FEAR: Trump In The White House by Bob Woodward

William Spivey
Sep 4, 2018 · 3 min read

For those that don’t know, Bob Woodward along with Carl Bernstein were responsible, perhaps more than any others for bringing down Richard Nixon as President in the Watergate era. Their dogged reporting in the pages of the Washington Post provided the information that led to Nixon’s Impeachment in the House and Senate hearings that led to his resignation. Portrayed by Robert Redford in the movie, “All The President’s Men.” Woodward has as much credibility as any reporter in American history, save Walter Cronkite. He’s known for his thoroughness, his ability to get interviews, and the veracity of his reporting.

Excerpts from his newest book on Donald Trump could easily have been titled, “Trump: It’s Worse Than You Think,” because indeed it is. Excerpts from the book, due to be released September 11, 2018, reveal how Trump is viewed by those who work closest to him. Then again, “Fear” as a title is quite appropriate as well. Here are some examples:

“Don’t testify. It’s either that or an orange jumpsuit” — John Dowd

To convince Trump not to grant an interview to the Mueller team. His lead attorney John Down scheduled a mock interview on January 27th, 2018. Facing stiff questions from Dowd, Trump stumbled, rambled and lied, before eventually throwing up his hands calling the investigation, “a goddamn hoax.” Dowd later met with the Mueller team saying, “I’m not going to let the President look like an idiot.”

“We’re in Crazytown. I don’t even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I’ve ever had.” — John Kelly

Trump constantly belittled his staff. He told Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, “I don’t want you doing any more deals. You’re past your prime.” When White House adviser Gary Cohn tried to resign after Trump’s Charlottesville comments equating Neo-Nazis, skinheads and Klan members with protesters, Trump accused him of treason. According to Cohn, he viewed Trump as “a professional liar.” About Jeff Sessions he said, The guy is mentally retarded. He’s this dumb Southerner. He couldn’t even be a one-person lawyer down in Alabama.

“This was no longer a presidency. This is no longer a White House. This is a man being who he is.” — Rob Porter

Chief of Staff John Kelly reportedly called Trump, “an idiot.” Since the excerpts were published has denied this although that comment had been widely reported early in his tenure. Defense Secretary Mattis said, “He has the foreign policy understanding of a fifth or sixth grader. Former Chief of Staff calls the Presidential bedroom, “the devil’s workshop.”

“Nobody told me about it, and I would’ve loved to have spoken to you. You know I’m very open to you. I think you’ve always been fair.” — Donald Trump

This is what Trump said before the excerpts came out. Something vastly different is coming to a tweet near you, once someone reads the book and tells Trump what’s in it. We know all too well the President doesn’t read.

Look for wide-ranging responses to come out of the White House. Expect none of them to be true. Another day in the life of this raggedy Presidency.

https://www.amazon.com/Fear-Trump-White-Bob-Woodward/dp/1501175513

William Spivey

Written by

Writer, poet, wannabe philosopher. Elsewhere I write about politics, race and social justice at Enigmainblack.wordpress.com. Here… it’s personal!

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