No one needed to hear from Bob Woodward that Jim Mattis thinks Trump is an idiot. It has always been obvious to anyone who watched him.
I just hope we can keep the few grown ups in the room.
10
Before Trump was elected he already proved himself to be a: pathological liar; racist; dim witted treasonous dotard; psychological abuser; moron; self-sycophant; pervert...
So what’s the big deal that Woodward reveals more astonishing behaviors and reactions from the inner sanctum.
Frankly I expected a more revelatory tome from Woodward. One that possibly investigated and discovered something that the world didn’t know about or couldn’t assume was taking place.
Like, what dirt does Trump have on the RepubliCONs that keeps them willing participants in this farce?
How about proving Trump launders money?
At least something with magnitude other than more outlandish fodder for the comedy and punditry.
14
Well, what else can be said? Didn't we all know all of this all along? It's been obvious all of Donald Trump's life.
Speaking of "Fear", now that we're staring the truth about Trump directly in the eyes once again, here's another article I read that is frighteningly homologous. The writer centers on Europe but he could easily center on Trump's USA.
I survived the Warsaw ghetto. Here are the lessons I’d like to pass on
Stanisław Aronson
Wed 5 Sep 2018 01.00 EDT Last modified on Wed 5 Sep 2018 08.52 EDT
I’m 93, and, as extremism sweeps across Europe, I fear we are doomed to repeat the mistakes which created the Holocaust
Read the rest:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/05/survived-warsaw-gh...
10
Just repeating -
Unfit, unfit for the office of the presidency....dementia, Alzheimer's, I don't know... but the malignant narcissist pathological liar developmentally delayed fifth grader has got to go.
14
As "bad" a job as people may think Mattis and Kelly are doing, name me a person who could do it "better"? Sure they could all resign and leave a vacuum and have these positions filled by Ivanka Trump and Alex Jones because that is what we really want right?
You have an unhinged president, elected by due process, should only be removed by due process. His base loves his "unhingeness" and will go to the ends of the earth to defend him.
The rest of us deal with real life consequences like what happens if NAFTA is broken or NATO falls apart or North Korea nukes South Korea? You know important stuff that can't be dealt with on Twitter.
Sometimes in life you have bad options. You chose the least bad option. In case of WH staff they have to deal with an undealable president and they do what they can everyday to manage the situation. Some days are worse than others. But for the most part, so far these generals et all have been able to control the worst of the presidential impulses. Imagine a scenario in which NATO and NAFTA don't exist, Iran is being bombed and North Korea is attacked, trade wars with all countries and wall South of the border? These are the impulses of the president. And for the most part they have been managed. But then no one can truly manage Trump 100% of the time. He is not built like that.
7
Hmmm... do you guys really think that every word in Woodward’s book is TRUE? Do you guys not think that Woodward has some agenda in slandering the hell out of Trump knowing there will be no repercussions on his end?
Everyone needs to take a step back and check out the source and understand that Woodward has a target audience (inflamed liberals desperate for details without considering the truth). This book is not a book of facts of 100% truth, this is a book of lies.
Everyone please stop making conclusions based off one’s unfactual book. Woodward has obviously gotten attention and press with his slandering comments.
3
Comparing Trump to a "fifth or sixth grader" is an insult to elementary school students. My third grader is more inquisitive and open to learning what she doesn't understand than Trump. The smartest people I have ever met know when they don't know something and are willing to learn.
25
President Trump is vulgar, childish, narcissistic, petty, and unprincipled--an ignoramus wholly unsuited for high office. Or any office.
But hasn't he pursued a pretty traditional Republican agenda? Lowering taxes for the wealthiest citizens, unleashing corporate predators from confining restraints, rolling back Obama-era policies to address climate change and protect endangered wildlife and fragile ecosystems, dehumanizing minority groups and women and making it more difficult for ordinary folks to realize the American dream--these are all policies we've come to expect from Republicans.
Sure he's gross and disgusting, but his racism and short-sightedness and greedy self-serving capitalism are Republican values that (almost) any other Republican president would embrace. Trump is just dumb enough to give voice to his beliefs where other Republicans would be more circumspect or perhaps just resort to dog-whistles.
20
The comments by Mattis are an unforgivable insult to fifth and sixth graders.
17
I have a sixth-grader who is insulted by this headline.
15
If even half of the allegations made here are indeed true, it paints a grim and worrisome picture of the president and his advisors. The president has painted his own picture, and it is best seen through rose colored glasses.
3
While we are addressing presidential administrations we should consider that the office of President still has a salary of $400,000.00 a year. A salary review for the job has not been done since President Clinton was in office 25 years ago.
Why oh why do the democrats insist on giving the election to Trump. This constant bashing strengthens the base. Why don’t the dems go back to basics and help support the legal working class citizens of this country ? You have lost your way. Your coastal elitism will be the death of your party and it’s ideals.
45
@Bill Lombard: “Coastal elitism”? Where did I read that term before? I guess Putin couldn’t have stated it better...
13
And all we heard in the past is how Democrats lacked the "passion" of conservative Republicans. Democratic candidates are talking about local issues that resonate with their base, like healthcare, Medicaid and Medicare. Sorry, Bill - hear us roar!
8
If White House staffers resigned en masse and brought their stories into the public domain, Trump would be out of there in 2 weeks, max!!!! They are complicit in his criminal enterprise.
9
I think Gen. Mattis’ comment on Trump’s comprehension of nuclear war is really unfair to fifth- and sixth-graders. They would comprehend the risks better than Trump.
8
Three things are needed:
1. Congressional redistricting must be done by outside non-partisan committees to end gerrymandering.
2. Eliminate the Electoral College
3. Overturn Citizen's United
In order for these things to happen, we must vote in big numbers and turn over the Congress.
15
Why would Congress, in its current configuration, do anything to remove the current White House tenant from office? They are living their most cherished dream: Running the country as they please with no one to stop them. If the House and Senate remain in Republican hands after the midterm elections, expect nothing to change. Things won't get better until they get much worse.
71
New York Times - please update the titles of Gen Mattis and Gen Kelly to General. They currently state “Mr.” which is inappropriate for these officials and serves to sully an otherwise well written article.
5
Why does the Times continue to edit the statements of Donald Trump. If you would only use the actual quote, readers would under the insanity, impulsiveness and crudeness of this adolescent president.
12
I read the transcript of Woodward and Trump on the phone. Several thoughts: Trump undeniably DOES speak like a sixth grader selling candy to raise funds for his school teams. And the chaos and dissembling of the WH as displayed in the transcript -NO ONE got a message to DJT that Woodward was on the phone? Complete with covering the mouthpiece and whispering back and forth (Trump and Conway)? Making it up as they go along? Finally, Bob Woodward has proved fully that when he is seeking a conversation with a President, he is nobody's fool - he's been doing this for a very long time; dither around with him at your peril. Trump dug his own grave by his great fear of having a serious intellectual conversation with someone like Woodward; he can't cut it when rah-rah blather won't work. Shame on us for accepting his juvenile, fumbling play-time at the Presidency!
15
At what point will the Cabinet and Congress finally invoke the 25th Amendment, Section 4 and relieve us of this disaster of a Presidency? There is hope if Democrats regain the House and maybe even the Senate in November. Until then, many of us live in fear that the Orange Menace will become completely uncontrollable and put us and the rest of the world in unbelievable jeopardy.
When will the Republicans stand up and do what they agreed to do when they took their oath of office, i.e., defend and protect the United States of America?
5
What's even more frightening is that if trump resigns or is impeached and convicted, pence steps in...The chaos and drama stop, a more methodical, organized and driven administration steps in. More Christian conservative values.
Frank Bruni summed pence up in his July 29 op Ed. I hope he re-issues it.
Pence is a dangerous man.
We are truly caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
15
Gotta admit, I’m loving the backlash from my comment yesterday. Thanks moderators!
As a Trump voter, I suggested that if Woodward's revelations are true, Trump should be removed, and in response Blackcat66 listed a whole heap of reasons why Trump is a bad guy who failed at everything and shouldn’t have been trusted with the presidency in the first place. The moderators made that response (which had nothing to do with the article) a "Times Pick" and I was pounced upon by droves of angry lefties, still bitter at losing the election.
Of course, for all of Trump's flaws, unemployment across the board is at all time lows, the economy is booming, consumer optimism is way up, most of the country got a tax break, and for the first time there's a possible break in the nuclear stalemate with North Korea. He is also challenging political correctness, rejecting the immigration policies which are destroying parts of Europe, and exposing that our mainstream media is corrupt and biased.
Trump may be obnoxious, but frankly, he’s doing a pretty good job on many fronts. That is an unexpected, pleasant surprise, but the point is, I believed Trump was the best way to destroy the establishment, and now 2 years later the GOP is toast and the Democrats are at war with themselves. Done and done.
Voting for Trump was absolutely the right choice. If Hillary would have won the whole country would have gone back to sleep and we’d be stuck with the status quo.
Happy to debate anyone on that.
4
All the article says is that a grade school bully could have done the same, with the uncles and aunts running after him preventing the worst. No special skills required. And hold your North Korea. Kim is light years ahead of Trump.
Although your other statements are factual correct, the reasoning isn't. Your attitude is fundamentally nihilistic, destruction does not equal progress and during times of chaos there is always profit initially as the substance is being destroyed until the reckoning sets in.
That will come and it won't be pretty.
And I'm not a lefty, I'm a conservative.
8
@Kara Ben Nemsi
I appreciate your points about the danger, but there's nothing nihilistic about recognizing a corrupt, rigged system and an apathetic electorate who allows wedge issues to keep them voting for one of two choices, hand-picked by corporations.
Historically, destruction has been the greatest impetus for progress.
1
It has to be said that there is far to much smoke coming from the White House for Trump's claims that there isn't a fire to be believed.
5
it is still absolutely incomprehensible to me how a person who talks the way he does could possibly become president of the usa...
?????
23
The scariest part about all of this is that 30-40% of members of the voting public are just as ignorant, if not moreso.
12
That both James Mattis and John Kelly dismissed “contemptuous words” that Bob Woodward attributed to them in his book, shouldn’t be seen as sign of their cowardice. In fact they want to put on a brave face and stick around, not to save their own skin, but to prevent Trump from doing harm to the country and the wider world.
Trump is totally unfit for the office. His “frustrated aides who sometimes resort to extraordinary measures” to derail his destructive policies and actions are praiseworthy. Their “administrative coup d’état” shows that America is still a functioning democracy. But there’s a risk that Trump may now contemplate getting rid of them and surrounding himself more with yes-men, which would further weaken the country.
13
An administrative coup d’etat doesn’t demonstrate a functioning democracy. It demonstrates that a duly elected President (assuming Russian collusion/interference had no material effect) is being thwarted from doing his job by his unelected staff. I’m glad if staff are truly putting the brakes on Trump’s most dangerous impulses, but it’s not a sign of a functioning democracy. Moreover, wouldn’t it be braver if senior staff stand up as one and say there is a madman in the White House?
12
This book is lacks credibility. There is no way Mattis would describe Trump as having the understanding of fifth or sixth grader. Had it been a second grader, or a five or six year old, I would believe it. This gives Trump too much credit.
20
Paul McCartney’s new album (out on Friday) includes a song about trimp with the lyrics, “Lock him up.”
We have a “president” who is both crazy and dangerous.
11
The Times said that one of the five take away's of "Fear" is that "Mr. Trump’s advisers are repeatedly stunned by the president’s lack of interest in and knowledge of major issues."
This isn't really news. It is observable to those of us who are outside the White House. But it does beg the question, if he doesn't care about major issues or policies why did he want to be President?
It seems that the answer is in his words and actions: he believes the presidents rules over people and he wanted to use that rule to make things better for him, worse for others, and to undue whatever it was his predecessor did.
14
Best quotes so far:
“When you put a snake and a rat and a falcon and a rabbit and a shark and a seal in a zoo without walls, things start getting nasty and bloody.”
- Reince Priebus, describing Trump’s core advisers.
“John, I understand.”
- Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III's response to John Dowd, Trump's lead counsel in the special counsel investigation into Russian election interference, when Mr. Dowd, in describing to Director Mueller why he was trying to keep the president from testifying, noted: “I’m not going to sit there and let him look like an idiot. And you publish that transcript, because everything leaks in Washington, and 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?’ ”
"Never once — never — did I think Woodward made it up. Anonymous sources have looser lips and may take liberties. But Woodward always plays [it] straight.”
- Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary under President George W. Bush, regarding the journalist’s reporting and methods.
18
Now it seems to me what Nixon did for his resignation was a tiny thing compared to what the current president is doing.
15
Since DJT so vehemently castigated Woodward's book...you know it's just gotta be true.
21
It appears that Trump holds the record for books published on an incumbent president . As a post apprentice moment, it doesn’t get much better for him.
3
Donald J. Chaos & Co. are the party of wrong. Corporate profits at an all time high. Solution? Corporate tax cut. Result? Stock buybacks and higher dividends. Strongest military in the world. Solution? Give them more money then they can spend efficiently. Result? Same strong military at an inflated cost. Innocent Black Americans being killed in our streets by overzealous police. Solution? Rescind DOJ police reform program. Result? More innocent Black Americans being killed in our streets by overzealous police. Personal income tax rate lowest in many years. Solution? Personal income tax rate cut. Result? Rich get richer with money they do not need. American Neo-Nazis demonstrating in our streets. Solution? Claim there were very fine people among their supporters. Result? Direct Government encouragement of racists and fascists within our own borders. Russia meddled in our 2016 Presidential election. Solution? Claim the resulting investigation is a "witch hunt." Result? Corrupt, treasonous behavior supported by our own GOP party.
Wake up Americans! Blue wave November 2018 !
28
Trumps assassination threat should not have been published. At least not with the name of the victim called out in public.
It enables other leaders to think about implementing that technique in their situations.
I’m not worried, for a number of reasons, that Assad will retaliate in kind.
3
What are the probable shelf lives of Mattis and Kelly in TrumpWorld?
6
The book should be another "nail in the coffin" of a presidency. Instead, all such reporting only further endears this president to his nitwit Republican base. One wonders about the fate of democracy in such a country!
21
Sadly, none of this is news. I can only wonder what we will be at the end of this presidency. Note to democrats, we cannot take four more years, please address the issue of illegal immigration with a realistic solution and stop saying you will eliminate ICE (open the border), you won't get elected and you may not have a country at the end of this. I have just been to China, they are ready to step in and believe me, if you think this administration is bad, wait until China runs the world.
16
@thewriterstuff: If not democratic, at least the Chinese leaders are intelligent and competent, albeit ruthless. Many Americans don't seem to care whether or not they live in a democracy, judging by the percentage that turns out to vote. And the Chinese have universal healthcare.
5
They do not have what you or I would accept as our “universal” healthcare. I witnessed with my own eyes. Fact check.
3
@Steven Siegel: It may not be as extensive or cover as much as in Western countries, but it's universal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_China
Everyone needs to understand:
As DJT becomes more comfortable in the WH, he will revert to type even more so. As he discovers what he can do unilaterally without Congress....pardons, foreign policy, military action, etc.....he will become more dangerous. Beware!
16
It's telling that Trump always accuses other's of what he does: making things up and perpetuating a “con on the public.”
Just as a 5th or 6th grader would.
12
My son is in the 6th grade and he's much more ethical and honest.
5
“Mattis: I didn’t say the ‘contemptuous words’ about Trump included in Woodward book.” (Washington Examiner, 9/4/2018).
I think a lot of Woodward’s sources were probably second and third-hand, but it all amounts to a nothing burger anyway.
Kelly denied calling Trump an idiot, but, even if he did, it’s obviously just a generic term of frustration. There were many times I called a former boss of mine an “idiot,” but now I think he was the best boss I ever had (RIP).
It’s quite a comedown for Woodward. No movie this time starring Robert Redford. The book itself will soon be in the overstock bin.
1
@Ed
Still in denial Ed ?
Many of Woodward's sources were first hand accounts - it says so in the article. Did you read it ?
Mattis is playing a semantics game by being vague about which words were said and which were not - Same game that has been played before when the administration knows what was written is true, but wants a way to try and discredit the author anyway.
6
I was musing aloud just yesterday after Trump's Sessions tweet what he actually says in private. Woodward answered this emphatically.
Aides appear to have invoked the 25th amendment silently going to extraordinary lengths to protect the US (and the world) from Trump's eccentric actions. Unbelievable
7
Writing this with the 5 takeaways article of this book in mind, which does not allow comments. I think that if Muehler proves evidence that Trump committed crimes of corruption, obstruction, etc., then Trump should be charged with those crimes. Referring the findings of the investigation to Congress doesn’t go far enough. Why should we, the American people, stand for a criminal president?
13
Simply put, “Thou shalt not bear false witness” forbids: “ speaking falsely in any matter, lying, equivocating, and any way devising and designing to deceive our neighbour.
Its all in the I's, Trump is incapable of telling the truth, and ignorant. It is also about the U's, unstable, uninformed, unfit for office.
9
There are four possible ends to this story:
1 - Removal from office after the mid-terms;
2 - Resignation after the mid-terms;
3 - Death in office; or
4 - Holds on to power.
You, the American voter alone can make scenarios one and two happen. The other two will leave you in god’s hands. Seize the moment, vote Democrat.
23
When the young JFK became President some of his erstwhile colleagues recollected the PT 480 Sub Lieutenant & wondered aloud his getting salute from Admirals.
The President said it’s the magic of the Presidency that propels a Sub Lieutenant to Commander in Chief.
Marine General Jim Mattis should be aware that the magic of Presidency can transform even an sixth grader to C in C.
Such is the transformational power of the Oval Office
Ahoy! Salute the Chief.
1
@VIOLET BLUE: Nonsense. The presidency amplifies who you really are. With Obama it was his intelligence and dignity. With Trump it is his corruption, greed and mendacity. Decent people salute intelligence and dignity, and condemn corruption, greed and mendacity, whether in a dog catcher or the president of the USA.
12
Do we have to pretend to be surprised? Moreover, do the people in Trump’s circle have to continue their charade–issuing denials, ruffling their stack of papers, acting put out– when the entire world knows that the Emperor has no clothes? They’d have us not believe what we see with our own eyes as, of course, Trump would like.
15
I’m still trying to understand how people can keep supporting him. Where are they mentally?
27
Trump appears to be dangerously out of control.
I hope that Cabinet members are at least beginning to ask each other at what point they need to stage an intervention.
14
As always, Donald Trump's peculiar style of tweet-verse just magnifies the book's credability.
For example: "General (Secretary of Defense) James Mattis and General (Chief of Staff) John Kelly"
That's the writing of a 5th grader who wants you to know, ABOVE ALL, these guys are generals and hold these high positions. Little Donald IS COMPELLED to pass final judgement with Trump-brand "knock it out of the park" logic: Read their powerful job titles!
Understanding Little Donald's immense insecurity, we anticipate: (1) he will try to write his history and (2) he will deploy his 'over-convincing' evidence.
Mattis, Kelly, others are in a nightmare of their making.
Americans still remember Trump's televised 'round-the-horn "PRAISE HIS LEADERSHIP" Cabinet Meeting on 12 June 2017. And Tweet Station Crazytown is "on the air" 24/7.
Citizens are accustomed to Trump sychophants' EVERYTHING'S BETTER THAN NORMAL act. Their denials of Woodward's reporting have zero weight with us. The Trump Love Boat will be their final sitcom.
11
Shouldn't he at least read the book before trashing it?
What did you say? He doesn't read books? I see.
I certainly shall, though. Also look forward to the sequel.
"Paranoia"
13
“Don’t testify. It’s either that or an orange jumpsuit.”
Voting for the orange jumpsuit here. Right now!
24
And thus Jim Mattis in a single statement has defamed fifth and sixth graders everywhere.
29
The longer you stay in this White House, the bigger the advance on your book where you get to claim you stayed to protect the country. Only calculus going on at this point.
4
Laurence J. Peter calls it "The Peter Principle"; leaders rise to their level of incompetence.
4
We have all known this from the beginning. All the many books documenting his behavior. All you have to do is listen to him speak...He is in arrested development. Should not be the the White House, send him to one of his golf courses. How much more do people have to see and know? Thank you Electoral College another triumph !
16
Only one elector elected to change his vote.
That says it all. He even write an op ed in this paper and no other electors followed suit!
I remember by astounded. It seemed the electors would rally to do the right thing.
A painful moment in our history.
