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Bob Woodward’s new book? Nothing but a joke, Donald Trump tweeted. They all made up stories with the aim of hurting him. The president of the United States even suggested tightening the defamation laws because of the book. Well that was in 2018. The Book of Legends at the time Washington Post-The journalist Woodward was called “Fear”, fear. And it said, for example, that Trump said some ugly things about his then attorney general, Jeff Sessions. Among other things, that he was a “stupid southerner” and “retarded.”
Woodward’s new book on the Trump presidency will be published on September 15. It has a similar catchy title: “Rage”, it just means rage. The difference: This time around, Trump won’t be able to easily dismiss the book as a fictitious lie. The quotes that made headlines in the US after the first advance posts on Wednesday are clearly from Trump. Woodward has them all engraved.
That’s perhaps the most surprising thing about the book, from The Woodward That Employer. Washington Post, widely cited, including relevant audio recordings. Woodward was able to speak to Trump directly and “on tape” 18 times, with the recording device working. He did not have this opportunity for the book “Fear”.
On February 7, for example, Trump called Woodward with his thoughts on the unfolding crown crisis. He revealed an incredibly realistic view of the virus: “You just inhale the air and that’s how it spreads,” Trump said. “And that is very difficult. It is very delicate. It is more deadly than a strong flu.” To underline that, he said, “This is deadly.”
That sounded very different from what Trump had previously communicated to the public about the virus. “We have it completely under control,” he said in late January. “Everything will be fine.” As is well known, it was not. More than 6.3 million people have been infected in the United States since then. About 190,000 of them died. The virus is not getting worse in any comparable industrial nation. Woodward wants to know how the two are doing together. Trump’s response: “I want to be honest with you, I always wanted to downplay it. I still want to downplay it because I don’t want to panic.”
If it had just been that and the Trump administration had done everything humanly possible in the background to control the spread of the virus, surely fewer people would be dead today, but Trump doesn’t seem to have been interested in that.
Woodward writes that Trump never seemed ready to “fully mobilize” the power of his administration. Instead, it seemed to “constantly transfer problems to the states.” There was no “real management theory” in the Trump administration to deal with “one of the most complex emergencies the United States has ever faced.” In other words, the Trump administration had no plans.
It’s not that Trump is hiding his views. It’s an open book about that. But Woodward pulls out some statements that Trump probably wouldn’t make on stage.
A conversation on June 19 is about privileged whites. Woodward notes that he and Trump belonged to a generation of white Americans who began life with many privileges. What if this could lead to the responsibility of better understanding “anger and pain” of many African Americans. “No,” says Trump, and on the recording it sounds like he’s completely outraged that someone could ask such a question. “You really drank Kool-Aid, didn’t you? Listen to yourself! Wow. No, I don’t feel that at all.”
The phrase “drinking Kool-Aid” refers to an event in the late 1970s. At the time, 903 members of the cult, including 304 children, died in one day in a mass suicide after having consumed a soda mixed with the cyanide poison at the urging of his guru. According to legend, it was a “Kool-Aid” drink. Trump apparently believes that Woodward also follows some sinister forces when he is concerned about the fears and concerns of the black population.
It is also quite surprising how much North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un flattered Trump. Woodward gains access to the letters Kim sent to Trump. You need to get used to the sound. In a letter the dictator writes that he is in favor of another historic meeting between him and “His Excellency.” Even their first meeting, Kim recalled “scenes from a fantasy movie.” His meetings with Trump are a “precious memory.” They stressed how the “deep and special friendship between us will act as a magical force.” Who could resist that?
In another letter, Kim wrote to Trump: “I am delighted to have developed good relations with such a powerful and outstanding statesman as His Excellency.” And on another occasion, Kim reflects on “that moment in history when I held tightly to His Excellency’s hand in the beautiful and sacred place while the whole world watched with great interest.”
According to what Woodward writes, Trump is said to have been particularly impressed that Kim addressed him with “Your Excellency.” Kim is far more than smart, Trump said. In any case, he fully understands that Kim doesn’t want to give up his nuclear weapons arsenal so quickly: “He’s really like someone who is in love with his house and just can’t sell it.”
According to the book, Trump shows more understanding for dictator Kim than his own generals. Because they were apparently more concerned about America’s relationship with its allies than about new trade deals, Trump is reported to have told his trade adviser Peter Navarro that his “fucking generals” were a “bunch of fags.”
Former Trump Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who should be added to the “bunch of pussies,” had probably already established a clear stance on Trump while in office. Addressing then-intelligence coordinator Dan Coats, he is said to have said, “The president has no moral compass.” A thesis that is apparently completely covered by this Woodward book.
