Bob Woodward: WH Staffers Hid Docs From Trump ‘to Protect the Country’

Trump, moreover, never stopped belittling his subordinates, according to Woodward. Woodward explained that he’s disappointed Trump didn’t sit down for an interview for the book and said he put in several requests. “President Trump. or President Trump?”

Trump reportedly attacked his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, in private even more harshly than he does in his regular Twitter tirades about the first U.S. senator to endorse his presidential campaign.

BW:.it goes on, and I. What you can count on is that I’ve been very careful.

“I have the pleasure of being privy to those conversations. and I have not once heard the president talk about assassinating Assad”, Haley told reporters on Tuesday.

Breitbart News exclusively reported that Mattis had actually told senators that the summit was one of the “most productive” he had ever attended.

But within a few minutes, Trump changed his story.

Woodward’s devastating account is called “Fear: Trump in the White House“, and it’s published by Simon & Schuster, a division of CBS.

While he does not name his sources, Woodward says he spoke with many people now or formerly working for Trump as he conducted research for “Fear”, discussing not just the president’s personality but also major policy debates regarding North Korea and Afghanistan.

“Let’s go in. Let’s kill the ******* lot of them”. “That is true. That is true”.

Unlike previous books about the Trump White House, Mr Wood- ward’s work was extensively researched with dozens of tape interviews with sources, making it harder for the President to dispute the claims.

A President who prizes loyalty and self-image above all is left exposed and isolated in his own White House, viewed with contempt by those who serve him and open to ridicule by others who see his swaggering, domineering brand as a front for inadequacy.

Trump began to bristle but tried to joke. But you know, they – it was rejected.

What I take away from all this is that Mattis is in a hard position.

It was a surreal moment, since Conway has direct access to the President.

Still, the president is quoted as telling Dowd he would be “a real good witness” despite later losing his cool during a practice session, according to the Post account, and saying, “This thing’s a goddamn hoax”, and “I don’t really want to testify”, according to the published excerpts.

Trump did not speak to Woodward until after the book’s manuscript was completed. “Maybe I wasn’t given messages that he called”, the president told the conservative news outlet. “I have two, three secretaries”. Trump responded, according to Woodward, “Oh, okay”. Trump puffed up his chest to imitate former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and likened his former chief of staff Reince Priebus to “a little rat” who “scurries around”.

“Yeah, OK”, Trump replied.

“The contemptuous words about the president attributed to me in Woodward’s book were never uttered by me or in my presence”, Mattis said in a statement.

“Nobody told me about it, and I would’ve loved to have spoken to you”.

“I believe in our country”, Woodward said.

BW: Evelyn Duffy, who’s my assistant, Mr. President.

Thank you for signing up.. “I appreciate it. Bye”.

Most of the transcript reveals a boggling back and forth between Woodward and Trump (with a guest appearance by White House counselor Kellyanne Conway) about Woodward’s many unsuccessful attempts to interview Trump for the book, called “Fear”.

Woodward’s reporting brings a credibility that distinguishes this book from previous efforts on Trump.

A Bob Woodward expose book has been a rite of passage for presidential administrations since the storied investigative reporter first made a name for himself by breaking Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal. “Fear” is due to be published September 11.