3
These accounts and especially this one, because of its author's history of journalistic coups, serve to further isolate Trump's congressional toadies. With the president's own hand-picked executives willing to speak so bluntly and openly, those who don't get their real sentiments on the record will have to defend themselves once Trump falls. Their butts are hanging out over a cliff alongside their patron's.
It's only a question of when the United States president goes down -- and it won't be because of the special counsel, the porn star, the president's former fixer, loose-lipped underlings, GOP turncoats, sexual assault victims or any other extenal forces drilling down on him. It will be because this evil-spirited and corrupt soul can barely breathe without lying or act without sinning. One or all such forces will merely rip open his trail of lies and sins.
Trump's power over all his sycophants relies upon one particular fear, that the president will slash them publicly before they can find cover under which to stab him first. Their acts of support and conspiracies of silence will not be defensible to the people whom they'll have made fools of for believing them.
15
How different is the White House from the typical CEO's office? Fear reigns there, too.
4
Fifth or sixth grader? Mattis gave Trump too much credit.
6
I agree. My year 6 (fifth grade) son is much more empathetic, insightful and clever. He’d never tweet insults in all caps.
2
What makes this fiasco more insane is that Donald Trump has demanded that all his underlings sign confidentiality agreements. More and more each day, we have a Putin and a Kim in the White House.
9
While it seems like another in an endless series of devastating profiles, it’s Woodward, who is above reproach. To get the full flavor of the hilarious quotes, uncensored, read the Post’s story. Trump maybe surrounded by fools, however previously competent or accomplished, but their take-down utterances are great.
6
Unfortunately, there are enough voters who relate to and identify with a fifth grade mentality to generate the electoral votes needed to put such a person in the White House. He did not elect himself. He reflects those who elected him!
12
After reading through a bunch of articulate comments on the sorry state of affairs in the White House, as revealed in Bob Woodward's new book, my first reaction is:
Well, I'M certainly not surprised. Are you?
But if you look below the level of widespread chaos, you get a glimpse of the nefarious agents who are pulling the strings of the clueless puppet President in order to forward their clandestine agendas.
For example, when I read this passage:
"... the chief economic adviser [Cohn] took a letter from the president’s Oval Office desk authorizing the withdrawal of the United States from a trade agreement with South Korea. Mr. Trump, who had planned to sign the letter, never realized it was missing."
I ask myself, how did that letter get there. Clearly, Trump didn't draft it, but somebody who wanted to kill the trade agreement had manipulated the dysfunctional (and apparently ad hoc) White House procedures to draft the document and get it in front of Trump.
Could it have been the Director of the White House National Trade Council (a never-before-seen White House function, dreamed up by [or. more likely, FOR] Trump), author of "Death by China" and two more anti-China screeds, known as pro-tariffs and enemy of agreements like NAFTA and TPP?
No doubt tonight thinking, "Thanks, Mr. Woodward. So THAT'S what happened to my South Korea gambit!"
15
Reading the coverage of Mr. Woodward's latest book in the NYTimes should make everyone more than just worried.
Everyone should be afraid of what is going to happen next when a child, Trump, runs the country. The democratic norms developed over centuries don't seem to exist any longer in the U.S. We have become the laughing stock of the world.
Trump should immediately resign if he has any decency left. Unfortunately, he won't, and the cowardly-hiding GOP won't either do its job and run him out of Washington by impeaching him.
We have turned into the Banana Republic. Thank you, Trump, GOP, and millions of Trump fanatics that can't see the forest for the trees.
What a fiasco!
9
We in South Africa have gone through a period with a rogue President who together with his son and cronies plundered the state. Even though it took time and there is lasting damage, string institutions and the constitution finally stopped him, in spite of his party the ANC protecting him and enabling him to the end. I am shocked that the US seems to have no mechanism to control a President who clearly has a serious personality disorder and at the same time the enormous power to upset the world order. What are you going to do about it?
15
I'd say Secretary of Defense Mattis was being overly generous in his estimation of Trump's comprehension level.
7
Dan Quayle said it best:
“What a terrible thing to have lost one's mind. Or not to have a mind at all. How true that is.”
7
Whatever "chaos" is allegedly present in the WH has very little impact on the nation and the world. The most striking and worrisome revelation, if true, is the suggestion to assassinate the Syrian president. I doubt whether it was a serious order from Trump to his defense secretary. There was a time when innocent children in Syria came under chemical attack and Trump may have asked his DoD secretary to evaluate the assassination of the Syrian president.
All options were on the table and thankfully some were not chosen. Instead Syria came under surgical missile attack in response to the chemical attack on its own people. What Woodward says in the book may help the book sales but in the end what is not to like about keeping world safe and generating fear in countries that mean to do harm.
Trump is a fiery volcano that has erupted in the US capital. He thinks differently, operates out of the box and is unpredictable because he tries not to follow precedents or norms of the establishment. He is probably convinced himself that following the same beaten path to governing will not give rise to results that he wants to see. Making caustic comments and creating a perceived stressful and insecure atmosphere in the WH is something he may thrive on to rule or consider it a "perk" of the job. Trump has not changed, he is forcing change.
As we approach 911 of 2018 and we look back over the period of 2001-2017, USA and the world are in a much better place and that is what matters.
1
“He is very bad, but I still support him because he gives me power and publicity”, said the administration, GOP and the media.
5
When Trump's supporters hear that he is once again, under attack in the press or by Intelligence or by Democrats or by McCain's daughter, it only makes them more fanatical. He knows he doesn't have to work and answer the charges made against him, no matter how true they are. The more negative criticism he gets, the more his base feels that they are under attack too. Reagan did it with his infamous, "There you go again" in his debate with Carter. I want to read Woodward's book but at the same time, I wonder whose cause I'm helping by doing so.
6
The title says it all. The president is afraid of getting caught. His supporters are afraid he'll get caught. His family is afraid they'll get caught. His staff is afraid they'll get caught. And the rest of us are afraid of what he will do...when he gets caught.
14
I am not by nature malevolent but the goings on in our Capital today are pushing me way too far. How can anyone, irrespective of political beliefs, hear what's going on and not at least wonder what is happening to us? I've been here for more than three quarters of a century and never dreamed the sort of atrocities I'm witnessing under this man we dare to call Commander and Chief. It's truly difficult to believe that we just buried what might be our last patriot, a man of principle, integrity and moral justice. I dare say I wouldn't feel safe to even have him in my home, let alone as the leader of my country. Truly sad day for me as well as many whose voices seem not to be heard.
5
Woodward's book: "Trump on Attorney General Jeff Sessions: "This guy is mentally retarded. He's this dumb Southerner. ... How in the world was I ever persuaded to pick him for my attorney general? ... He couldn't even be a one-person country lawyer down in Alabama. What business does he have being attorney general?" "
Oh Lord.... don't under-estimate Southern men - brilliance masked by folksy persona! This could be Trump's undoing....
6
No one is surprised. But the level of detail is a condemnation of Trump and his supporters. Trump will not change. However his supporters, exclusively the GOP members of the House and Senate, can be and should be voted out of office on Nov 6. This is very necessary to bring the system of checks and balances into operation. The GOPers will not do this. They need to go--all of them.
12
With our voting system under attack and domestic barriers being put in place to prevent people from voting - America needs more than our votes to make our voices heard and compel our representatives to respond to the majority. Especially while our country is in peril with a man in office who is clearly impaired. Selling out the WH, gerrymandering the system to control the levers of government, and to enshrine narrow conservative power in the court system is unpatriotic and anti-American.
11
what in the world did people think to erected Von Clownstick?
7
When you go and vote in November. Remember, you must vote out the enablers (Republicans and conservatives) at both the state and federal level.
The enablers at the state level are just a bad as the federal enablers!
44
I wondered why this book was titled “Fear”. Perhaps because fear was the reason Trump did not want to talk Bob Woodward – part of the duo that brought down Nixon. Or perhaps because the Mueller interview dry run with John Dowd instilled such fear in Trump that the occurrence of a real interview became as likely as Trump showing his tax returns.
But the receiving end of fear is foreign to Trump. He’s usually on the dispensing side. Whether he is dealing with supporters at a rally or in The Oval Office with staff, he skillfully uses fear to get his way. In front of his crowds he uses fear of “the other” to tap into the biases and insecurities of his followers to intensify their allegiance. With staff, Trump combines his power with chronically feigned rage to get “his” people to break norms and possibly even laws, in service to him instead of the country and Constitution.
Finally there are the fears that well over 50% of Americans have regarding the fate of their beloved nation as it is being divided, menaced, corrupted and bilked by a so-called President who is described by those who best know how he performs in The White House, as an “idiot”, “professional liar”, “unhinged” and “off the rails”.
“Fear”, such a perfect title for a book about such an extraordinarily imperfect man.
18
For those of us who have no say in the election of the leader of the strongest nation in the world, we can only hope that Americans will have the good sense to throw out this appalling and bigoted regime now occupying the White House in their coming elections.
59
Here in California, we are fighting him as best we can. Unfortunately, my vote is worth with three in Montana. But we will persevere!
4
@200 Meters Do know that, like you, the majority of Americans -- those of either party who live outside the swing states -- also have "no say" in the election of our leader.
1
Jim Mathis and John Kelly are willing to stand by Donald Trump despite how dangerous he is. They are enabling a street thug who has repeatedly violated the National Security of the country.
The exposure of the
dysfunctional Trump Presidency must continue. Keep hitting him where it hurts.
Trump is right that the book is out just before the midterm elections, good job Mr. Woodard. Was the release of the book deliberately plannedI just before the midterm elections? According to Donald Trump it was. I don’t know and don’t care.
23
I don’t particularly like either of these guys, but like the children of an alcoholic parent, Mathis and Kelly stick around,probably thinking they have a duty to protect the rest of the family. One wonders if their solution to a really dangerous situation with Trumpkin’s decision making will be a military coup...
4
I'm sure the way it went down was for the characters quoted to say what they said to Mr Woodward and then they agreed they would fiercely deny everything they said as long as Woodward did not call them liars.
15
If one has learned anything in America from the age of both television, and now digital media, it is that those who come from rich families often use their money to set their children up in business, some do better than others at it. Reading about the Getty family, there has been a lot of personal tragedy. Wealth doesn't protect any individual from either mental illness, or eccentricity, and often we see how the rich seem to be able to get out from any bad, or criminal behavior, with well paid lawyers. It is those who have interacted with DT over the years, banks, business people, and anyone who had any contact with him or his businesses, who would be the ones who would know him best, from New York, and New Jersey. The same can be said for those who have worked in the White House in the last about 19 months, or been appointed by DT. With the former wives, they are unlikely to speak the truth, as they don't want to tarnish their own children's father, and image. Always go with the truth, and not the tribe, is my motto. However, the nature of the human animal is tribal, so that is why things are kept under wraps, not unlike what goes on in a small town. Personally, when I learned about the way DT dealt with his bankruptcies, and his first wife, I decided that he was not a person of character, and I was over him decades ago. The depth of who he was became apparent to all of America, and the world, when he first started running on June 16, 2015, over three years ago.
17
Woodward should have named his book, “All of the President’s Con Men”.
17
It's highly respected Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author Bob Woodward versus illiterate and illegitimate White House occupant Donnie T. hoping to receive the Vlad Putinizer Prize of another term.
23
Somewhere near the bottom line is this, Trump's relative insanity, stupidity or determined imbecility is ultimately irrelevant. Those who support him are a political and social fact. They will abide. They are the issue. No election is going to resolve that.
20
It’s time for the child to be restrained. His inner circle and administration should muster up some loyalty to America and turn on him. Enough of the reality show child . Only greed meaning money could hold them back.
13
This shows that the electoral college failed to execute its designated role: which is not to place an incompetent or a demagogue in the White House, despite the election results.
The people in the Cabinet should invoke the 25th Amendment and remove this man from office.
Given this man's illness, his enablers in the White House and the Capitol Building are almost more at fault than he is.
30
@KJ: The Electoral College gave us the "worser" of the two candidates for President in 2000 and 2016.
The popular vote across the nation was higher for the "losing candidate" which is why the Electoral College must be abandoned.
Secondly, no matter what the population of a state is, each state has two US Senators. Another way for the minority of the population to control the way our society regresses.
The 25th Amendment will not work as the Congress has to vote to remove the President no matter what the Cabinet believes.
There is no check against the three branches of our government when all three are controlled by the same political party. A huge mistake the founding fathers did not contemplate.
2
Trump is a sick man and needs to resign and spend a few years with some counciling! BV
10
And the Democratic Party establishment and the New York Times still don't have a strategy for winning in 2018 or 2020, just magical thinking about Mueller's investigation, impeachment or, even less likely, a crisis of conscience among GOP leaders.
Fortunately, the grassroots have some ideas for change and may prevail if the donor-driven out-of-touch Democratic Party establishment will just get out of the way.
5
When this nightmare is over I hope you will do the necessary to avoid another "mistake" of this amplitude and the Congress, with the DOJ, will take the appropriate measures to indicted the staff who dare to steal the power of an elected President and exercise it on his behalf. If this is not treason , no matter what the motivation of those people, they were acting and exercising their power in an illegal way.
13
We are in trouble. This destructive reactive baby man, Donald Trump has sowed fear and done real destruction. He’s socially deformed but let’s get to his legal swamp. His tweets are part of the Special Prosecutors investigation. Some are possibly obstruction of justice others may have consequences as well. The possible quid pro quo diplomacy, conflicts of interest, associations with many indicted people from his circle who have a litany of crimes and might associate him with corruption and other evidence of obstruction of justice. This man and his Pence, and some GOP conspirators may find themselves questioned and they should be. It will take many years to heal. Then there’s the question of possibly emoluments clause violations of the United States Constitution. His attacks on fierce Republican conservatives Mueller and Rosenstein are transparent attempts to hide guilt. A Supreme Court nominee who is against investigating a president is more conspiracy guided by Pence and the GOP. He’s s child but we are not his therapist. He’s got to go and so does crazy Pence.
16
We child-proof our homes; latches on the cabinets and plugs in the electrical outlets. We keep scissors and sharp pencils with tips- down.
And now we have the White House Executive-day-care- staff snatching papers of the kiddie desk of our 72 month old president.
A man was elected with a child's view of what a president was and the kind of power that went along with the position; like the six year old who believes "When I grow up- I can do whatever I want."
The nation will survive but the scars will remain forever.
22
I would guess that the only fiction from this book are the denials from trump's staff and lawyers.
27
I know of a congressman who represents a district that is moderately conservative, generally speaking. One or two of his votes in the last two years were egregious, but others were sound, in my opinion. He is a Republican and is running for reelection.
A vote for this person, taken in a vacuum, would not be the worst thing, nor the best thing either. But this is not a vacuum. This is a Trump-infested world we Americans live in right now, and a vote to get along-go along would be a grave dereliction for a citizen who loves this country and what it stands for.
If this person is reelected, he will support Trump and he will try to prevent the downfall from power of Trump's power base. It is not in this person to stand and be counted. He is an enabler.
I would not vote for this person. If there is a Republican I want to vote for, I will write in the name - not, however, under the Republican line. I will not vote Republican, no matter the level of office. Republicans are not part of the solution. Bob Woodward and lots of others who I trust assure me of that.
67
@jr
You are right. At this point in our history, being a Republican is a disqualification for office. The GOP has hit bottom and needs to go into rehab. It is no longer a valid political party, but an attempted coup.
32
I predict the one thing that will come out of this book is that Bob Woodward will never have to work another day in his life if he chooses.
I know people are worried that the Trumpeter is just in the White House to enrich himself (probably true). But the real benefactors of Trump in the WH are cable news, newspapers, pundits, and so on.
I still think CNN and MSNBC are secretly raising money for the Republicans to stay in power and for Trump 2020. After all with out Trump the lemmings will begin to turn off their TV's. The horror.
4
really?
10
Yes, and firemen are paid to put out fires.
The press reporting on Trump is the press doing their job.
If it makes them rich then I am all for it.
6
“Damned, if you do; damned, if you don’t”. That becomes your fate once you agree to be part of Donald Trump’s circle. First, let us all be clear, Bob Woodward is only further establishing what we all predicted about Donald Trump and the Trump presidency. Whatever claims Trump makes regarding the success of this administration, he has and continues to be a “useful idiot” in service to the Russians (we suspect) and the extremely conservative wing of the Republican party that helped him become elected to the office. Any other Republican elected to the office would have taken the same measures with respect to cutting taxes and regulation, except there would have been less chaos and more competence in doing so. I happen to disagree with Trump on tax, environmental, and foreign, but recognize that whoever placed Cohn, Pruitt, and Pompeo in their positions, knew that Trump wouldn’t interfere with them doing their jobs and holding up decades-old Republican policies. To those who find trump's idiocy useful also know him to be a con-man who would sell these accomplishments relentlessly over twitter and on Fox news to his base. But remember, Trump has the nuclear codes, given the president’s nature, it has required an immense sense of duty and the discipline possessed only by military generals to hold him in check. Stop expecting these two men to publicly rebuke the Donald Trump by resigning; there's no winning in the situation that they do.
7
The SECDEF is being kind.
8
Mr. Woodward missed a chance for a book title that sounds like it sums up the current Administration:
"None of the President's Men."
14
If Woodward's book is true, that Gen. Mattis told colleagues “the president acted like — and had the understanding of — a ‘fifth or sixth grader,’” Mattis should immediately be fired. Imagine, insulting school children like that.
37
I have done clinical work for more than 20 years. Trump is a textbook case for a narcissist personality disorder, a crystallized and severe case. Even if “Fear” would be a complete fiction, I believe Trump’s entourage is working hard to maintain appearances... or prevent a war. This presidency will go down in History as when a superpower was run by an incompetent president. Sad to look at, but your Electoral College did not took his job seriously.
29
@Claude Rivard
Actually, his aggravated narcissist personality disorder is one of his defense mechanisms to his deeper avoidance syndrome of PTSD from the severe emotional abuse experienced throughout his childhood at the hands of his tyrannical bully father. Remember, his father continually instilled in him the idea that every interaction with people was a contest in which if you did not win you were a loser. He likely was consistently being told he was a loser. The result could have been depression, suicidal ideation, various forms of acting out, or, copying the behavior of his abuser, whom he perceived as a winner. Obviously the latter took place. Remember, his older brother committed suicide. The extreme pain of his abuse continues to surface in the form of his childhood persona which forces him to lash out in defense whenever he is criticized. Under the pressure of being POTUS, the surfacing of his childhood persona is increasing. Those around him may compare him to a "fifth or sixth grader", or call him an "idiot" or a "moron" when actually, they are perceiving his childhood persona.
My insights come from over 5 decades of study in human behavior, and over 2 decades of observation of DT, whom I recognized years ago for his disturbance.
Your belief that "Trump's entourage is working hard to maintain appearances...or prevent a war" is partially true. Several in the group are skilled deceivers plying their trade for purely selfish gain, i.e. Kellyanne Conway.
12
I know I am not the only person who is just worn out sick to death of Trump, the Republicans and his family and all the additional grabbers and grifters in his Cabinet. DeVos is working tiresomelessly to hurt public education; God knows what the likes of Pence does in the backrooms of power. And, this corruption is so complete and all encompassing that I heard this week a long interview with Franklin Graham, the minister of thousands of people, who could not praise Trump more if he wanted to. Literally thinks of Trump as some kind of gift from God.
I am so happy I get to spend many days substitute teaching six, seven and eight year-old children. They are a breath of fresh air, unpolluted by this terrible sickness in America.
Mr. Trump do our children a favor and resign. Now.
34
Bob Woodward and his publisher were brilliant in releasing the tape of his conversation with Trump. In a world where the president of the United States (shudder) uses a variation of the old joke, "Who're you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?" as a talking point, recorded evidence is our only hope of salvaging the very notion of Truth.
18
Mr. Woodward missed a chance for a book title that sounds like sums it up the current Administration:
"None of the President's Men."
2
He should have titled the book "Redundant"
4
Depression and angst is on the rise. There is much to fear. His part has lost its moral compass.
5
Even if only 1/2 of this book is true, it's extremely frightening. Keep in mind that Bob Woodward does not have a credibility problem, he's just always been interested in investigating people and administrations who do. Either his administration sources were lying, or officials such as Kelly and Mattis are lying now to save their own skin. At any rate, we can be sure the Trump White House is a swamp, and it's not one of Woodward's making.
21
Once they get their judges they will dump him.
19
@linny -- Likely.
Look also for his new apprentice Justice to hand him a scot-free, all-access pass, and he'll go on to invent Trump TeeVee and laugh and golf, all the way to The Bank.
