his team.
According to witnesses, Trump called his Attorney General Jeff Sessions “mentally r*******” and a “dumb southerner” before mocking his accent.
Trump called his former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus “a little rat” who “scurries around” the White House.
And after Rudy Giuliani went on TV to defend him when the Access Hollywood tape came out, then-candidate Trump said to him:
“Rudy, you’re a baby. I’ve never seen a worse defense of me in my life. They took your diaper off right there. You’re like a little baby that needed to be changed. When are you going to be a man?”
Of course Trump has had horrible things to say about Barack Obama, but it’s not like he called him a “weak d**k” in the debates like he reportedly did in private.
4. “He Just Made Something Up”
Trump apparently really does want to do the interview with special prosecutor Robert Mueller, who is investigating the Russian conspiracy and Trump’s obstruction of that investigation.
Or he did at one time anyway.
The book asserts he came close enough that his then-lawyer John Dowd did a mock interview in which he asked the President what Mueller would ask. (We already knew his team asked for and promptly leaked the list of questions.)
Dowd says Trump acted like an “aggrieved Shakespearean king” who told lie after lie to try to protect himself.
When Dowd told him it was a mistake, he says Trump told him:
“I think the President of the United States cannot be seen taking the fifth.”
To which Dowd responded:
“There’s no way you can get through these. … Don’t testify. It’s either that or an orange jump suit.”
Most shockingly, along with still-current-as-of-this-writing lawyer Jay Sekulow, Dowd actually told Mueller all of this and even re-enacted some of the mock interview for him.
Dowd says he told the special prosecutor Trump literally didn’t have the ability to sit there and honestly answer questions because:
“He just made something up. That’s his nature.”
Or as Dowd told Woodward, the president is “a f**king liar.”
5. “I’m Just Hearing About It”
One of the Trumpiest moments comes from after the book itself was finished.
Woodward tried multiple times to interview the POTUS directly, but Trump didn’t reach out until after the book was done to say he wished he could have participated.
It’s that same level of disingenuousness as his call saying he wished Omarosa hadn’t been fired — as though he didn’t have the power to bring her back on.
Trump says none of the people Woodward reached out to ever actually told him about the book. Then Woodward mentions Senator Lindsey Graham swore he told the president.
Trump’s response?
“I’m just hearing about it. And I heard — I did hear from Lindsey, but I’m just hearing about it.”
He can’t even help contradicting himself in a single sentence.
And that call? It’s all on tape, courtesy of the Washington Post:
[Image via Johnny Louis/WENN.]
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