Washington is once again being rocked by scandal following the publication of an insider account of the White House, this time by same the journalist who broke Watergate.
- White House staff call Donald Trump 'idiot', 'unhinged' in new book by Bob Woodward
- 'Quiet resistance' fighting Trump from inside the White House - report
Now an Associate Editor at the Washington Post, Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Woodward's latest book, Fear: Inside the Trump White House was released Tuesday (local time) and paints a damning picture of an administration in chaos.
Based on interviews with current and former White House staff, it describes many top officials being either openly disrespectful of their Commander in Chief or taking active measures to thwart him- including stealing documents from his desk.
In an interview with NBC yesterday, Mr Woodward said "I've never seen a President so detached from the reality of what's going on."
About the book:
It makes explosive claims, including:
Mr Trump is described as having the policy understanding of a "5th or 6th grader" (eleven year-old) by Secretary of Defence James Mattis
Mr Trump allegedly told Gary Cohn, former Director of the National Economic Council, to 'just print money' during a conversation about national debt. Mr Cohn also allegedly removed documents from the President's desk to keep him from signing them.
Mr Trump allegedly phoned Secretary of Defense Mattis and said he wanted to take out Syrian President Assad, saying "Let's fu***** kill him! Let's go in. Let's kill the fu***** lot of them,"
Former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus reportedly said of the President "[he] has zero psychological ability to recognize empathy or pity in any way,"
Mr Trump's former personal lawyer, John Dowd, panicked at the thought of him being interviewed by Robert Mueller, reportedly saying "the guys overseas are going to say, 'I told you he was an idiot. I told you he was a goddamn dumbbell. What are we dealing with this idiot for?'
Its author has experience with political scandal
Bob Woodward, along with his colleague Carl Bernstein, was instrumental in revealing President Richard Nixon's connection to phone tapping at the Watergate Hotel and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1973. He won another in 2002 for his coverage of the September 11 attacks. His work on Watergate was adapted into the 1976 film, All the President's Men.
President Trump denies all claims in the book
The President rejects all assertions in the book and hasn't ruled out legal action. Several key figures quoted in the book, including James Mattis, have also publicly denied making the comments quoted.
In an interview with the Independent, Mr Woodward was unsurprised by the pushback, saying it was a matter of political necessity for those involved.
"You crank out the great Washington denial machine. I've seen this over the years, going back to the Nixon case."
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