And guess who's left, holding the bag....
5
Don’t hold your breath.
1
The last time Woodward had anything important and worth listening too was Watergate. And that was probably mostly Bernstein anyway.
1
@Doctor Woo: The audience begs to differ...
8
The only thing I can figure out is that the Republicans are waiting to get his Supreme Court nominee in, before they get a spine and oppose Trump. Anyway, that is what I am praying for...it's just disgusting what they let him get away with. He is unfit to even hold the office of dog catcher (no offense to dog catchers.)
12
Some of these people are opportunists and ideologues who are willing to be complicit in anything Trump does to have the tax cuts and SCOTUS choices that will tilt the court to the far right for a generation. They savour the Kool-Aid. Others have held important positions in business and the military - not the grifters in the Cabinet who have gotten into trouble -and if they had the strength and ability to do that work, why do they not let the GOP leadership know that Trump must be removed from office and begin that process? Pence will step in, so the GOP will still be in power, and his views are certainly not more liberal. That would remove the threat of the instability of this President. What are they afraid of? If the atmosphere in the WH is truly fear, the source of it should be impeached or constitutionally retired to Mar-A-Lago via the 25th Amendment.
7
Whether or not any (or all) of this is true…Trump’s problem is that most people find it to be plausible!
11
The Cincinnati Enquirer stated, in their endorsement of HRC in 2016 (the first Democrat that newspaper had endorsed in a century):
"Trump is a clear and present danger to our country."
Anyone who had read about Trump's business experience (6 bankruptcies, numerous business failures, operating a mom and pop sole proprietorship with no board of directors or stockholders) should have understood that Delusional Donnie always does it his way, no matter what advice he gets. His business model is chaos. He euphemistically calls it "being unpredictable."
After he announced in 2015, I commented that I did not see how he was going to work with 535 prima donnas in the House and the Senate, none of whom he can fire, and who control his budget.
It turns out that he is doing as POTUS what he has always done running his mom and pop operation. The result is utter chaos in the White House.
Big surprise, right?
November 6, 2018 is the day we need to send him a message that even he cannot misinterpret.
Vote a straight Democratic ticket, top to bottom, for Federal, State and local offices.
Vote as if the future of our nation (and our democracy) depends on it, BECAUSE IT DOES.
58
Cohn just surreptitiously snatched a piece of paper off Trump's desk and all was forgotten. Right.
That's an insult to Kelly. That couldn't have happened even in Grant's presidency, and in the age of Gates and Jobs--absurd.
Woodward--a casualty of the opioid crisis?
2
@Alice's Restaurant
Woodward says he got all the information in the book from people with first-hand knowledge of the events, from people in the room. Presumably, in this case that means from Cohn himself (though he's denying it now publicly, I'm guessing). Kelly may well have approved of the move, so I'd hardly call the document swiping impossible, or even implausible. Sounds like solid reporting to me.
13
@Alice's Restaurant - Actually, all could have been forgotten because Trump does not have object permanence.
11
@Alice's Restaurant -- only too plausible: somebody switches on FOX TeeVee, at tip-top volume, and boom -- there goes his attention. Looking for the next shiny object ... "oh, you've already signed that one sir. Look, there's a marmot on the TeeVee!"
We're not dealing with an Albert Einstein here.
Sadly.
14
Is anyone surprised? The primaries and the election campaign made very clear what we were getting in Trump; why would anyone have expected him to execute a reverse pivot into becoming an informed, reasonable, competent leader.
He’s an insecure, ignorant, monomaniacal bully, arguably a psychopath.
The only real surprise is that he’s turning out to be even worse than even the most pessimistic among us feared.
30
In the accompanying black-and-white photo, if placed horizontal, Trump almost looks posed for the viewing at his funeral.
And the comments coming from Mattis, a wry and sober observer, are telling.
14
When the horror show is over, we will see that some men and women stayed in the administration because they feared what would happen if they left even more than they fear what is happening.
When someone uses a kindergarten trick (take the authorization letter off the desk and the president forgets about it), then the nation is in trouble. Sooner or later, even independent of the special counsel investigations, the corruption and sheer stupidity, will cause the president to topple.
Those that stick it out will be part of the equation that topples this clown, and they will have done their duty.
19
So many tellings of the same sad tale of a corrupt and inept administration, and an emotionally and intellectually unfit president (if you can call him that) .
Woodward is the gold standard for journalists - This book sounds well worth the read, and also sounds very damaging to the credibility and integrity of trump and his administration.
18
The growing volume of Trump's difficulties seem be too much pressure for the man to handle and could explain why in the face of it all he's been retreating to his golf courses. He may be on the verge of a breakdown; hide that, "bigger button", quick!
11
Jim Mattis is not a psychiatrist but he has extensive personnel experience in one of the most difficult schools of education, the US military, a noted haunt of men and, boys. I am positive Mattis knows a 5th or 6th grader when he sees one.
17
Unfortunately none of these Trump believers are capable of reading a book. Trump himself refuses to read a single page memo. Do we expect any of his followers will read any book.
18
Not the writer below, for sure.
1
I haven't read it but those few excerpts related in the media don't ring true. They sound manufactured, invented and unrealistic. People in government just don't say those things in those circumstances. They don't make it to that level of government by being careless with words.
Why should anyone pay attention to Bob Woodward anyway? What's the point of his multiple books? Unlike the FBI there is no, none whatsoever, compulsion for someone to be honest with a reporter. It's not against the law to lie to Bob Woodward.
Ask him how much money he makes from his books and what he does to increase sales. Whatever. It has nothing to do with actual governance of a nation. It's a distracting scam that pays his house note.
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus: Trump called Sessions a dumb Southerner. Conman never respect their dupes. Seems to me you are in denial. Often happens to those who are conned.
8
This is nothing new for anyone who’s been paying attention. The fact that there are so many individuals riding the DJT hypocrisy to earn an extra buck is somewhat hard to stomach. How many sell-outs will be amassed by the end of this dreadful time in American history?
7
All those in the deep Red south. Do you really not get it? How he really feels about folks from the South. Keep on supporting Trump and MAGA. His contempt and hostility for the southern folks is clear as the daylight.
25
Well deserved contempt. With that I agree with Trump.
1
Where there's smoke. . .
The nation should not be surprised by these revelations by Bob Woodward. It should come as no shock to anyone other than the 35% blind and dumb Trump followers and anyone who watches Faux News that Trump is in over his head as president and that he has no conception on how to govern.
He is running the White House like he ran his family business. Shoot from the hip, let the world come to him, say and do outrageous things so you can be on center stage and get all the attention, good or bad, and use a weaponized legal system to bully your way out of the mess you create.
But sooner or later it will catch up to him. To the 35% who still support this man, including the 80% of Republicans, I give you a quote from Ben Franklin: "We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid."
40
Our current President not only has the maturity and limited knowledge of a fifth or sixth grader — even then probably not one of the brightest in his class — he also is the trouble-maker in the classroom. And at recess time, he's the bully in the schoolyard. I wonder if his mother ever sent him to his room when he acted up at home. I'm guessing she'd say: "Oh, isn't little Donnie cute!"
9
I seriously doubt if there is any, just ANY, GOP congressman who would be willing to undergo a lie detector test to verify his/her trust on President Trump and his ability to become even a city council mayor or a city council alderman. And yet, vast majority of GOP congressmen are more than willing to help that immature, imbecile and corrupt President to destroy whatever little progress we achieved in last many years. and it's NOT any 'liberal conspiracy."
13
This comparison as an insult to fifth and six graders. Trump represents the greatest danger faced by our nation today. Republicans responsible for oversight of the executive branch have been AWOL. They are all a disgrace to the office they have been entrusted with.
15
If Franklin Graham-type Christians read Bob Woodward's book, what would they say? If Jesus Christ read Bob Woodward's book, what would he say? I doubt the responses would be anywhere near the same.
10
*just gotta say that if Trump reviewed this piece and all the feedback, his greatest takeaway would be, "See, you guys? It's like I always tried to tell you, I DO have full-sized hands".
2
Any five year old would do better. Welcome to the USA.
9
The Mattis quote conjures an image of Trump as a contestant on "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader". Based on what we've seen during his presidency, the answer to that show's question would almost certainly be "No".
12
That’s way too generous of a comparison. My 5th and 6th graders are much more intelligent, much more stable, and much more compassionate.
18
The last book I read named Fear was by Anatoli Rybakov.
It too was about a paranoid schemer who demanded loyalty, fostered a cult of personality and terrified both those around him and the world at large.
6
Regarding Trump's order to have Assad assassinated: Putin would not have been amused.
9
Trump thinks he won the WH without Russian intervention. He doesn't get it.
3
"Jim Mattis Compared Trump to ‘Fifth or Sixth Grader,’"
Trump is more like a whining crybaby, pouting first grader. I don't doubt he jumps up and down, stomps his feet and combs his hair over and over again till he gets his way.
12
A lot of us would pay good money to see his royal highness attired in an orange jump suit bereft of his hour long morning coiffure--the comb-over hanging to his shoulder and chrome dome glinting in the lights.
17
Tough, patriotic Marines? Or just putting their bacon on the table. Shame on such military heros. Your nation does not need your "service". Just for once look yourself in the mirror and repeat that oath that you took to protect your country.
5
Mr Woodward titled his seminal, definitive book about the current President of the United States 'Fear' - and its release date isn't just any Tuesday, it's being released on 9/11.
Mr Woodward is doing his level best to sound the alarms. The rest of us need to do the same - by voting this monstrous administration and its complicit GOP congressional majority out of office.
40
So, what's it all about, Alfie?
We are being given details of what those who pay attention knew from the get go: the White House is a mess, Trump was and is utterly, completely and undeniably unprepared for the presidency, he has little or no experience running an organization where people don't lick his shoes or bow and scape every time he walks by, he knows next to nothing about American history, the history of the presidency, how the federal government works, he has contempt for the rule of law and attacks or belittles anyone who criticizes him, including using the influence of the presidency against private citizens. What's new?
In fairness, Woodward is doing the nation a favor by getting this sludge pile into the public record. Trump's supporters will continue their cult like belief that everything Trump does is wonderful, but those who haven't removed their brains know otherwise and those awake to the danger will be better informed.
What we know from the book and two years of intense reporting on Trump is that he appears to be very close to stark, raving mad. Still, he can act like a "nice guy" and he's had decades of practice conning people with kind words and flattering attention. When he wants something from anyone, he pours it on.
Trump is probably not certifiably, clinically mad, but his co-writer Tony Swartz says he's a sociopath with no concern for right or wrong. He needs to vacate the presidency but we have no reasonable means of making him do so.
25
Lordy, I was hoping there would be a tape.
18
Real Journalism Strikes A Blow For Truth In America. Thanks Bob!
18
“the president acted like — and had the understanding of — a ‘fifth or sixth grader.’” - Mr. Mattis
If we only listened to those fifth & sixth grade kids in that colouring class photo op last week. Trump had colours wrong on the US flag, and they knew right away he didn't belong in their class - literally.
18
Mental capacity of a 5th grader wouldn't be so bad but he lack even a 5th graders ability or desire to learn. The problem is he actually thinks he's smart enough already and there's nothing else he needs to know.
8
If the book is faked by a Democrat, why doesn’t a Republican step up to write the true account?
I’d definitely read it.
9
@Grunchy: If I recall (at least during the Nixon era) Mr. Woodward was a Republican while Bernstein was a Democrat.
People, please go to youtube & watch Charlie Rose's 1992 interview with Donald Trump. That Donald Trump isn't recognizable as the Trump who's now president. In 1992, Trump was charming, funny, spoke in complex sentences, had reasonable & intelligent opinions, betrayed no trace of paranoia, insanity, delusions or uncontrollable rage. He appeared pleasant and somewhat interesting.
What happened to Donald Trump? Why is he now paranoid, suffused with rage, insisting that hundreds of things that never happened really occurred, repeating endlessly that certain people are in criminal conspiracies against him & out to destroy him - people including Barack Obama, James Comey, Robert Mueller, Hillary Clinton, Jeff Sessions, the NYT and numerous others.
Maybe Trump isn't a horrible evil cynical man but actually suffering from a neurological order or frontal lobe dementia, a brain disorder in which people lose brain cell function affecting personality, behavior, emotions and speech. Rage, paranoia and the inability to pay attention are common side effects. Isn't it weird Trump gets up at 5 a.m. & tweets all that crazy stuff? We all get that's not normal.
Maybe Matthis, Kelly & the rest of these men are actually covering for an elderly president they believe isn't in his right mind. It isn't the right thing to do but it's at least more sympathetic & understandable than covering for an evil destructive lunatic....
1992 Charlie Rose interview.
Donald Trump - what happened?
25
@fast/furious
We need the sane, mature people around him no matter what the cause of his dangerously aberrant behavior, whether he be ill, evil or both.
7
I just watched the Charlie rose 1992 interview. Ok, so he's a little more soft spoken and not raging and screaming, but other than that? It's the same guy: talking in grandiose terms about himself and his hotels, and especially talking about loyalty -- he spoke at length about how he learned during a financial crisis who was there for him and who wasn't.
He is older, and therefore all his negative traits have amplified, but he is the same man he's always been.
14
@sixofone
I agree. My 90 yr old mother is in an assisted living facility. Cognitively and emotionally, she's pretty close to the person she was at 40 or 50. If she suddenly began telling me she knew thousands of people were demonstrating outside her window, that someone was tapping her phone and that the attendants in the facility were conspiring against her, I would immediately try to get her evaluated by a neurologist and a psychologist specializing in geriatric problems because I would understand she had changed profoundly for unknown medical reasons. I would try to help her. I wonder about Trump's children. Why haven't they arranged for anyone to examine their father for cognitive or behavioral problems? Why, seeing all the problems he has with reality, attention and his mood, didn't they dissuade him from running from president? Why did they not object to his seeing his crackpot NYC doctor? Who would let their 72 yr old dad with problems like Trump has run for president without begging him not to put himself through that? All of this is a puzzle we'll someday know the answer to.....
13
The economy is a strong at has ever been. Unemployment is a record lows. The stock market is booming. Trump has appointed more judges than any other president historically. Isis is all but wiped out. Radical Muslim terror incidents outside the Middle East have subsided. American foreign policy has been reinvented and now the neocon warmongers who brought us the Iraq invasion are allied with the Democrats and have made a home at CNN and MSNBC. And all we here from the media is whining about Trump's style. With results like these, I'll put up with Trump's style any day.
2
@rpe123...... Yes, I know, the Nuclear threat from North Korea is over. The corn and soybean farmers will receive $ 12 billion dollars to make up for the price reduction caused by the impressively successful tariffs imposed on China. NAFTA has been renegotiated. The tax cut given to U.S. corporations has stimulated the stock market through stock buy backs. The $ trillion dollar budget deficit predicted for 2020 will no doubt disappear. The Russian interference in the U.S. elections is a witch hunt. Our European allies have now all fallen in line and Trump is respected throughout the world. And guess what? Some of the people can be fooled all the time.
15
Continues to take credit for Obama policies on stock market rise (most was before Trump) and on jobs. But do you realize the tax cut bubble with a rising mountain of debt and record level deficits?
15
Simple. I'd believe anything Bob Woodward writes than anything that anyone in this administration says or does.
20
"When you put a snake and rat and falcon and a rabbit and a shark and a seal into a zoo without walls, things started getting nasty and bloody,” said Mr. Priebus, whom Mr. Trump eventually ousted and abandoned on a rain-slicked tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base.
All kidding aside, seems like Reince plumb lost his mind during his White House babysitting shift.
4
At this point in time; I really have only one question left for Donald Trump. It is basically a high ranking gentleman put to one Senator Joseph McCarthy many years ago. It went something like this. Have you no honor sir, have you no decency? If you really love your country; the only honorable thing left for you to do is Resign.You have done more than enough damage already. You have harmed God knows how many innocent men, women, and children. You have betrayed the very oaths you swore to uphold. You have torn the fabric that holds societies together and divided your nation almost to the point of no return. You have all but turned your back on the 60% of Americans who see you as the fraud you have always been. You have lied and viciously attacked anyone and everyone who has dared opposed you; or even worse betrayed you in favor of the well being of your country. You have shown yourself to be a mean, petty, and vindictive tyrant. You have set a Guiness Book of World Record for most lies ever told in a lifetime. You have alienated your nation from allies that have stood shoulder to shoulder through terrible wars. When will it be too late? When is Enough be ENOUGH? When will your nightmare Presidency mercifully end. When can the world see the U.S. resume it`s place as a land of freedom and decency? God let it be soon.
18
That’s an insult to all the kids in the 5th and 6th grade.
12
I'll keep it brief.
Impeach.
24
Another chilling episode in this incredible, crazy reality drama series playing out in front of us all. West Wing, House of Cards anyone? Not while this is going on... this is the best entertainment ever only slightly dampened by the potential for global war, widespread civil unrest, a failed international order and/or the complete breakdown of the world’s heretofore leading democracy.
Riveting and, in equal measure, terrifying.
17
To those (few) Trump supporters who read this article and consider it to contain vast misrepresentations, I would ask you to go back and read "All the President's Men" co-written by the author of "Fear". Then ask yourself who you think might be portraying the situation accurately ... Bob Woodward or Trump and those in his circle. And if your answer is the latter, then I would ask you to truly consider if the future of the country as a democracy is worth your adulation of a has-been reality TV personality.
25
@Bruce
"All the President's Men"--not much more than stenographer work for the FBI--i.e., "Deep Throat". A sham--a couple of WP copy boys on the phone could have done same. Entertaining drama, though, like John Wayne's "The Alamo"--not much to do with reality.
1
@Bruce
It looks to me as though you're addressing people you think might be susceptible to logic.
8
Did we need the book? You only have to read his tweets to know how immature, petty, crude, egotistical and petulant Trump is.
18
more like 3rd or 4th grader
6
Calling Donald Trump a fifth grader is an insult to the intelligence of all fifth graders.
17
@Ronny
Best a Lenin's Bay Area disciple can do? Point of fact--IQ is pretty much baked in by the age of six.
@Alice's Restaurant
IQ is, but for most people demeanor, maturity, wisdom and accumulated knowledge are not.
5
This is very scary on TOO manly levels!
So, if a fourth or fifth grader offered me his no experience, no track record healthcare plan, I'd give that 5th graders 5 dollar bill and direct him to the nearest 7 Eleven where he could buy a slurpy and a hotdog. And then I'd buy a health care plan that worked. somebody give POTUS a box of Archie comic books
4
25th amendment time!
Not that we haven't heard all this before. This is the wacko story of Donald Trump. We're supposed to just get used to it.
Trump's not fit to be POTUS. Everybody knows it. World leaders know it. Bashar Al Assad knows it. The head of ISIS knows it. Vladimir Putin knows it. Kim Jong Un knows it.
Thank you to Secretary Mattis for trying to protect us from this nut that is our president.
On another matter, check out the video of Brett Kavanaugh today refusing to shake hands with Fred Guttenberg, the father of 14 year old Jaime Guttenberg who was murdered at the Parkland high school shooting. Guttenberg approached Kavanaugh in the hearing room during a break, extended his hand to shake hands with Kavanaugh while identifying himself. Kavanaugh looked at Guttenberg for a moment like Guttenberg was a bug and backed off, turned his back and walked away.
Maybe not fair to make up your mind about a man after a 10 second video but Brett Kavanaugh's inhumanity was stunning. Guttenberg commented on twitter "I guess he doesn't want to deal with the reality of gun violence." Brett Kavanaugh has a 13 yr old daughter, Margaret, he's talked about a lot, what a great dad he is coaching her basketball team, how close they are. Margaret Kavanaugh was at her father's hearing today.
Jim Guttenberg deserved to be treated like a human being.
Brett Kavanaugh couldn't be bothered.
57
@fast/furious
I want this nomination to be stopped or at least delayed till after the midterms by any (legal) means possible, but I I disagree with your interpretation of the exchange. I did watch the video, and it's pretty clear that Guttenberg was able to get only his name out before BK turned his back. If he didn't recognize either the name or the face, it seems a bit unfair to expect him to shake a stranger's hand or engage with him in any way under those circumstances.
6
Why do so many people have confidence in Trump? He’s a guy with a fake tan, died combover, a little spiffy flip on the left side of his doo. He brags, boasts, and lies. If I saw this guy in a car lot I’d steer away from him. He’s so obviously full of himself. If someone came to you and said he or she had a car for sale that was full of jewels and gold and it drove as fast as a jet would you buy it? The slogan, “Make America Great Again” is kinda like that. But there’s so much more. How can people be so utterly gullible?
25
Woodward missed an opportunity by not titling the book "Fear and Loathing in the West Wing" and getting Ralph Steadman to illustrate it.
10
“We’re in crazytown,” Mr. Kelly said in one meeting, according to Mr. Woodward. “I don’t even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I’ve ever had.”
--------------------------------
Well, Kelly does not have to stay in the "worst job ever" and could have resigned.
Wolf had similar statements attributed to the actors in this fiction, and Woodward is rather late with his lame book.
Nothing to see here, people.
3
And as the transcript of the Woodward-trump phone call shows, he couldn't even have a private conversation without lying. Trump asked who Woodward had contacted in order to try to get him to cooperate on the book and he mentioned, among many names, Lindsey Graham. Trump denied that *anyone* had told him that Woodward wanted to talk. Later in the conversation, however, reality intruded.
Woodward: "Senator [Lindsey] Graham said he had talked to you about talking to me. Now, is that not true?"
Trump: "Senator Graham actually mentioned it quickly in one meeting."
So, stuck with the choice of falsely calling a political ally he's going to need in the future a liar or admitting his own lie, at least in private he'll come clean.
"Professional liar?" Check. Pathological liar? Check.
12
To those who think that Mattis et al should resign en masse to make a statement - we're not talking about stopping Trump's White House redecorating. There still need to be adults monitoring Trump's mood swings, extreme disorganization/forgetfulness, and donor paybacks, or this whole ugly mess will get even uglier.
17
I blame this entire clown show on the Democrats. If ONLY they had represented their constituency, and if only they hadn't fielded a national candidate who was owned by Wall Street.
The time is NOW to select a challenger to President Trump in 2020, a challenger with integrity who won't go into the gutter to fight a loony president and who will represent the traditional and emerging Democratic base. Someone with a mortgage and credit-card debt would be nice.
6
@George And I blame this entire clown show on people like you, whose out-of-control hatred of HRC helped him get elected.
30
Hillary is responsible for the CHIP program that provided health insurance for as many as 9 MILLION disadvantaged kids....until the Republicans took it’s funding away.
She also made it possible for disabled kids to attend public schools.
She fought long and hard to get medical coverage for the 9/11 first responders for their injuries.
She has done more for women’s rights than any other person on the planet.
And those examples only scratch the surface of all the things she’s done to help people.
Your ignorance of her accomplishments is what put a maniac in the White House.
I blame people like you for the mess that we’re in
19
@George
Amy Klobuchar! Who is smart, wise, funny, decent, on top of things and would make a GREAT president. And she may indeed have a mortgage and some debt. A 2010 profile in Elle Magazine described Senator Klobuchar thusly:
"Senator Klobuchar's house in in a working class neighborhood of Minneapolis. 'Chez Klobuchar' is a very modest 2 story affair with grey aluminum siding and a screened in porch. Amy says she and her husband (a professor) "have our 401(k)s, a college fund for (daughter) Abigail, we have this house and two 10 yr old Saturns. We have no income property, we have no stock." Her family lives in a rented house when they're in Washington.
I hope 2020 is going to be all about Senator and future President Amy Klobuchar.
2
It would not surprise me if people in the White House leak things to the press because Trump is giving the republican brand a bad image. Most republicans are ashamed of this president and this administration. They are probably (secretly) hoping for impeachment so they can take back their party.
6
Memo to White House staff:
When you remove petulant letters from Trump’s desk to prevent him from signing them, remember to always have fresh batteries in his Fischer-Price nuclear football. Thank you.
15
I object. This comparison is an insult to fifth and sixth graders everywhere.
16
Is it prescient that this book will be released on September 11th, the anniversary of the most cataclysmic event in American history? Let's hope the book's release will bring on a major upheaval in our presidency.
12
So what ARE these aides thinking? If they are trying to protect the country, why don't they collectively walk to a microphone and start talking?
25
@paula Maybe because the allegations are not true or, at least, misrepresented?
1
@rpe123
There are many hours of recorded interviews to
justify the statements.
1
@paula Imagine the lack of character one would have to possess to find anything admirable or worthwhile in trump, then try to imagine that type of person doing the brave, right thing. It just doesn't compute.
1
I will probably not read the book. It has no revelations. This president is an evil con and joke expedited by an evil political confidence organization. Soon, laughing at the president will be an illegal act, one that I could be arrested for every day. Taking a letter off the president's desk? What is this? The faculty committee of the parents and teachers association of some elementary school? Just hide his Sharpie.
16
Republicans, what will you tell your grandchildren when they ask you: "What did you do when Trump was president?"
41
Enough of Trumps elementary school tantrums.
4
All should resign except for Mathis (who's needed to stop disaster). For the others, feel no pity; they are staying for personal power, enabling a trashy demagogue.
18
Okay. I'm game. Let's hear the tapes to hear the proof. Come to think of it, the Resistance made a big deal over supposed tapes made by Omarosa Newman also "exposing" Trump for this or that bizarre behavior, the Resistance got its temporary high, Omarosa made her cable TV circuit promoting her book ... and for some strange reason, we haven't heard any of these tapes or about Omarosa since. I hope this Woodward thing doesn't turn out to be yet another bit of Resistance political porno that ends up being conveniently layered over by the next temporary thrill. Meanwhile, still not a shred of evidence from Mueller after two years that Trump and Putin stole the election from poor, hapless Hillary. Come to think of it: the whole shady FISA warrant thing to justify spying on a Trump campaign figure -- Carter Page -- started this whole thing with the rationale that Page was deep into the supposed collusion. When's the trial? In fact, when's the indictment? Or is that also conveniently sloughed off by the Resistance for the next political porno thrill to keep up the stimulation ... at least for a few minutes until the urge for the next desperate but fleeting thrill.
6
@JW
I can't wait for the Mueller report/indictments so all you Trump apologists can see you have been supporting a traitor to our country.
22
@Ronny
Most won't care. Some currently know and don't care. Now *that's* fear-inducing.
8
@JW Instead of asking others to provide you evidence or proof, why not challenge yourself? Simuiltaneously, review Omarosa’s revelations and Trump’s media (especially twitter) declarations. Do you see a pattern?
7
Interesting that people are denying that they said or did the things Woodward says they did. Are they that afraid of Trump? That's even more alarming if they are. He's not a god and he's not yet a dictator. He's a failed businessman, a con artist (who conned the GOP), and not a very nice human being. Any person who thought that Trump would transform in that magic moment when he was inaugurated was wrong.
Trump has openly supported racists. He has undermined his own attorneys and attorney general. He has appointed, and the GOP has accepted, completely unqualified people to top posts in his administration. He's the one who continues to bring up Clinton and the emails, not the public or anyone else. He's the one who rants about NFL players not standing for the anthem as if that's the most important thing in the country.
The most important things in America now are these: the continued attempt to destroy life for working Americans, climate change and how it will affect our ability to feed ourselves, the environment, and above all, jobs, jobs, jobs that pay enough to do more than just survive. Trump is the perfect cover for the GOP plan to make America poor in order to keep their rich donors donating.
26
It would be so serendipitous if Bob Woodword’s stellar journalistic credentials again helped bring down another charlatan.
41
You’re a “con on the public”, Donald. Get lost.
As for Mr. Woodward, all I can say is this: his work helped America during perilous times years ago. May it help us now, too.
30
Am sure that all can quickly perceive the irony in all this. Trump, a man unable to tell the truth, accuses Woodward, one of the reporters that brought us the truth about a previous corrupt president, Richard Nixon, as not to be trusted in telling the truth about the current administration. Woodward has a well-deserved reputation as a journalist known for faithfully reporting the truth. Trump has the reputation of one known for consistently lying. Who you going to believe?
23
So all these brave wise man run like scaredy cats to deny they ever said anything uncomplimentary about their boss so they wouldn't be fired?
17
Bob Woodward has built a strong reputation over decades of telling the truth, and having copious documentation to back what he writes. Already Mattis and others are denying the quotes of them in the book. I understand that having this information " outed" makes their relationships with Trump, shall we say, Awkward. But I believe Woodward will be shown to still be a truth-teller.
40
It is hard to believe that it has been 44 years since Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, young reporters for the Washington Post reported on Richard Nixon leading to his resignation. Their reporting led to the book and movie "All the President's Men" and captivated the nation in guessing who Deep Throat was, later identified FBI Deputy Associate Director Mark Felt. Readers would be wise to google this era, similarities may be evident except the Duke University educated Richard Nixon was smarter than Donald Trump. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Throat_(Watergate)
20
@DOUGLAS Lloyd MD MPH, Of course, it is now 2018 two months before the midterm elections. The Republicans are in control of the House and Senate. Any Republican now is a Trump Republican and they are frightened that if the House turns over to Democratic control they will not be able to protect the president. The heads of the Democratically controlled House committees will have the power to subpoena key witnesses to the current situation in the White House. It will be a whole new ballgame. So much will come out during the new Congress, that Trump may only have the option that Nixon had, to resign.
19
If you ponder the difference between the two American national parties, ask yourself if the Democrats would have ever offered up Donald Trump as their presidential candidate. I mean seriously ... Take a few moments to ponder that, and the implications.
43
The only thing worse than the current situation would be a Republican Party emboldened by victory in November. Please vote D and help to restore sanity to our nation.
78
I have lived here for the last 52 years, immigrating from Norway in 1966. At that time, I was a proud believer in the good, the importance, the lives saved by the US interventions in so many places on the globe. We, of course, now know better and are reaping the results of our arrogance and ignorance.
However, Trump has never understood or recognized this. He still believes that the power of his personality, his power of negotiations or whatever, will make them all come back to bow down to his uncontested power.
In the 1990s I started to understand what was going to happen and told anybody who would listen (not many) that the US will lose its global power and soon. A country that is this divided will not ever come together any time soon. A country that still keeps fighting about its most basic document, a 230 year-old Constitution, its most proudly stated achievement, may never come together.
I didn't expected that it would happen so quickly, and I didn't expect that it would happen by a mobster, a crook, a liar and all the other things we know about Trump. What we do know is that we live in a country that by its current one-party rule of Congress and White House, has walked away from its duties of oversight, of its sworn duty of upholding the laws of the country.
I feel that I am living in a lawless country, and it is a very disturbing feeling. Surely others feel the same way.
149
@Merete Cunnngham
I agree with your opinion. It seems that the Civil War regarding racism and slavery has never ended; and that the frontier mentality, with reliance on gun ownership, still pervades the US. The "we vs.they" and "might makes right" thinking contribute to the sense of the US ' being a lawless country.
This is one reason why I, and many other outsiders, will not travel to the US. We do not want to get caught in the crossfire (perhaps literally) or be badly treated because of Trump and his supporters' bashing of many foreign countries.
My sympathies; and I hope that saner times will come.
6
@Merete Cunnngham I agree with you. The party has utterly failed in its responsibility to remove a dangerous, unqualified person from the presidency. The Cabinet and the majority in Congress have disgraced themselves and put the health of our nation in jeopardy. Once Cult45 snaps out of it, and that's inevitable, they won't stand in the way of wiping this party out of the country's public life. A new party that values small government, low taxes, and a primary commitment to war may or may not rise again. The current iteration, meanwhile, cannot be allowed to stand.
1
Dear Mr. Kelly,
Please explain how it is possible to have “an incredibly candid and strong relationship” with someone who is incredibly duplicitous and weak?
Sincerely,
Your Fellow Americans
79
@Daisy Mae The operative word is "incredibly." Look it up. Kelly spoke the truth.
3
Trumps 4th grade playground responses and boringly weak attempts at insults confirm everything in the book. His denials are transparently phony. Obvious even to Trumpies that he is failing as fast as his presidency. The only question now is how well the RNC/Kremlin can fix the midterms.
20
If only the Republicans in congress could be honest with themselves. They quietly and with cowardice know presidency is a tragedy of their making. Only they have the power to get right with the country and with history. Win or lose in November it does not matter with out a profound rectification of the cancer they have created and perpetuated. Any honor they seek in the eyes and hearts of history is for them lost. They will wear these days into perpetuity.
32
Not that it's any of my business, but I'm having a déjà vu moment here. Didn't you good people reject tyranny and the rule of a deranged monarch back in the 18th century?
71
Had my son behaved as a sixth grader the way Trump does he would have been grounded. Comaparing this punk to a sixth grader is an insult to all sixth graders.
62
@J Ryan I agree. I have a son that's entering 5th grade tomorrow. His reasoning skills, integrity, self-awareness, discipline, and many other personality traits are far superior to this man.
31
"Mr. Cohn, Mr. Woodward said, concluded that Mr. Trump was a “professional liar.”.....Trump is a narcissist. Narcissism is a recognized personality disorder, which is characterized by delusions of grandeur and chronic lying. He is emotionally unfit for office and in his position as president he represents a clear and present danger to the country.
64
I’ve listened to the recorded interview between Mr Woodward and Mr Trump. I’d like it to be unpacked a little more by opinion writers, if possible.
What, in other words, would be the strategy behind Trump’s refusal to speak to Woodward until the book was in press and couldn’t be altered? And then, only at that point, having a phone conversation lasting over eleven minutes?
Is it so that Trump can say that he was never asked for his contribution and can therefore declare the book to be biased against him? (He anticipated this by already, before publication, describing it as “inaccurate” during the interview.)
Or were his advisers simply protecting him beforehand from being exposed to rigorous questioning from Mr Woodward?
Someone suggested Ms Conway was in the room all through the interview, i.e., that she had not “just walked in” as the President stated. This would put a different cast on the discussion, suggesting it was much more “managed” at the presidential end than might otherwise have appeared to be the case. What is the likelihood of this?
14
@Carolyn Polizzotto
Good questions. Woodward claimed to have tried to go through five or six people, yet Lindsey Graham is the only one Donald admits hearing it from. Graham may not have thought about protecting Donald in the way those insiders would.
9
I strongly disagree with Mattis. Fifth or sixth grade is unduly generous.
22
@Andrew
You may not be familiar with the accelerating stupidity levels currently being produced by American educational systems.
6
DJT has damaged the American reputation abroad in a way I’ve never experienced in 40 years of travel. While visiting New Zealand my wife and were often mistaken for Americans and after correcting the error, the apologies are profuse. Often followed by anti-Trump - not anti-American - comments.
In our lifetime there has never been a less presidential President, particularly in regard to his tweets about matters of no relevance to the office. Swartzenegger’s TV ratings, Inauguration crowd size, ‘stable genius’, etc., etc. As a result the US President is perceived as a ‘loose cannon’; is considered ‘unfocused’ and petty.
He has de-stabilized the world in a way that is uniquely his.
31
@Victor I was in NZ last Autumn and didn't even trip on the US/Canada question as I just said I was from Canada! And because I grew up just South of the Canadian border, I could easily pass as a 'Canuck.' Still can, eh?
2
As a Middle School Principal for 20 years, I realize that 5th and 6th graders can be challenging. It is normal for them to test us to see where their limitations are. Once they understand that there are limits, they back off and learn. Lying is unacceptable and there are consequences for it in my school and they learn to be honest. Trump is far from a 5th or 6th grader. He never learned anything about what is right or wrong. His father Fred trained him that he is always right and there is never a need to take anything back. His mind is broken. A couple of years in Middle School might repair the damage.
55
I agree this is a comparison middle schoolers are not worthy of. (For that matter any age.)
Middle schoolers particularly are young enough to have curiosity, wonder and a desire to absorb yet they are old enough to have profoundly intelligent conversations, ask the best questions seek the truth without animosity. On all counts DJT cannot match the sincerity and wisdom of most any middle school student.
5
Congrats to all of us who could see this for at least two years, now. This makes at least three books that have validated what we understood from day one: this man should not be president of the United States.
41
As a Officer and a Gentleman, General Mattis is being much to kind comparing not-my-president to a "fifth or sixth grader". In my humble opinion Trump acts as if he was left behind in kindergarten. Unfortunately, I believe this once great nation will never recover from his presidency. The thought of him running again in 2020 (and, chock, chock ... winning) makes me contemplate leaving this country that I love and fought for.
26
I frankly don’t know what think. Based on history, I will take Bob Woodward’s word. Even if a small portion is true, the picture is profoundly disturbing. We seem to have a profoundly disturbed and dangerous person directing (not governing) our country. It is madness in every sense of the word.
Congress sits by, whistling through the proverbial graveyard, hoping for a permanent lock on power (forget about protecting the country).
Part of me wants to be mad at Woodward, but I’m sure intelligence agencies everywhere know Trump well enough that the damage is already done.
There truly is no legitimate rationalization for Trump to be President. I can’t imagine the Founders ever contemplated such insubordinate behavior by Cabinet members and advisors actually being necessary. My head is spinning.
At least I voted today. The first time (as an “unenrolled” voter) I ever took up a Democratic ballot in a primary.
25
@ historyRepeated Can’t see why part of you would be mad at Mr Woodward; unless another part of you voted Trump. Then you’re just shooting the messenger which, in fact, is a classic Trumpian reaction.
2
Interesting. After Trump revealed how the office would not enlarge him, I told everyone that we had a "precocious 4th grader" as president. Mattis and I are pretty close on his abilities, but a precocious 4th grader is more likely to think he is smart.
8
@Craig Mason
"Precocious"? Not for a human fourth grader...
3
Somehow I just can't wait for "Trump, The Movie". If House of Cards was released now it would be considered boring and dull.
I hope democracy can survive Trump, but the norms have been changed forever.
11
In a couple of years, the CNBC show American Greed will do an 8 part series on Trump.
1
Thank you Mr Woodward for confirmation of what we already suspected about 45.
While I wonder why any respectable person would want to be associated with this administration, based on this information I am glad there are a few people looking out for us.
Just how long can they hold out? The spineless Congress sure aren’t helping.
18
Does the president ever really run things? All the focus on Trump may be exactly what Republicans politicians and deep-state officials want.
Trump take some the blame and runs interference (drawing fire) while Republicans in government ge away with deregulating, self-dealing, court-stacking and god knows what else. When their corruption and illegality comes to light, people may shrug it off because Trump as a so lowered our standards.
We need to be more strategic. Much more.
17
I believe that in order to kill Mr. Assad, Mr. Trump would require the assistance of the intelligence agencies. I have my doubts as to whether the intelligence agencies would be so accommodating given the present climate.
8
@Andrea Slade:
Just to keep things in perspective: killing Mr. Assad would be a war crime.
5
War crime, hate crime... any crime wouldn't stand in the way of our callous "leader".
2
@Douglas
No, it wouldn't.
1
Everything he needed to learn, he learned in pre-k.
Need I say the stable genius is neither stable nor a genius.
10
It's looking more and more as if this year's midterm elections will determine the future of the U.S.
9
How does someone so described as apparently unhinged manage to oversee the successful construction of huge bldgs and deal with the stress and fastidious attention to details required.
Does not compute.
1
@ Lane.....How many times has he gone bankrupt? We know he has surrounded himself with people prone to corruption as many of them are going to jail. Have you seen his tax returns? He is a con man who is still successfully running a con on 40% of the population.
19
@Lane. Who said his buildings are successful?
11
@ Lane
Wow. You really don't keep up with the news, do you? He doesn't deal with the details at all. He's a certified, documented bankruptcy specialist. I.e., a ditz and a thief.
5
Unhinged.
Totally lacking in hinges.
Hinges are on backorder and it's not known when they'll arrive.
BTW, not for nothing, but doesn't 'taking papers to be signed off the President's desk' constitute a coup d'etat? Is this how we deal with people who so obviously need to be removed via the 25th Amendment? Shouldn't his Cabinet be at least as worried about their own culpability if they do nothing as they should be about continuing on with this farce?
15
General Mattis - you owe all 5th and 6th graders (except those relatively few sitting in "time out") an apology!
13
Shame on those who can, but won't vote this November 2018.
Trump won in 2016 because of the none-voters.
Let your voice be heard.
24
That's at least three grade levels too advanced.
16
Anybody with eyes has known for years that Trump is like a spoiled child. How on earth Republicans made this the standard bearer of their party says an awful lot about what their values are: money and power. That’s it.
13
Clearly an underserving insult to 5th and 6th graders. It would also be an insult to any animal with which he is compared with.
6
Move along, Republicans. Nothing to see here.
Why did almost half of the country vote for this man? Because Republicans would gladly watch the US burn if it made them richer.
20
Trump acted like a fifth or sixth grader? I don't believe that. Acted like a third or fourth grader--now that I'd believe.
6
Thinking about Bob Woodward’s book called FEAR:
The other day I was walking my dog and saw two guys in Army fatigues. I thought to myself, what if the President were to ask them to do something unconscionable? What would they do? I thought, well, it wouldn’t be up to them personally, right? Right? It would be up to the guys above them who give the orders. So what would the guys in charge do? What would the Secretary of Defense do, and the Generals and Admirals in charge of the Army, Navy, and Air Force? Would they refuse to obey this out-of-control President? Will this be the first USA “Coup” that we can be grateful for? What if? Such FEAR of the unknown to quote Woodward.
Those in Trump’s midst have said they are afraid of him. What are they afraid of....exactly? Are they afraid he will shoot them, have them shot, poison them, fire them from their jobs, send out negative Tweets, or push the “button” because he’s had enough of them and everyone? What if he’s suddenly suicidal/homicidal? Woodward does refer to Trump’s “nervous breakdown”. So, who will do the Temporary Detaining Order ? Who will strong arm him when the time comes? Who has their eye on him? Does he have a secret camera over his desk, his bed, etc....? Is that where we are? Is this our FEAR?
Would those people who are afraid of him please speak up in frank terms for the sake of the nation, for the sake of preserving democracy? What the heck are you waiting for?!
12
@Hortencia:
>>> " I thought to myself, what if the President were to ask them to do something unconscionable? What would they do? I thought, well, it wouldn’t be up to them personally, right? Right?"
Well, that depends upon whether or not we believe that the principles according to which we conducted Nazi war crimes trials apply to us and our military personnel:
NUREMBERG PRINCIPLE IV
"The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him."
11
This comparison is insulting to fifth and sixth graders
8
Yes, Trump is bad and mad and should be put out to pasture a s a p, but his desire to get rid of Assad -- "Let's go in" -- would have been pretty interesting if it had worked out. Assad has murdered how many hundreds of thousands of his own people and sent millions into fleeing for their lives, all for what? For his utterly inhuman determination to stay in power no matter what the cost. A true monster. And he not only remains in power, he's got what's left of his country back in his blood-drenched hands.
2
John F. Kelley calls it "Crazytown."
McCain labeled the Trump base, "The Crazies."
We have a crazy man ruling crazytown to the delight of the crazies. That narrative worked great in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Woodward's a well respected writer. There's going to be plenty of denials from those inside the WH.
I believe Woodward.
17
I've said it before and I'll say it again. DT has a serious mental disorder. No one in the administration, past or present, has experience with someone in a high position with such a disorder, or the behavioral skills to address it, so they have no way to understand it. Most continue to try to rationalize the irrational, or blindly support the behavior for selfish reasons. This extends to the press.
The disorder is the result of a childhood of severe emotional abuse from a tyrannical bully father who instilled in DT that every interaction with people is a contest in which if you don't win you are a loser. The child DT saw the only way to escape the pain of thinking he must be a loser was to copy the behavior of the abuser who was seen as a winner. Years of this abuse has hard-wired into DT's brain that the way to avoid the pain of being a loser is to bully and dominate everyone except for those who he sees are like his father.
Think of DT as an active volcano with lava bubbling up to the surface. Most of the time it's just another mountain, but when the pressure increases the steam and lava erupt. For DT the lava is his pain from the childhood abuse. It is his childhood persona that keeps bubbling to the surface. In those moments, those ignorant to the disturbance may compare him to a "fifth or sixth grader", or say he's an "idiot". It's a persona with many decades of experience, so people are confused.
Mattis, et al, are likely trying to protect the country from DT.
12
@D.C. We're so quick these days to assign mental disorders to behavior that often has a simpler explanation — in Trump's case, he's a profoundly vacuous, arrogant buffoon completely out of his depth.
5
There is little more that can be said. The disgusting sight of the horrible creation of trumpism—Evil Ivanka and korrupt Kuschner, uninvited and dressed in frightfully expensive “tartan”— is the epilogue. If you do not care about your country, and are not going to sacrifice five cents, this is your commupance. Cheap pretentiousness to replace the honor that was our country.
9
Have Mattis, Kelly, Cohn, McConnell, Ryan, et al, agreed on 25th Amendment red lines, which they will not let Trump cross without removing him from office on grounds of incapacity, “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office”?
[18.0904:2116]
8
Mr. Woodward’s credibility is unimpeachable. Trump, on the other hand, is a pathological liar, a career criminal, a racist, a bigot, a misogynist, a thief, a liar, and indisputably the worst president in U.S. history. He is also severely mentally unstable. Everything revealed so far in Mr. Woodward’s tome is completely credible. I believe nothing of what Trump espouses to defend his criminal proclivities. Kudos to Mr. Woodward for his revelations concerning this fraud of a president.
26
This should not be a surprise to anyone. If you took the name off of Mr. Trump’s tweets, you would think it was the account of a thirteen year old girl (apologies to thirteen year old girls). The stunning part is how most members of his administration & Congress will not stand up to Mr. Trump. What are they so afraid of?
12
You’re right. Most of Trump’s spiteful tweets are both effeminate and loaded with adolescent hatred.
5
@JCAZ:
With apologies to Lloyd Bentsen, I know some thirteen-year-old girls and Trump's not in the same league as most of them.
As for the Republicans in Congress, what they are afraid of is Trump's base. They are petrified that breaking with Trump will mean, for those in Trumpish districts, certain defeat. We'll know more about the accuracy of that assessment in a couple of months.
5
Unhinged, liar, stupid, ignorant, mentally ill, racist, sexist,
woman hater, greedy, selfish, and much more.
Trump has been called many names and labels,
and this is possibly the worst ever in the history
of any presidency.
Trump is destroying the Republican party, and they are accepting this without fighting back.
Why?
Why allow Trump to make the GOP an historic relic?
Is it possible that the Republican ideology is dead,
and no one wants to be labelled a Republican?
Bob Woodward has exposed the weakness of the Republicans,
it's called Trump.
13
No, Trump is the culmination of years of Republican hard work. They've been building up towards this moment. That's why they're not doing anything about him.
9
@Marisa Leaf
This is the same type of tactic that McConnell used against President Obama, when he said that not a single policy will be made, and he and the Republicans blocked everything after the first two years.
Now they are using the McConnell policy not to
do anything against Trump, but to keep him in the White House what ever the cost, as the Republicans can continue to dismantle democracy, and turn America back before
the 1960's and the 1930's.
Back to when only white men had power,
and inequality and harm was an everyday reality for millions of Americans.
The Midterm elections will stop the GOP back
to the future tactic, and will bring Congress back to the checks and balances of the Constitution and the Founding Fathers.
The power of the Vote,
is the power of the People.
"We the People."
1
All that the great idiot has to do is say that the book is full of lies and his base is going to disregard the book as work of fiction, which he just did actually. Not until some of the people really close to him like Kelly are willing to go on record to debase him, his base is going to cling to him like glue. I never thought someone as nasty and full of lies as this idiot could occupy the White house. We are in totally uncharted territory now and only time will tell if and when America is going to recover from all the damage being done by this fool.
11
I am 70 in October, worked in law enforcement for a very long time, suffered the loss of loved ones but still— this is the most painful two years of my life. I am afraid of the country I will be leaving my children. There is no news here—we elected a chaotic man with a third rate mind and no conscience with which to check himself.
Overwhelming how many good people have left government. If there are no grounds for criminal conspiracy I want him out because he is inept and a
Stalking horse for issue after issue.
America’s wealth is unfairly distributed. Did he really have to make it worse with that insane tax cut? The environment is at extreme risk. This is the fourth hottest year on record. His answer, import asbestos while the water in Flint Michigan and all of the town’s like it remain toxic. He has a nominee before the Senate Judiciary Committee who appears perfectly willing to take away the rights of half our population to control of their own bodies. Duplicity in other areas is not something he suffers from when it comes to questions of ethnicity. He is an unapologetic racist.
It is too easy to beat-up on him. He is retarded emotionally. Those who use him for their own gains—
Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan— have faired incredibly well under him. The corporate interests they represent
have done incredibly well—major stock buy backs funded with the tax cuts the ordinary family will eventually have to pay for. Donald takes the heat, Mitch and Paul grab the money.
42
Why am I not shocked? Trump is being propped up while Republicans hopes that he donsn't dig them into a bigger hole when he starts firing tweets.
All they expect him to do is to pack the Supreme Court with nominees that are acceptable to them, sign the bills that they want passed, and help Republican nominees to get elected. If he does that, they hold their noses and do their best to stay out of his way.
12
In the phone call with Woodward Trump lamented he didn't know about Woodward's request for an interview and demanded to know who Woodward had contacted. After Woodward mentions Lindsey Graham the president acknowledges Graham did say something about it. Next up Conway. She blathers about moving it up the chain where it was denied. Did the president demand to know who squashed it? Of course not. Not a peep. Even a fifth or sixth grader would be curious to find out who made that decision, unless it was the fifth or sixth grader who made the decision.
12
Confirmation of what millions of us knew from June 2015. This man is manifestly unqualified to be POTUS. He is a clear and present danger to our country and the world. But we will have to wait until the Dems take back at least one branch of Congress to check him because the "Party of Lincoln" has decided that tax cuts for corporations and the Kochs and their ilk are more important than the safety of our country. Check out the Lincoln Memorial-he may be weepingat what his party has become.
17
Even without Woodward’s Book, - whether you agree or disagree with some of Trump׳s actions and/or philosophy, -it should be apparent by now that Trump does not have the capability and/or temperament to be President of the USA.
21
How can Mitch and Paul and the GOP Congress do nothing while 45 is clearly behaving more erratically every day? It is their duty and job to provide oversight of the President.
I guess there afraid of Trump and I guess Trump let’s them do whatever they want. In any case it’s shameful and putting our country at great risk.
15
I’m sorry, my grandson just started the 6th grade in school this year and he is a lot smarter than Donald Trump! Trump would be better compared to a 2-year old who needs to stand in the corner for an hour!
22
History will not be kind to those who deny what they know to be true.
35
The evangelicals and other religious groups need to listen and listen good Trump is ready to break and that is a very sad . He wanted to invade Venezuela last year and right after that Rex Tillerson left. He did not want to go down in history as a failure like Trump will be remembered. Your GOP anger , belligerence and my way or the high way is not working in a Democracy or the world. We need a democratic change soon and if Trumps GOP are still in control in November there goes your Social Security and medicare. Paul Ryan already said it is being cut then there won't be any election for some time so the rich will continue their so the GOP can be as mean as ever.
11
6th Graders genuinely care about things like homeless people, the environment, finding common ground with other people etc.
Trump might deliver speech on a 6th grade level, but his cynical and amoral attitude to life is so confronting to our children that us parents dread the conversations about why this man is our President.
19
Other than the fact that Woodward is the author, at this point in our political sphere, this book is irrelevant and a trite. It adds scintilla of value in changing the Overton Window, the narrative and the perspectives. It reinforces the fact that this administration is a dysfunctional joke like a banana republic. The supposed patriots like Kelly, Mattis et. al who continue to be part of the administration reinforce their skullduggery and the republican precept that party is always preferred over country.
5
@NMT No, it's important that such a reputable journalist document what and how the White House does (NOT) function. There's nothing irrelevant or trite in that.
3
@HKGuy
While Woodward put his stamp on this, it is too late, and he is telling us the obvious. It doesn't impact or change the political landscape, but is definitely good for his book and news cycles.. Imagine the impact if we had heard from Woodward rather than Michael Wolff 10 months ago.
1
I shared this via email with a lot of friends.... Most replied that there's a slug of Fifth graders out there who are VERY, VERY offended!
24
@Spudnut
Perhaps a letter writing campaign demanding an apology from Secretary Mattis is in order.
2
“Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they doesn't mean they aren't after you" - : Joseph Heller Catch-22
The Don's seeming belief in conspiracies seems to warrant some concern. It would be easier to show some compassion if the Don wasn't so mean, racist, and down right dangerous to our democracy.
10
So every comment, every revelation, every "book" , every comment is totally false? All of these folks who spent hours upon hours around the president or with his staff are making this up? The same guy who blew the press whistle on Nixon is not trustworthy? So Trump with over 4500 verified ,fact check, lies is to be believed? He of the false truth along with FOX?
No, if even 50% is true its frightening to think the most powerful country in the world is depending on a juvenile, impulsive, revengeful, lying, uninformed (actually often misinformed) person.
21
The denials from Kelly and Mattis are strong. I'm sure there's a lot of hyperbole thrown around in Trump's White House. It is very much his style. Chances are many of Woodward sources either don't understand the style or are deliberately playing dumb. All of this gossip, like the past two years of collusion speculation and promises in the media, just won't hold water. Trump is turning out to be a very effective leader, though a real maverick. Those who voted for him got exactly what they want. And it looks like he'll be around through 2024 based on today's embarrassing display by Democrats at the Cavanaugh hearings.
2
Unless he is convicted of many crimes.
6
Of course the denials from WH staffers are strong. They need to stay in their jobs to keep Trump from blowing us all up.
7
I'm the parent of two very smart sixth graders. Comparing Trump to them is an insult, to them.
22
I think I already read this book as a child. it was called The Emperor’s New Clothes.”
21
And let the denials begin.
5
Take note that as of ~8:17 PM EST on September 4, 2018, Trump has officially designated quoted material within Bob Woodward's book "frauds, a con on the public. Likewise other stories and quotes." Trump goes on to give his disciples their excuse for continuing to disregard reality: "Woodward is a Dem operative? Notice timing?"
I must point out that Trump's first question is nonsensical. Trump acts as if he is repeating a question someone else asked ("Woodward is a Dem operative?"). It's his version of Clint Eastwood's empty chair interview with Obama. Trump does this in a pitiful attempt to pretend that he is not the one questioning Woodward's truthfulness. It is no different than Trump not-so-subtle pattern of prefacing/following wild accusations with phrases like:
"some people are saying...";
"a lot of people are saying...";
"I don't know, maybe...";
"... what do you think?";
"I think people are going to find out some things in the next couple of weeks...."; etc.; etc.
And as for the president's question on "timing," perhaps he can remove some more security clearances like he did in an attempt (unsuccessful) to distract from Omarosa's book. Or maybe he can flippantly try to discharge all transgender servicepeople by tweet a THIRD time, like he did during some of the most scandalous months of his presidency (a known example, BTW, of generals actively "slow-rolling" Trump's unhinged orders). We'll see what happens the day the book goes on sale.
10
Years from now , people will read about the Trump period and wonder how a great country like the USA could have elected this madman. They will also wonder why and how the Congress could continually support 45.
Here is a President with no major achievements but a few negatives:
Most unpopular President in US history.
Most corrupt President ever.
Worst Cabinet choices in history.
Most damage done to a democracy.
Most damage done to World climate controls.
Most damage done to World trade.
Most damage done to international relations.
Largest financial debt in US History.
Most ignorant President to inhabit the Oval Office.
Most lies ever told by one man in the history of mankind.
Most chaotic Presidency in US history.
Most disrespectful leader to women, gays, Muslims and the disabled..
63
Trump does love superlatives. Maybe he will content himself with these and say, “My work is done. I think I’ll retire.” Wouldn’t that be great?
6
@Linda
While he's in office? Oops. Do you realize that means we'll have President Mike Pence?! Remember, he is the extremist Evangelical Christian who has said that his faith is more important to him than anything else, who believes we must accept all of the flaws of DT in order to fulfill God's plan for a Christian nation where abortion is illegal again, where religious (that means Christian) belief dominates American life. I'm not sure who would be more dangerous to our democracy, so no, I don't think that would be "great".
4
If you tried to sell “Fear” as a Hollywood script, twenty years ago, you would have no takers, because the story line is too far fetched.
17
I just returned today from the European trip. Not hearing Trump's name for ten days except once was a much needed relief. The only time I heard his name was from a taxi driver of Pakistani ethnicity when he asked me " sir you are from America .....why these white people in America voted this half-brain man as president? He is going to break your country and your constitution.....and how do you know he is not a Russian spy."
He certainly rendered me speechless.
62
Even an electoral college fluke of a president must be at least thirty five years of age. It's a shame his mental age isn't taken into consideration...
19
Of course Trump isn’t very smart and of course the people in his orbit think he’s an idiot. And yes we all have seen over and over that Trump has a 5th grade mentality, we all read his tweets.
I wish that any of the behavior Woodward described was too shocking to be true but none of this is a surprise.
15
@John Adams
Please read my comment on DT's serious mental disorder. What we are witnessing is DT's painful childhood abuse persona bubbling to the surface when under stress like lava from an active volcano. He is not an idiot, nor does he have a 5th grade mentality, but his childhood persona has those characteristics. With over five decades of study in human behavior this is obvious to me. Please don't feel bad, this insight cannot be expected in any regular government employee, by most anyone in the press, or by the average person. VP Pence is almost as bad for democracy but in a different way and for different reasons. The solution is to vote them both out of office in 2020.
1
The people in this administration aren't going to speak on the record, appear before Congress or become whistleblowers (unless they have a book to promote) because of personal ambition and the belief that this job will be a springboard to the next one. And their boss is a vindictive narcissist who will punish anyone who leaves him or speaks ill of him. These are professional politicians lusting for money & power, not public servants who believe they are doing the people's work. It's reassuring to know that some of them are trying to manage him but they're complicit in a massive con to shift even more wealth to the few at the expense of the many. Basically just another Republican administration.
14
When I was growing up, there always seemed to be a few boys in each grade who took delight by insulting others in our classes who were different in some way. The targets of the abuse were typically boys and girls of color, Jewish boys and girls or kids who had an obvious birth defect. I suspect readers of this comment have also encountered kids who exhibited this type of degrading behaviors.
Looking back at these few boys, I realize now, in my later years, that they actually had low self esteem and behaved they way they did because they thought that the only way they could build themselves up was to tear some one else down.
As one observes Donald Trump's words and actions, he fits the pattern of someone who actually has low self esteem and high insecurity. Why else would he continuously insult, demean, and defame anyone who offers any criticism of him or acts in any way opposite to his spur-of-the-moment whims, comments and actions?
22
Mr. Woodward and his stellar reputation far out-trump the lies, back-biting and ineptitude of the president and those who continue to cover for him. History will remember this honest appraisal of the current white house as a national warning that we are in free fall. The emergency responders to save the nation will be Democrats elected in the midterms.
12
No wonder he loves the " uneducated ". His peer group.
27
There is no collusion between Trump's mouth and brain.
31
Well, who wouldn't love to see Trump competing on "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader"? Hosted by Jim Mattis!
16
This “idiot” is the Manchurian Candidate. Soon the people who really control his ideas will have seated 2 Supreme Court justices and denied an equally and, candidly, better qualified Judge Garland (a real lawyer and not a life-long partisan like Goursch and now Kavanaugh) a seat. Tax cuts: check. Deregulation run smock: check. On and on. Let’s figure out how to win elections, not read articles and books so we can congratulate ourselves on recognizing what an “idiot” Trump is or may be, as are his supporters and Fox News. Let’s win the hearts and minds of the independents by talking real policy! Not only abortion, but so many important issues of the day. And let’s get to the middle fast. Remember Bill Clinton ....
11
I figured there were some adults in the WH "managing" the Toddler-In-Chief. Now I'm concerned Woodward has blown their cover on how they distract him and get him to eat his peas.
15
Mattis should be awarded the Purple Heart for this job. The only adult in DC. And to think they called him Mad Dog Mattis.
2
But so what? I am so frustrated because no matter how bad it keeps getting with this loser in office, he is completely protected. Nothing can be done to a sitting president, he most likely will not be impeached, so he continues his awful appalling dangerous idiotic behavior.
9
@Rebecca S. Except that a divided Congress can sidestep him, which is why the Midterms are so important.
4
"Later, when the president ordered a similar letter authorizing the departure of the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mr. Cohn and other aides plotted how to prevent him from going ahead with a move they feared would be deeply destabilizing. “I can stop this,” Mr. Cohn said to the staff secretary, Rob Porter, according to the book."
Ironically, didn't insider Republicans like Mr. Cohn scream their hypocritical little heads off about the evil "Deep State" when Christopher Steele and Peter Strzok said and did things to "stop this" and protect the country from Trump's insanity?!?!?
So, behind closed doors, people like Mr. Cohn are "patriots" for secretly looking out for our national security; but out in the open, people like Mr. Steele and Mr. Strzok are called evil traitors for doing similar things with similar intentions.
OK, it all makes sense to me, when I remind myself that Republicans are spineless, morally-bereft hypocrites who will lie and cheat their way through anything just to horde power. (No need to mince words anymore.)
12
Then who is our Commander-in-Chief?
11
Okay, he's a professional liar. Finally! Competence at last. Fred and Mary would be s so proud.
6
Well, this explains why his desk is nearly always empty.
26
Please stop insulting fifth and sixth graders, most of whom are smart enough to realize they are not stable geniuses and need adult supervision.
17
Just goes to show you how much of a puppet Trump has to be.
Everybody on earth knows he’s a sixth grader... except Trump and a whole bunch of people who ‘hang there hats’ on Fox ideology.
5
Donald Trump should read these comments.
9
@Leonard He'd stumble over any sentence longer than three words, and any word longer than two syllables.
7
@Leonard
Too many big words...
6
@Leonard
Watch for tomorrow's tweets.
4
This book may or may not contain enough evidence to support impeachment. It definitely contains enough of a basis to invoke the 25th Amendment. To VP Pence and the Cabinet: Do It Now!
12
@farhorizons Congress can't impeach a president based on unnamed sources in a book. That's not considered evidence.
@farhorizons
You are confusing "typing" with "evidence."
"Negative book," ???? What tdid you expect trump? Of course it will be negative. You have created a snake pit of contradiction, obsfucation, confusion and deceit. Exactly how was that supposed to result in anything positive?
11
Our President can prove Mr. Woodward wrong by agreeing to be interviewed by Robert Mueller. That'll really show everybody who's running the show...
12
Nothing surprises me here. I have long judged DJT to be an imbecile and his almost daily thoughtless tantrums confirm my suspicions. Even if it is the case Woodward’s book contains some embellishment, I doubt it falls very far from the reality in the White House.
9
Despite these revelations, Trump supporters have, as they say, "drank the lemonade" and become totally tribal. They, like lemmings, would go off the cliff for him......only he would definitely step aside and allow them to go first and walk away with nary a care. He uses them to admire him and feed his ever hungry ego. It's all about him.
11
Trump has all the self control of a petulant two year old. God help us, he has access to the nuclear buttons. The Republicans who continue to support him through his temper tantrums are endangering the country. We need to have adults in control, not an ignorant manchild.
9
"At another moment, Mr. Trump’s aides became so worried about his judgment that Gary D. Cohn, the chief economic adviser, took a letter from the president’s desk authorizing the withdrawal of the United States from a trade agreement with South Korea. Mr. Cohn told an associate that Mr. Trump never realized it was missing."
That incident screams dementia.
16
I wonder if Mr. Woodward got his hands on Trump’s tax returns. Now that would be real News.
9
Somebody oughta sweep the nuclear codes far away from Trump while they're at it.
14
Trump loves winning.
This has got to be a record.
First President to have three books calling him an idiot before the two year mark.
Who said he would not accomplish anything?
33
"Madness in great ones must not unwatched go."
--Hamlet
15
I have to admit I underestimated Trump's intelligence. I had him at a grade 3 level but apparently he's much smarter than that. Fifth and sixth graders all around the planet have been insulted by Trump being likened to them. That comparison is wrong and so was mine. It's much worse...
16
I wish Mr. Woodward would turn his attention to the two-headed snake - Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan. The country needs to know what they really think and say.
28
@DesertFlowerLV
I agree, McConnell is the treacherous one because he is more sane than Trump. He has the competence to execute Trump's insane wishes, to translate them into policies. He is as arrogant as Trump, with less vulgarity.
8
Working in "crazytown"? Worst job he ever had? Those supporting Trump will discover they are on the wrong side of history.
4
Kelly, Mattis, et al. now dispute the claims ( . . .kind of); however, they all signed non disparagement agreements, right?
Do the high level Trump supporters care nothing at all about their reputations . . . or do they imagine future generations will accept a "Fox News" version of our times?
5
So obvious he didn't want to talk to Woodward and now trying to control the narrative.
5
That's an insult to all the 10 and 11 year olds I have known. It would have been more accurate to say that Trump acts like, and has the understanding of, a 5 or 6 year old. A 5 or 6 year old with Oppositional Defiant Disorder.
7
Although they often take a beating for having a role in the current administration thank God for men like Secretary Mattis, Chief of Staff Kelly and yes, even AG Sessions.
Without men like them in place who knows what lunacy would actually be implemented.
4
Assassinting Assad seems like the sanest suggestion I’ve heard. To crazy people, naturally everyone else appears that way.
Transcripts and recordings often sound terrible when compared to what was intended, but one can only guess what was intended with these utterances in the transcript. In Trump's case here everything having to do with his communication; poor apparent memory, inappropriate emotional expression, poor written or verbal word choices, spelling, grammar and syntax that makes him sound confused, inappropriate, or false, creates an impression of a profound lack of competence. This may have several causes but lacking expert clinical examination, brain imaging studies, laboratory tests, biopsy or other live autopsy we can only guess. My guess is that it is a mixed organic mental disease, perhaps related to autism, his extreme narcissism, lifespan anger management problems and importantly, his advancing age. There's no way Donald Trump should be be able to launch a holocaust on a whim, but he could. I've heard him speak and have read his remarks occasionally over the last 35 years and his decline seems shocking and obvious. Thanks to Bob Woodward for making this horror show public.
18
5th or 6th graders are much more mature than Trump and possibly more intelligent.
3
Fox News is on, doing what Fox News always does: Support, protect and defend an occupant of the White House and run into the ground anyone who dares to publicly criticize and deride this presidential impersonator. Bob Woodward is its latest target to get the Fox evil eye. FNC looks for a fistfight and there is no one - not the NYT, WAPO, NBC, CBS, CNN or the rest of so-called main street media dares to step into the ring with this bunch of anecdotal-toting, red herring dealing, and fact-deficient bunch of loud mouths! It's past time to take them on with a whole lot more energy than a well-worded editorial or opinion column.
4
What should REALLY give people pause is not that his staff take and hide things off his desk...
...it's that it is actually a viable strategy because HE has no ability to remember and keep track of what papers HE'S tasked these staff to draw up for HIM in the first place.HIM
If that is not basic mental deficiency...then what is?
10
@Steve
Time for the "D" word to be considered.
3
@farhorizons His father died of Alzheimer's. The press has paid far too little attention to that. Alzheimer's has a strong genetic component.
2
Why don't Woodward and Bernstein just write a generic book for all Presidents and stop wasting our time? It's always the same.
@Mike Livingston But it's always so true.
I do not understand why Mathis defends the President and tries to build him up in the eyes of Americans - outrageously calling him the equivalent of a 5th or 6th grader when it is clear he's struggling even to be a 1st grader. 5th and 6th graders should be up in arms and marching on Washington in response to this gratuitous and malicious slander against their maturity. Mathis, you owe every 5th and 6th grader an apology for even suggesting that any one of them acts as immaturely and irresponsibly as your boss.
3
“the president acted like — and had the understanding of — a ‘fifth or sixth grader.’”
He told his biographer, "When I look at myself in the first grade and I look at myself now, I’m basically the same."
So congratulations, Donnie. You've moved up four or five grades. You're nearly a big boy now!
(Do you really think we'll have the opportunity to look back on these days and laugh?)
6
I am sick of living in some downmarket tv-sitcom. When will someone pull the plug ? I talked to a friend in the UK today and she aid "We have our problems, but they are nothing compared to what you have."
15
@Tim
The UK's and US's biggest problems have a common element. His name is Vladimir.
1
So Trump has issued illegal military orders, and Secretary Mattis, so far, has refused to carry them out. In doing so, he has the responsibility to convene the cabinet and to declare Trump unfit for office. Thus, the 25th Amendment Section 4 must be carried out, or the cabinet must be dissolved.
Trump and Pence should resign today, because they are identified as being so corrupt that their testimony cannot be trusted.
The US is in grave, imminent danger, and this must be stopped by all available means within the rule of law.
The Republicans in Congress have fully abdicated their responsibility to perform oversight, checks and balances, and to represent the will of their constituents. They are also culpable for this clear and present danger. All citizens of good faith must act accordingly and vote them all out of office.
There are traitors in our midst, and we have a duty to our country and fellow citizens to confront them, to hold them culpable for their crimes, and to remove the threats they pose to us.
29
I hope our Generals in the cabinet have disabled the nuke button. I bet Trump would love to bang on that. I had a boss disconnect the wires behind the office thermostat because of so much infighting over office temperature. Still employees thought they had the power and Constantly changed the temperature with out realising it never affected the room temperature. Hope they disconnected all the buttons except his Twitter.
12
Awesome idea. Maybe they could replace it with a Staples 'EASY', so the fool can think he really accomplished something.
4
@Chicago
I sympathize with the office temperature analogy. Because of the continuous infighting, the adjustment range has been fixed in our offices to within 4 degrees F. Unfortunately, the people who programmed the thermostat in my office set it to 78-82 degrees, instead of 68-72.
I called the building maintenance crew to change it, but they would not do it, because they wanted it to be signed off by the supervisor - which was me.... They could not grasp the fact that supervisor and the person requesting the change were one and the same. Their software did not allow for that contingency and common sense was unable to overrule the programming bug. I literally had to ask my administrative assistant to request the change in my office and then I had to approve her request to eventually escape the unbearable heat.
Looks like the White House is functioning along similar idiotic rules these days.
Thanks goodness for that!
I never saw the wisdom until today.
I'm grateful that there are some grownups with backbones who are willing to deal with this maniac to protect the rest of us. Thank you to the former generals and others who are doing their duty and trying to protect this nation. Now if only the GOP's so-called "leadership" would do theirs, and work with Democrats to end this nightmare.
6
Trump was right when he told us that other countries laughed at the US. That's about the only time he has been right.
18
Who says that the President hasn't devoted efforts to meet the needs of the Nation. Just look at Secy. Mattie candid sharing with Colleagues how our President is already up to "fifth or Sixth grade level.
4
I was a 5th grade teacher and agree with the assessment that the president acts like a 5th grader! He the 5th grader who no body likes, so he will do or say anything to get attention, even negative attention, from the rest of the class.
14
The only thing more predictable about the details of this book was Trump's response to it.
14
So how long can Trump's aides follow him around with the great dust pan of life? His behavior is not getting more erratic, it has always been erratic, even before he became president. Trump as private citizen has shown he has no great regard for the law. What does anyone really think -- that he's going to develop some now? The question I see is, how can his aides keep covering for him and catching his mistakes? As we see, those mistakes can carry serious consequences. Trump obsesses over events he cannot control -- the Mueller investigation -- and he has even less appetite or aptitude for governing in any capacity. Meanwhile, his cabinet secretaries wreak havoc on the country and the small minded cowardly congress just wants to pad the judiciary. There is no leadership among his own party -- McConnell the great coward and Lindsey Graham, the reluctant convert. This is not leadership. It is a shameful excuse of a group of self-serving, self-interested men whose only regard is not the American people or American institutions but how are they going to morph this country into something that represents a sliver of the population to the detriment of everyone else. And we wait and keep our fingers crossed that the aides in the white house keep running behind the big guy with the great dust pan of life.
3
I think they are waiting for him to self-destruct. Pence is the understudy.
Here's what's interesting and ironic. I'm an immigrant to this country and I know why the US keeps a military presence in Korea. The President, the man entrusted to protect and defend the United States, does not. He says it doesn't matter. And he's right, it doesn't matter if all you're looking for are story lines to keep audiences flocking to the latest season of your TV show, "The Apprentice: Earth, You're Fired Edition". But we didn't elect him (oops, *you* didn't elect him, I have no voting rights) to increase his brand. We (you) elected him to be President. He's fired.
November, please make it all stop!
14
Frankly, Gen. Mattis should apologize to 6th graders. Most of the ones I know are thoughtful, kind and quick on the uptake.
6
So unfortunate. Trump has worked all his life to be someone special and wrapped himself in the trinkets of fame and fortune only to have it all unmasked for the little man he is. I'm sorry for him but it's no excuse for the country to put up with him.
9
Now that it is clear who the chief executive is, what will the party, the cabinet and the members of the White House staff do to save the Republic? What will it take for the anonymous sources to come forward for the Nation’s sake? Must the voters bear the burden of doing what those who know the truth firsthand will not?
4
Ha! Seems the Deep State is right across the hall, Mr. President.
8
If Mattis' insult had been more specific -- if he had compared Trump to perhaps a "love-starved, entitled, pathologically narcissistic fifth grader completely devoid of empathy, morality, or logical thinking skills and tending toward violence" -- I would not have seen it as an unfair comparison. However, most ten-to-twelve-year-olds in this country are far superior to our current president in every way possible (and their brains are not even fully developed yet!). I wish Congress would act more like teachers and administrators, giving their repeat offender some stern redirection and possibly a lengthy time out, for he is not modeling acceptable behavior for other humans.
8
I loath Trump for what he has done and fear him for what he may do. But I wish Woodward had left us with some method to verify his report. All Trump supporters have to do is deny. Perhaps some of Woodward's sources will be brave enough to step forward and identify themselves.
Sources: we will honor you if you put your careers on the line for your country, for humanity.
19
@Chasethebear His base would just claim they're lying anyway.
2
I think all of us question what’s happened to our Country, but all us of are culpable.
We’ve allowed the GOP to divide us and not appreciate the threat.
Since “Greed is Good”, “Starve the Goverment” and “Welfare Queens”, we didn’t take seriously the underlining strategy combined with the power of Fox News and right wing radio to dismal the ethos of the USA.
We are here now and in a fight for the soul of America.
11
A lot of us saw this disaster coming, and argued until we were blue in the face, but alas fox prevailed.
6
@Stephan
On the contrary, we are NOT all culpable, & it's foolish to say that.
For decades, many of us realized the danger of the gop divisiveness, & we fought & resisted with all our might v. Faux Noise & right-wing radio.
7
In 1943, Field Marshall Erwin Rommel and some of his colleagues realized that their leader was 'not all there'. It did not go well for them. Are Mattis, Kelly and others in the same boat, and unwilling or unable to act?
16
It is high time that the Democratic Party begin to assume a more aggressive posture to defend democracy itself from the President. After watching Active Measures, a documentary focused on Trump and Putin, I am certain that Trump's financial dealings with Russian oligarchs are leading him to an untenable situation. The whole thing is about to implode.
16
King of the Deplorables
39
So the republicans will even support having a moron at the helm just to hang on to power? So much for love of country, let’s have a ten year old boy in charge....thank goodness this will be over with in two years.
69
They did it with Nixon, Reagan and Dubya, twice. Why would they change now? It works for them.
5
@Sandra LaBelle " ...thank goodness this will be over with in two years."
Perhaps. But, like a nuclear bomb, the fallout might last for ... Eons.
2
Anyone who has lived in NYC for the past 30 years knew and still knows what Trump is. A narcissist and a liar. Anyone who doesn't believe what is in Bob Woodward's book and believes Trump is a fool.
172
The final paragraphs of the article just reinforce what a coward Trump is. After dodging Woodward for months so that he will not have to deal with a difficult interview, he pretends that it was all the fault of his aides (how many are even left?). Sounds very similar to his pathetic call to Omarosa after she was fired. SAD!
48
Shame any any of you literate enough to read and still supporting this disaster in the WH. The evidence, from every corner, is that Trump per se represents the most serious National Security risk to America. That cannot be reasonably disputed. Simply shame on you.
92
So what of the 40% American's that stick by Trump? Do they also have a 4th grade education? Actually, looking at intellect from Red States, they do read at the 4th grade level.
34
@MoneyRules
I would hope that even those that have only a 4th grade education would know the difference between "American's" and "Americans."
3
@MoneyRules Entry level 4th grade reading?
1
I disagree with the observation that Trump is a professional liar. John Kelly is a professional liar. Trump is a compulsive, habitual, delusional liar who repeats his lies so often that he starts to believe them. Unfortunately, so does a percentage of the electorate who also stopped learning in fifth grade.
31
“I can stop this,” Mr. Cohn said to the White House staff secretary at the time, Rob Porter, according to the book. “I’ll just take the paper off his desk.”
I have an image of Cohn sitting on the nuclear football, and Trump swearing he was just about to press the button when the briefcase vanished.
Actually, this is not funny...........
36
@Monterey Seaotter You are not kidding
3
I've put up with stereotyping my whole life because of my accent.
The fact that Trump demeans Sessions according to Woodward (who I can't believe I even support Jeffrey in any way) because of his accent, calls him "retarded", which BTW is so disrespectful to any special needs persons and their family, is beyond belief. DJT has stained the OFFICE of the POTUS forever.
Everything I've heard about the book is believable. All one has to do is read DJT twitter and can see he's unhinged and out of control. I can't wait to read it.
42
There is no doubt that Trump has damning information about, oh, everyone. I'm sure that Russia has spied on Graham, Kelly, Conway, et al, and has collected photos of a honey traps and illegal activity, and has given it to Trump, who threatens his subordinates with leaking the information. There is simply no other explanation for their fear and allegiance to him.
10
Hahahahahaha!
There's no clothes on that emperor!
15
Junior High dropout. Seriously.
17
You can only wonder why Republicans don't remove Trump from office. Its like riding with a drunk driver and only saying that he should not be driving. Stop the dam car and take the keys.
67
That headline insults 5th & 6th graders.
19
Gen. Kelly denies he ever called Trump an `idiot'. Doesn't he know his denial is worse? Why hasn't he called Trump an `idiot'?
75
Perhaps an interesting book for historians later, but useless now, except for revenue generation. By this point in the Trump experience, there's essentially no one left whose opinion on him - good, bad, non existent, whatever - is going to be affected by more information. It'll be reviewed quickly and only read by those whose opinion of Trump is reinforced. Happily for the author and publisher, there are a lot of such people.
27
Odd, then, that Trump's people are flipping out.
5
What in the world did fifth and sixth graders ever do to Mattis for him to make such a comparison? Seriously. He should apologize to fifth and sixth graders everywhere.
90
If true, Mattis has insulted fifth and sixth graders everywhere and should apologize.
35
As someone with no insider information or power in any circles in DC or anywhere else, all I can do is wait for November 6th and encourage everyone I know that the voice of the people is in our right to vote.
If you live in a red state, then I depend on you to check with every person you meet in your daily life, that they are legally entitled to vote and then tell them who to vote for. My future and indeed, your future, depends on them realizing that one vote does make a difference.
38
People vote (and for whom) on their own volition; they ain’t sheep.
@Dave G. Trump supporters are the very definition of sheep. As Trump noted, he could shoot someone on 5th Ave...
Trump knows his base very well.
4
How ironic and scary that we are now dependent on a "benign Seven Days in May" strategy to keep our country safe from an incompetent and irrational president.
For those too young to remember, "Seven Days in May" was a famous novel and movie in the 1960s in which a top Pentagon official plotted a takeover of the presidency.
Now we as a country are depending on rational Pentagon and other top officials rising to the occasion and disregarding irrational orders from the president. Burt Lancaster, the villain in the original movie, has now become the good guy.
Thank you, GOP, for bringing us to this point.
30
Trump fatigue has fully set in. The Democrats need to focus on what they're going to do right. Everyone knows who Trump is. He's going to get his votes from the 25% of people who would still vote for him if he shot someone on 5th Avenue. The ones who voted Republican last time and are open to change already knew he was a liar and sexual predator and cheat before Nov 2016. The Democrats need to push a positive message, and if they're going to criticize Trump, they need to show that he hasn't done for Trump voters what he said he would do. He's killing farmers, coal still isn't back, tariffs are killing many working class jobs, and the tax cuts haven't helped anyone who actually works a real job. Trump is more than capable of informing everyone what a Bozo he is, the Dems just need to show they're a serious, reasonable (sane) candidates, and they'll take the House and maybe the Senate.
98
The civil servants who Woodward interviewed need meet each other and as a group approach the Congress with their concerns. The world's most powerful state is drifting in a dangerous sea with a sick captain at the helm. Rescue time is...now. If you are one of anonymous sources Woodward used, ask him to connect you with each other, then contact the named sources. Right away.
16
Section IV of the 25th Amendment - they CAN remove 45 from office. Do it!
27
I have gained new respect for President Trump when I learned that he wanted to off Assad.
Sorry, I meant assassinate a head of state. The horror!!
I am glad he was talked out of it, but I do value his instincts.
So now we fret that Trump wanted to get rid of a fanatical psychopathic killer who with his tiny family has hijacked an entire country.
I get that, really I do.
Obama said "regime change is my Administration's policy in Syria". Aha. No assassination involved. Really! One thing I will give Obama: he knew the value of drones. As I am sure does Mr. Trump. The difference is, he also knows the value of honey, and the ability to hold one's nose.
1
@John Xavier III
You seem to be missing the forest for the trees... even a broken clock is correct twice a day.
The problem is WAY bigger than one idea he had.
8
Trump wanted to get rid of Kim? Don’t remember that. As far as Assad goes, Trump hasn’t done squat. He’s enabled Putin, Assad’s #1 ally.
2
@John Xavier III Here's another from Trump (defend it if you can):
In his July 19, 2017 NYT interview, Trump said: “So pre-existing conditions are a tough deal. Because you are basically saying from the moment the insurance, you’re 21 years old, you start working and you’re paying $12 a year for insurance, and by the time you’re 70, you get a nice plan. Here’s something where you walk up and say, “I want my insurance.” It’s a very tough deal, but it is something that we’re doing a good job of.”
1
Mattis insults 5th & 6th graders.
When my son was a fifth and sixth grader he had an impressive understanding of politics and world affairs for his age. So did many of his friends. They never had anger fits, called one another names or bullied anyone.
At 72 years old, DT is profoundly more immature than a grade schooler, and were one of them to exhibit his narcissism, pathological lying and tantrums they would have been quickly dispatch to the school counselor.
57
Isn't Crazytown just a little bit understated? Time to go Full Monty on the adjective descriptors, nouns,similes and metaphors. Pull out that old rabbit eared thesaurus and get cracking' America. We're running out a new words to describe the melee (How can such a short word contain so many e's?) that is the Trump White House.
All of this would be so funny, if it wasn't.
12
I agree that so many people have left the West Wing that we don't have many options to fill the vacant jobs. In fact, are there not already a lot of posts not filled? Not because of budget issues, but because they can't get anyone to fill them or get them approved to fill them?
2 years in it seems that to work for this administration one has less than a 50/50 chance of leaving without having their reputation shredded.
Will this go on for 2 more years or 6? Scary thought.
12
We (and I mean everybody of substance!) keeps talking about this national problem, but when are we going to see some concrete steps develop towards getting rid of it?!
12
Imagine that. Trump acts like a spoiled child in the Oval Office. In other words, no surprise. It is no different than he acts in public. He pouts. He throws tantrums. Nothing is ever his fault.
The only difference is that eventually most children grow up.
14
That’s an insult to fifth- and sixth-graders.
7
A "professional liar?"
Trump has found the job that matches his abilities.
6
For tax cuts and justices Republicans are allowing Trump to make a mockery and demean our highest office. The richest, most powerful nation on earth is reduced to following a man his closest colleagues consider a child in both temperament and knowledge. How long will it take to correct the lasting impact of such a man leading us? Two more years is two years too long.
33
@Jam. Once he has stacked your Supreme Court, it may take 30 years to correct the damage done on paper- but the REAL harms done to the environment, the social fabric and your relationships with other nations may never recover.
3
It is not fair to compare Trump to 5th or 6th grader. He function to a level of a 2 year old child.
9
That, too, is an insult to toddlers. ;)
3
There is a level of incompetence, emotional immaturity, anger, delusion and intellectual dishonesty that really needs to be addressed.
And I'm not talking about Trump. I'm talking about his supporters. Any country with over 300 million people is going to have its share of moral degenerates like Trump, but what are we going to do about the tens of millions of Americans who are so brainwashed by anti-liberal propaganda that they thought electing Donald Trump would be a good idea?
113
@Jon It's a serious problem with no simple answers. I bet you see a lot of the cultish behavior, based on your location. A large portion of our populace has failed to practice good citizenship and instead volunteered to be conditioned to distrust expertise, trustworthy news sources, career government workers, and anything else that makes them feel stupid and small. I shudder to think how they'd react to impeachment ("rigged! witch hunt!") and I don't have a lot of confidence they'll accept the results of a free and fair election, either. By rights the republicans should be solving this problem but they've shown us, over and over since June 2015, they won't lift a finger to stop the destruction as long as there's another dollar to steal and another regulation to wipe off the books.
We're in a terrible predicament and I don't see any viable rescue on the horizon.
2
@Jon
The uneducated are ruled by emotion. Fear is a basic emotion. That's why education is being destroyed in the USA as well as in Turkey.
I lived there and experienced it. I also refused to teach in the USA because teachers had to replace parents and counselors with zero power. How can you discipline a kid who throws a teacher through a huge window but is protected from all personal responsibility because of a legal label?).
Now higher education means life-long slavery to debt.
So much for rational behavior/thinking from the masses.
1
Sixty days before the mid-term elections, and here we have a book by a seasoned author, Bob Woodward, who accurately, in the past, depicted White Houses and people read his books and his books became big hits.
By November 6, I hope, that enough voters realize that our 45th POTUS is unfit to serve our country and our constitution, and he needs a Congress that’s controlled by the other party to put him in line until we wake-up from this nightmare.
Vote on November 6, 2018. Vote “D”
30
@freeasabird Texas must also move to remove that mini Trump coward Cruz. Spineless Cruz has even begged Trump to campaign for him, after Trump demeaned his entire family. BETO
Who didn't already know this...only those who who do not want to hear.
9
As bad as Trump is, the institutions and the apparatuses are holding albeit they are all in stress. The guard rails are holding although there is a crash every day. This is the testament to the system that was created, nurtured, bettered and cherished since 1789.
The founding fathers would have been surprised that it took us 227 years to get one like Trump. The system was designed for one like Trump every generation or so. Still they would be proud that despite all this chaos and incompetence at the helm, the inertia of the system doesn't let this collapse.
We will get past this nightmare and we will come out a better people because of this ordeal. Battle of Britain was dubbed by Churchill as Britain's finest hour. Let this be ours.
20
@John--You crack me up! Trump was sent by 62 Million American voters to burn down DC (aka...Swamp) and that is exactly what he is doing. Since the Deep State can't control him, they are trying head over heel's to try and take him down. The apparatus you mention needs a heavy dose of flames or draining because it is corrupt to the very core and keeps feeding itself with more bloat and waste.
Great comment!!!
@atiboy15
Well, it also is true that a minority of the popular vote sent Mr. Trump to the White House, so his mandate is limited, to say the least.
As for Mr. Trump's vow to "drain the swamp," let's consider how many of his associates have faced criminal charges over the past two years. Then consider how many associates of the two previous presidents have faced criminal charges over their combined 16 years in office.
Mr. Trump has not "drained the swamp;" rather, he has filled it with denizens more loathesome than ever. The Bureau of Prisons could save money by opening a branch office for intake in the West Wing.
1
It seems clear that Trump is getting more erratic, destructive and in all likelihood, demented with time. The key question is whether he can be stopped before he does irrevocable damage to the nation. It seehe ms unlikely Muller 's investigation or the impact of more egregious behavior by Trump can lead to a fast enough result. So the only way out is to roust the Republican majorities in November, cripple his ability to do more harm and start the process in earnest. This will only happen if Democrats resist the lure of "progressive" agendas and put forward moderate candidates responsive to their communities who can win the votes of independents and lapsed Republicans. If Liz and Bernie dominate the elections all is likely lost.
46
@NRoad I have never voted for a Republican in my life and, up until now, have never voted for anyone just because of his/her party membership - but for now, even though I am not overly enamored of the Dems for the most part, I intend to vote for anyone who is running as a Democrat (i.e. NOT a Republican), simply in the hope that we can retain what's left of our democracy.
7
@NRoad This is not a "one size fits all" country when it comes to electing our representatives. Therefore Democrats of all stripes, from conservative to liberal, will be elected. Running republican-lite candidates hasn't worked, and won't in the future. Doug Jones was the right person for Alabama, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the Bronx, Ayanna Pressley in Mass. Stop pretending voters are cookie-cutter moderates and let them pick the right persons for their districts. That will result in head to head contests of more extreme ends of each party's platform, with trump-lovers running against solid progressives. Many of us will be watching closely to see if this is going to become an authoritarian dystopia or be restored to a technocratic well-running machine. Those of us with options will bail if the rancid GOP holds both chambers in November. One can only hope large numbers of trump supporters will find right-wing fascist countries more to their liking and will move along.
Matthis is woefully out of touch. Averge Fifth or Sixth Graders have a far better grasp of pretty much anything related to governance, policy, and diplomacy than the current occupant of the Oval Office. Gifted Fifth or Sixth Graders would be better organized and demonstrate more self control, not to mention prescience. They also have greater inherent understanding of and respect for basic morals, and are infinitely more likely to tell the truth. The elementary school children with whom he is most accurately compared are the spoiled and feckless ones born of careless wealth, which is a fine description of the individual in question. He is a genuine example of arrested development. Would that he was simply arrested.
65
@Ralph sixth graders can also spell "Mattis", one just has to read well also.
5
@Ralph
Agree!
2
More witnesses we still need to be hearing from:
His longtime butler, the one investigated by the Secret Service for making Facebook threats against President Obama.
The still unhappy graduates of Trump University.
Trump’s lawyers and accountants, the ones who have not
quite finished preparing his taxes for public release.
His two ex-wives, his many former girlfriends and the hundreds or thousands of women he has made crude passes at.
The small businessmen he stiffed in Atlantic City.
The thousands of people he has sued.
The elderly people he evicted or otherwise forced to leave their homes.
His barber and his wig-maker.
His dermatologist and cosmeticians, the ones who give him that healthy orange glow.
66
Defence Secretary told Trump that we keep troops in South Korea "to prevent WW III " ? Really ? Why do think this poor country to the north keep wasting its resources to build nuclear weapons ? To attack the US ? Unbelievable, convoluted thinking by the military on both sides. Suppose we gradually withdraw our forces from South Korea will that automatically lead to a North Korean invasion ? Take a real example : what happened to East Germany ? When the iron curtain came down, did any invasion took place ? No. Instead re-unification.
5
Sorry. We were confused by the way the wacko murderer running the DPRK keeps torpedoing other people's submarines, killing soldiers with axes, running parades with a couple hundred thousand goose-stepping nutjobs and a whole buncha missiles, and firing off web videos showing his fertility symbols nuking Washington.
7
@Henry***** we had plenty of troops in around Germany and still do
The answer is to put papers that you do want signed on his desk - raises for federal employees, eliminate tariffs, fund relief agencies. Remove Kavanagh from consideration!
42
@Barbarra - Good idea! Since he wouldn't read them, you can get him to sign whatever you want!
4
we have elected a funny man to be president. He will bring in more entertainment values for years down the road. be glad to have him.
@yukonriver123: Yeah, I guess you'd also like a funny man to do your brain surgery... such fun!
11
Why won't the Donald just RESIGN?? How many more of these tell all books will it take for him to finally feel ashamed enough to leave?
6
Malignant narcissist who are pathological liars cannot feel shame.
21
People like Generals Kelly and Mattis may be doing a greater service than we realize. They sacrifice their reputation and honor to degrade the apocalypse to the merely horrible, with no hope to receive any gratitude for that, because it's still very horrible, and they probably know that.
(And of course Kelly has to deny, or he'd be gone tomorrow.)
22
Comparing our President to a fifth or sixth grader is assigning more maturity to the President than he assigns to himself. I think the President nailed it when he said, “When I look at myself in the first grade and I look at myself now, I’m basically the same,”
27
LOL! Great comment!!
4
The entire staff are enablers, and the problem with enablers is that the behavior never ends as you end up covering for the person over and over again, and the person becomes more emboldened as consequences never materialize. Just sayin.
14
Ordered my own copy and can't wait for it.
It's reassuring to hear that the likes of Kelly and Mattis are indeed fully aware of Trump and are trying to reign him in. But Trump hates nothing as much as someone else getting publicity and/or saying bad things about him. Kelly's denial is a politic lie. I can't say I respect him for it, but other than resigning he has no choice if he wants to remain and be effective. Mattis has successfully flown under Trump's radar, but stories like this that out him may change that. (Yes, it's in the book, but Trump doesn't read. Someone will have to tell him what's in it.)
10
For all this mess we can thank bernie, sarandon and his young followers who didn't bother to realized the dangers of a trump presidency. Since we are at it, let's thank them for Kavanagh.
18
@Frank López: And Gorsuch too.
3
Sarcasm has it's uses, and consequently, over reaches.
The sarcasm implied with Jim Mattis comment that President Trump has the mind and emotional temperament of a sixth grader, wasn't over reaching. It was unfortunately, a very sarcastic sounding compliment. I know, I'm not like a smart person
1
Many other comments seem to assume the mid-term elections will make things right. Please remember, many of Trump's supporters won't read this (or any other) book, or the NYT. And Democrats need to convince voters they won't turn us into another Venezuela. As the old line says, people tend to vote their pocket books.
10
The narrative, and I trust Woodward far more than I trust trump, suggests that trump is largely incompetent, and that those surrounding him (other than Ivanka and Jared) are unable to (as my 3rd grade teacher would say) "pay attention!" trump is already calling the book fake news. Sorry, trump, Bob has got you pegged. Please gracefully talk with Mueller, make a deal, and resign.
11
White House now vigorously denying Bob Woodward's reporting. Welcome to June, 1973.
29
Bob Woodward has a stellar reputation, but with virtually all the comments being off the record, the book is going to be dismissed as not credible, unfortunately.
..."though all on the condition that they not be cited as sources for the information."
2
@dweeks - Trump's Deep Throats need to come forward.
2
hmm I don't think so...Who has more credibility: malignant narcissistic pathological liar with repeats of same behaviors affirmed by his unhinged,crude, insulting, wack tweets x's 18 months or man with stellar writings about histories of presidents?
4
@dweeks
Woodward taped all of his interviews so all the comments were on the record. He was just not allowed to name them but he cited events and people present when the incidents he wrote took place. Remember Deep Throat? Same thing.
6
The USA is not govern by a "President" but by nominees...who play the game to held the power of the presidency in their hands! This guy is unfit and is just posing as a leader.In November we will see what happen; good luck to all...
5
Trump bragged that he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue in NYC and not lose the support of his base. When those supporters realize that their president acts like and has the attention span and intellect of a school child they may change their support.Woodward’s book may be the game changer.
7
Why would the President, who has told us over and over that his administration hired only the best, is running like a well oiled machine, has done more than any other administration in history etc, automatically think Woodward's book is going to be negative? Unless, of course, he has finally accepted he's a serial liar.
10
The only country that can stop this insanity is us.
10
I object Jim Mattis's characterization of Trump. 5th and 6th graders are better than this compulsive liar and criminal, who neither have some very basic understanding of the world and perception of truth that most 4th graders have, nor does he have the honesty and innocence of a 5th/6th graders.
But that's perfectly fine with about 40 percent of American voters. it's our collective inability to properly educate about 40 percent of even college graduates who believe the fairy tales of religion and "intelligent design" than hard science of evolution. keeping a large section of Americans poorly educated and intellectually imbecile is deliberately done by a section of our law makers (mostly GOP) and vested corporate lobbyists.
11
The cabinet needs to be the ones to invoke the 25th Amendment, and frankly, Mattis and Clark, if they really are the patriots we hope, should organize that. This man is not sane. Think about that. Our POTUS is mentally impaired to the point of being dangerous. He needs to be removed.
18
Can someone across the Atlantic please explain how the American Dream became a nightmare, and when you guys plan to wake up?
Elsewhere, many of us are getting a bit worried.
19
As Mary Sheetz said in her comment below, it is time for Pence to call the Cabinet together for the purpose of invoking the 25th Amendment.
13
Assassinating Assad would have been the right thing to do. In this case, Trump's instincts were right.
@Jonathan Katz
Hmm... did getting rid of the strongman work wonders in Iraq? What about Libya?
5
Trump’s fifth grade vocabulary, let alone what underscores it, sure blows the cover on private university admissions standards in the US.
9
As high as fifth or sixth grade, huh?
Way too much credit.
7
Since Trump, the only way a Republican shows any worthiness of holding his or her public office is by retiring or becoming fatally ill. What were their morals before Trump? Pfft.
7
Is anyone surprised? This is how Republicans have regarded their Presidents for some time -- as a brainless child to be coddled so long as he gives them what they want.
Remember February 2012, when Grover Norquist told CPAC (about Mitt Romney): “We don’t need someone to think. We need someone with enough digits on one hand to hold a pen,” that is, to sign whatever they shove in front of him.
Was George W. Bush chosen because of his intellect -- or because he was someone who wouldn't feel qualified to interfere with Dick Cheney and his fellow neo-cons?
Granted, this time it's worse. Bush and Romney checked a couple of the qualifying boxes. Trump has neither the requisite knowledge, experience, character, nor temperament for the job. All he has is ego. Maybe we'll manage to live through his presidency. An even-money bet, at best.
11
@Julia Gershon: and you didn't mention Ronald Reagan, who was clearly in the early stages of dementia while he was President. But hey, he gave the "conservatives" what they wanted, so they propped him up.
3
This is an insult to fifth and sixth-graders everywhere
4
Thomas Freidman, a peer of Bob Woodward, summed it up several months ago: The greatest threat to our national security is in the Oval Office. The Republicans in Congress have known this for a long time. They’ve done nothing. Mr. Trump remains unchecked. That some on his staff drag their feet at his insane orders or steal papers off his desk is the “check and balance” on his authority? We may have become a de facto autocracy. Let that sink in.
11
Trump is in a league of his own! Comparing him to fifth or sixth graders is an insult to those kids who have curious minds and an insatiable thirst for knowledge.
7
I'm begnning to wonder about taking Burt Lancaster's side. You know...as in "Seven Days in May."
Just kidsing, but it's medium frightening to know that right now, our best hope is that guys like Kelly can keep the damage down until we get this clown out of office and off to the pokey.
See what happens when the home team don't vote?
6
Does Woodward tell us in which White House storeroom the straightjackets are stashed?
And has anyone dusted them off yet?
8
The nadir of maligning a person that the Nation elected as its President. One wonders as to where will this slimy sliding down stop!
1
@Dr. MB I'm sure you were clearly opposed to Trump's denigration of a man a MAJORITY of Americans elected president, Mr Obama, when he continued to falsely claim he was not an American.
13
@Dr. MB. The “nation” did not elect him. The antiquated, non-democratic Electoral College did.
6
Jim Mattis is a first grader for accepting the job from Trump in the first place. Didn't the Corp teach you anything, Matt? You should be ashamed of yourself.
4
Managing Trump on a day-to-day basis must be extraordinarily stressful, exhausting and horrifying. Bill Maher’s tweet illustrated it best: “It’s like watching a toddler playing with a gun – you’re always nervous.”
41
Depressing but wholly expected. The underlying is why does a good percentage of the public stick with this man. Despite his obvious lying, lack of maturity, and (possible) mental illness.
19
Mr. Mattis has publically stated that he never said such things nor did anyone else at that meeting, as depicted in the book and, of course, here in the New York Times. Someone is lying. Woodward's liberal past, in my view, immediately qualifies him for doing anything and everything to try and derail President Trump. I would say he is a liar.
2
Len,
Bob Woodward is a Pulitzer Prize -winning journalist of the highest integrity.
The people who work for Donald Trump are either terrified of him or feel a duty to remain in the cabinet to protect the country.
Both of these scenarios are frightening.
12
@Len You must realize, or maybe you don't, that Mr. Woodward is among the most honored journalists in America. He was a key to breaking the Watergate scandal--you do know that, don't you????
11
Hmmm.... A two-time Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter who helped to crack open Watergate is the liar. Fascinating deduction. Bravo! You seem quite gullible.
1
I listened to the tape of Woodward describing his many attempts to interview Trump for his impending book on the White House. Trump sounded almost like a real human being. Disappointed that there would be yet another book chronicling his idiocy and advancing dementia. He admitted that yes, he vaguely recalled a Senator had told him Woodward wanted to speak with him.
But then Kellyanne arrived. Very odd. How did she just happen to be there when her name came up as one of the other people Woodward approached to get access to Trump? She appears to be able to walk into the Oval Office anytime, but declared that she wasn't allowed to grant an interview or even tell Trump about a requested interview because of "protocol".
The protocol in the White House appears to involve removing ill advised policy documents from Trump's desk so he can't sign them, and keeping him from being interviewed by famous investigative journalists so he can't say something stupid, at the very least, or yet again say something incriminating.
Orange is definitely the new Black, and it can't be much longer until Trump's lawyers are right. A nice 2XL jumpsuit definitely has his name on it.
32
No problem. After Trump has his infantile temper tantrum he will tweet, "Fake News, Fake News. They are all disloyal and out to get me despite the wonderful job I'm doing".
14
We all know that DT is unable to be the POTUS. He has proven over and over again that he is dangerous, unhinged and we are all at risk. That being said... we must be extremely careful to assure a peaceful and Constitutionally solid means of removing him from office. We must use every means possible to set the example to the world of how a Democrocy in crisis gets out of it. I am so very anxious foe him to be gone but I know we must maintain sanity esecpecily because he cannot. Those responsible for this insanity in leadership must be voted out, and our government needs to come back to the people of this coutry. VOTE.Vote for those who will commit to getting big money out of politics. Rampant capitalism has caused this. Don't let anyone tell you anything else. VOTE
24
Well said!!!!
5
Trump knew about this book release and the negative info in it at least a week ago. Here's his tweet on the 30th. He's already setting the stage for denying everything in it, as he asked Woodward for "names of his sources".
And Woodward waited decades to release Deep Throat.
"I just cannot state strongly enough how totally dishonest much of the Media is. Truth doesn’t matter to them, they only have their hatred & agenda. This includes fake books, which come out about me all the time, always anonymous sources, and are pure fiction. Enemy of the People!"
https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1035122954697433088
5
After listening to the Woodward conversation with Trump, I can tell he is only concerned with how he is viewed. The artful dodger makes sure he has a "wall" of advisors to protect him....only guess what...most of us could see through the facade. Now, who is president? Apparently not Donald Trump. He cannot be trusted even by his staff. And as for the GOP...they only trot him out to rile up the white base to keep them in line. Makes you wonder what Trump "really" calls them while he huddles in seclusion. All of this for what....to put a white, anti abortion, anti gun law weakling like Kavenaugh on the Supreme Court. And oh yes....to give the donors and corporations a "Yuge raise." Such erudition. Typical of a low life.
11
Mattis is a disgrace. Forever a disgrace.
1
@Joe And Trump is not a disgrace--to America and its standing in the world???
7
How so? Do please explain.
5
@Joe You are right. He should never have agreed to work for that simpleton. Now the disgrace of that mistake will follow him... forever.
3
Dear WH, it does not take Woodward’s reportage to make the president look bad. It’s a known fact. He looks bad.
27
In a sense it's good to see that the people in the White House administration have a greater loyalty to the nation than to the president (eg by removing papers from his desk). As to Trump's supporters, a great Jedi once said "Who is more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows him?"
16
Mr. Kelly issued his own denial, saying that “the idea I ever called the president an idiot is not true” and repeating his earlier insistence that he and Mr. Trump had “an incredibly candid and strong relationship.”
Who knows. Kelly is not all that different from Trump. He could have called him an idiot one minute and and shared a racist back and forth the next.
16
Why was bombing Assad such a bad idea? Had Obama done it, a million lives might have been spared.
1
@Kai
Right. Things might have turned out like in Iraq and Libya.
6
Come on, bombing. To get him would entail a surgical assassination with USA finger prints all over it. And this would pass for a normal day on this planet? I don’t think so.
3
So.....WHO'S IN CHARGE?
10
If you voted for Trump, you should be deeply ashamed of yourself.
56
@Lex Given the quality of the average republican, we can assume in a year it two it will be hard to find one who'll admit to voting for this disaster.
1
The BBC beat the NYT to Woodward’s ‘FEAR’ quotes this morning when we turned on the radio. It’s going to be HUGH.
7
The "fifth or sixth grader" comment sweeps too broadly in that it insults all fifth and sixth graders. Our Liar In Chief is an ignorant, spoiled brat which while is common to some fifth and sixth graders some of the time is not common of all of them all of the time. And, his behavior is more typical of when two year olds rave and rant their displeasure due to lack of physical and mental abilities to otherwise show their displeasure.
8
Sadly, none of this is surprising, since we knew we elected a child to the Presidency. What remains stunning: all of the people who gather at his rallies, who can't see the child bully shouting in front of them. Whenever I see the pictures of their faces as Trump spits out his childish name-calling, I wonder if they will ever realize that they have cashed in their integrity for false reassurance that whites should dominate over other races.
18
If you read the transcript of Woodward's call with Trump (let's just skip over the eye-popping glib complicity routine with Ms Alternative Facts herself, Conway), the president mentions that GDP would be at zero if the Dems had won. Meaning, for at least a quarter, not one person in this country provided a single widget, instead that we all took "executive time". Could Mr Cohn (or anyone) please explain this rudimentary economic term to Trump? His lack of understanding is terrifying. And his "weenie-ness" when one-on-one with people is downright embarrassing.
VOTE! But don't just vote, tell people you meet (esp younger ones) to vote and that they should tell their friends to vote and so on. Help people get to the polls. It is obviously an understatement to say that these midterms are critical for this country. I'm currently overseas and the whole world seems stressed about our upcoming midterms...
10
@JustSayin Not just vote, but vote for Democrats!!!!
6
But all of this madness is okay though! Because Trump is white and the white man's champion, saving him from the brown skinned floods. That's why you're there Gen. Kelly, don't pretend to be confused.
6
Unfit, unfit for the office of the presidency....dementia, Alzheimer's, I don't know... but the malignant narcissist pathological liar developmentally delayed fifth grader has got to.
10
Could also be the 12 Diet Cokes he drinks everyday.
2
The most unnerving and yet somehow hilarious moment is Gary Cohn saying to the White House Staff secretary at the time, “I can't stop this,” followed by the words, “I’ll just take the paper off his desk.”
I mean, holy cow. Pour a stiff drink and then think about it.
12
This article doesn't mention it, but Donald likes to mock Jeff Session's accent, and said: "This guy is mentally retarded. He’s this dumb Southerner. . . . He couldn’t even be a one-person country lawyer down in Alabama.”
I wonder how many of his southern supporters Donald has ever actually talked to in person. Since Fox won't be reporting any of this, I doubt if they will learn how much he despises them...
27
I fully agree. I wish someone would record him saying these types of disparaging remarks. Even then, I doubt it would make a difference. Trump only loves himself and anyone who is a despotic strongman.
8
What is almost as frightening as Trump's behavior is John Kelly's denials that he called Trump an "idiot."
The fear that Trump instills in this cabinet is alarming.
633
I'd suggest that if John Kelly thinks he needs to hang in to limit the damage, lying like crazy about this is his only moral option.
5
That John Kelly, a retired Marine Corps General, is afraid of the man-baby that a heroine like Tammy Duckworth call “cadet bone spurs” is beyond unfashionable!
6
@L Makes you wonder if the Russian help extends to threats on their physical lives or those of their families if they go against Trump.
1
'The White House dismissed the book, describing it in a statement as “nothing more than fabricated stories, many by former disgruntled employees, told to make the president look bad.”
Trump does not need do anything other than being Trump on a daily basis to make himself look bad, with ludicrous, juvenile tweets and taunts on his Twitter feed, and regaling his fans at his rallies with talk of the good old days, when 'Lock Her Up!' and shouts of ‘Make America Great’ filled the air, and his fond memories of how big his inauguration crowd was (though not as big as some other American presidents).
And of course The Donald’s current take, that he is the best president this country has ever had, with the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln.
14
The enormous issue raised by Woodward's book is why the Democrats are not going on the offensive. It's about time for their leaders in the House and the Senate to meet behind closed doors with the highest rankings Republicans and literally rip them new ones , and if that doesn't work to do so publicly via tv, radio and the press. Name names and attack their breach of their oaths of office, the crumbling of our democracy, their lack of patriotism and the responsibility they have to act. Put them on the defensive. Force them to explain why to them the good of the country is less important than their losing a primary. Remind them that the only thing needed for the bad folks to prevail is for the good folks to do nothing.
71
@Rob
Republican refused to even meet President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee because it was too close to an election (11 months to the election)
Then the same Senators push through a nomination to the SAME with HALF the number of months to the national election.
They’ve have NO shame, they don’t care about the country or the people (unless they are wealthy). Trump will pretty well sign anything they put in front of him and will nominate any judge they propose. I don’t believe anyone can talk to them.
6
@Maxie I couldn't agree more that the Red Team now acts with no shame, but could that change if the Democrats kept pounding away thru the media ? It's worth a try.
1
Thanks for the spectacular review - I immediately went to pre-order it - then came back to read the comments! lol
15
Much will be made about Trump's self-evident unfitness for office as people react to Bob Woodward's book. But we all know that the GOP Congress – the only people who can actually do something about this mess – does not seem to care.
What does that say? It's not complicated: the GOP is itself not fit to serve. By being unwilling to attend to their responsibilities as oversight over a reckless and lawless administration, the GOP has abdicated any legitimacy as a governing party. There is no credibility left. Even the few who have spoken out have done nothing.
That quite clearly puts the issue in the hands of those that have oversight of Congress: the voters. Voters, let's be clear: anything less than a complete rejection of the GOP in November is an invitation for this madness to continue. We need to show up and do our jobs because they refuse to do theirs.
336
Denials of quotes are already beginning, but I presume Woodward had multiple sources for each quote. Moreover Woodward has no reason to lie, and those quoted have every reason to lie. Not to mention that Trump lies approx. 7 times a day IN PRINT or ON VIDEO.
64
How can you tell when Trump is lying? When his lips are moving, or when he is TWEETING.
1
Woodward's book preview is appropriately titled, FEAR, and the findings seem to be consistent with previous observations and assessments from long before the election, think Mitt Romney, and then Rex Tillerson, and then the Wolfe book. And, let us not forget the comments of Bob Corker! Looking forward to the midterm elections and significant change. Time to restore some dignity and rationality to the office.
22
So . . . will Scott Pruitt be our next Attorney General or our next Defense Secretary?
34
For any prior president this might be a bombshell book. For this president, it's Tuesday and what we already knew or suspected. (heavy sigh) Let's all move on to doing what we can to help repair this mess.
58
These documents that were so dangerous Cohen had to "steal" them - who drafted them and how did they get on Trump's desk?
6
Likely Stephen Miller, the resident Sith Lord.
9
The dialogue Mr. Woodard recorded with the President’s permission is terrifying enough, let alone what more might be unveiled reading the book. Donald Trump does not operate within a framework of reality or genuine self-reflection at all. It is as if everything is of Mr. Trump’s wishful imagining and fits into some kind of trumpian alternate backward-land universe.
11
I teach 6th grade students. They behave much better than what is described here!
18
I have wondered why anyone with any integrity would want to be part of Trump's Administration. If these excerpts are true (and I believe they are) it would appear they are there to protect America from him.
24
@Neelie
I have long thought that people like Kelly and Mattis are staying put because they know there must be a military-type check on this psychopath. We will someday learn the "rest of of the story."
3
Not exactly Camelot... More King Lear than King Arthur.
12
@Martin Hold it, Martin. You are insulting King Lear. Trump is a buffoon. Trump is no King Lear.
6
King LEER. Seriously.
11
@Martin With slight adjustment: King Leer.
5
This is interesting and all but to tell the truth, the excerpts presented here and elsewhere scare the heck (insert stronger word of your choice) out of me. This should be the plot of a great movie, not what is actually going on. How did we get in this mess, and isn't this what the 25th Amendment is for?
29
I'm becoming ever more worried about an October Surprise involving Iran, and/or President Pence.
17
@Martin
A "Reichstag Fire" type of event, or manufactured foreign aggression. Anything is possible with this group of immoral miscreants.
3
The Republicans are responsible citizens, they will take care of this.
4
@porcupine pal
Good one!
4
@porcupine pal. Hahahaha, that’s a good one
4
Hahaha — good one!
4
There is no surprise here for most Americans. Mr Trump from NY is known for his 4 bankruptcies in his businesses. Also i) " You Are Fired " , in a program for years on NBC .ii), A reputation on other issues for decades . Nothing has changed ! Why there is this buyers ' remorse ' ? Let our strong dedicated judicial system follow its course on the ongoing investigations on Russia's meddling in 2016 presidential elections . What do you think ?
4
@Dear dmf, Question do you think things can get any worse? Is it possible?
Tomorrow? Next Tuesday? When? This is not a private family matter. He has embarrassed and brought shame on office of the presidency and himself on the world stage. This nervous breakdown?, dementia? Alzheimers? Sociopathic Neurotic paranoia?
After a while just to protect this man from himself and preserve his humanity. we need to act, now would be a good time.
3
@dmf - Well, if/when Mr. Kavanaugh gets confirmed, much or most of that 'strong dedicated judicial system' will likely disappear. So, in fact, a great deal could change.
2
So many warnings, so much wanton disregard.
43
Call this book what it is, Gary Cohn and Dina Powell’s revenge
Nice
5
One wonders why, if Trump’s approach to world affairs is really as dangerous as Woodward depicts it as being, the most senior, respected members of the White House staff—Kelly and Mattis among them—do not schedule a closed-door meeting with Republican congressional leaders and state, flat out, that Trump is incompetent and dangerous and should be impeached. Everyone in the White House and everyone in Congress knows that this is the case, and no one steps up to do the right thing. It doesn’t matter that he was elected—there are established means to remove an utterly incompetent official. What happens if one of those papers doesn’t get pulled off the desk in time? Or an order to assassinate or to cancel a major treaty goes through without being stopped? Do they really think shoring up the Republican Party is worth fundamentally damaging the country? There is no longer any excuse for inaction.
155
They probably have held closed door meetings....
1
@JS44
Actually, the excuse is money. The GOP profits are astronomical.
1
Only a "fifth or sixth grader"? Most of us have experienced three year olds with more self control than this Fake President, who defiles the Presidency on a daily basis. His criminal directive to Secretary Mattis to have Assad assassinated was in violation of federal and international law, not that these prohibitions would restrain Trump if he could somehow avoid any attribution. Mr. Woodward's expected blockbuster/best seller will help to confirm that the Great Pretender currently in the White House was, from the very start of his Administration, completely morally unfit, intellectually incapable, starved of any meaningful experience, and temperamentally totally unsuited to be President.
30
I missed those kids you refer to, but did see everyday citizens participating in some good old American civil disobedience, non-violent and willing to accept the consequences of their speech and temporary disruptions. Sorry you missed this civic lesson!
4
@Marcus Aurelius Oh, you mean at the confirmation hearing that is a further representation of a stolen Supreme Court nomination>? McConnell was not a 6th grader when he refused to consider a nomination? Please.
4
We have to come together - all the ‘responsible adults’ in this nation, regardless of political leanings - and demand his impeachment before something truly horrible happens.
14
The White House has dismissed Woodward's new book as "nothing more than fabricated stories, many by former disgruntled employees, told to make the presdient look bad."
This begs the question. Why has the White House hired so many employees who are willing to fabricate stories to make the President look bad? And why are they so many of them?
72
The irony is that some of Trump's intellectual apologists like to to talk about "dismantling the administrative state". In fact, in the court of the mad king, the administrators must intervene to prevent the US from entering a catastrophic situation. They have realized they are dealing with a remarkably ignorant man man whose understanding is on the level of a Grade five or six child, as General Mattis remarked. They may not have realized what they signed up for. The situation faced by General Kelly and the few adults in the room is a terrible one; they are likely trying to keep the ship afloat as best they can and continue to serve out of patriotic duty, as they see it, to prevent worse from occurring. Welcome to Crazytown.
12
Grover Norquist's dream has come true: "We don't need someone who can think. We need someone with enough digits to hold a pen."
34
Wow! So Trump behaves like "a fifth or sixth grader" according to Mattis? So in public he displays a third grade level of intellect and behavior, but in private he is able to elevate himself?
12
Claiming that all these books are coming from former disgruntled employees raises the obvious question.
5
On Jan. 27, Mr. Woodward writes, Mr. Dowd staged a practice session in the White House residence to dramatize the pressures Mr. Trump would face in a session with Mr. Mueller. The president stumbled repeatedly, contradicting himself and lying, before he exploded in anger."
We really don't need a president who explodes in anger during a completely low pressure event like a practice interview.
A middle school student would do better in that scenario.
6
It's time to invoke the Twenty-fifth Amendment. The cabinet and Congress not only have the power, but the responsibility to do so.
This man is woefully unfit for the job.
30
It takes nothing away from Mr. Woodward to say that we have known the crux of the argument for some time. The details, specifics, and quotes are invaluable. Once again, aside from relishing the ...entertainment value of a president who is essentially a hate-filled insult meister, what do the Trump faithful get from having an unhinged incompetent making decisions about their lives?
9
@arp
They get to exercise their resentment and bigotry loud and proud.
1
The base will just take this as another concerted effort to undermine and damage President Trump! The line is that never before has a President been so focused upon, and maligned! Millions, upon millions of Americans have bought into this! And the beat goes on...Sad!
6
It should come as no surprise to anyone that Trump’s alternative to the “deep state” is the pathetically shallow state.
5
A ‘fifth or sixth grader’? That's being AWFULLY generous...
8
While this confirms what anyone paying attention already knows, I'm terrified that Trump will go after Mattis, who is the last sane man standing between us and global Armageddon. I wish Woodward could have left him out of the line of fire, as I'm fear Trump will sweep the table clear out of fury and desperation. We must elect a Congress capable of constraining this man in November. We are teetering on the edge.
14
Just envisioning the epic meltdown that will ensue when this book lands-and stays- on the bestseller lists. The mother of all adolescent temper tantrums.
9
@Maggie You mean toddler temper tantrum, don't you?
3
@Maggie His supporters won’t care. Remember 5th Avenue? There has to be something a lot more egregious than being an imbecile.
1
Nothing surprising here. And Republicans will go down as enablers of Trump, who has no credibility with the majority of Americans and the rest of the world. As Mueller gets closer to Trump his behavior will become more erratic and dangerous. Congress should take action but won't.
If you wrote the antics up as a novel, no one would believe it, but we are living it. I was terrified by Watergate and think Bush a war criminal, but they hold no candle to this man.
13
Anyone doubt that Trump wouldn't blow up the entire world if he thought doing so would prevent harm to his brand?
8
Listen to the Woodward-Trump transcript. Trump knew about the request for an interview, but now claims he was never asked to be interviewed, so he now calls the book a “bad”book. That won’t work with Woodward. Watch for the tweet. The poor picked upon President will allege that he is being treated unfairly. Don’t listen to a word he has to say—- let the first hand witnesses tell the story.
5
... not fair to fifth and sixth graders!
5
So it's not the deep state that is Trump's nemisis, but the shallow state.
3
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank trump voters for putting their hatred of "liberals" above all sense of logic and decency because it did not take a rocket scientist to figure out this is what would be happening in a trump white house.
10
Acting like a fifth or sixth grader? Donald Trump doesn't need a personal physician - he needs a guardian ad litem.
5
This is an insult to most 5th and 6th graders I know... The fact that this disgraceful, ignorant man has been allowed to reign as long he has is our collective problem. We can only hope to recover soon from the damage he has done to this office. In the meantime, pray for the Republic .
3
When Scrooge meets the Ghost of Christmas Present, he is shocked when two wild and ragged children tumble out from the giant’s robes.
He thinks they must belong to the giant, but he tells Scrooge that they are Man’s. He tells him the boy is called Ignorance and the girl Want.
“Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy…”
bottom line, 40% of Americans think trump is doing a good job.
ignorance
14
None of this is surprising. But there’s only one way to start getting some real oversight... #VOTE
9
Trump will never sit for an interview with Meuller. It would be a disaster. Why? Because Trump never learned this lesson: One of the great things about telling the truth is you don’t have to remember what you said.
6
If Bob Woodward got this much candid information from the Whitehouse by just asking, just imagine the precious info that Putin has gotten his hands on...
9
I’m not a fan of Mr. Trump as my president.
That said, I can’t think of a better mayor of Crazytown.
3
Mr. Woodward, an Associate Editor of the Washington Post, has confected the final thrust that will bring down Trump, just like Woodward and Bernstein brought down Nixon. The book, entitled "Fear", appears at the perfect time to provide the boost that the Blue Wave needs to recapture Capital Hill and bring about the Impeachment and Conviction of the illegitimate pretender president. Woodward is the odds on favorite to win his third Pulitzer [he shared the first two]. Fear is available for pre-order on amazon.com, with shipment set for 9/11, 2018. Jeff Bezo has announced that he is donating all of his profits from Fear to the Gates Foundation as a statement of his ongoing commitment to philanthropic causes.
10
If anyone in this whole wide world actually loved Donald, they’d advise him to resign. Make up an excuse. Ivanka? Are you there?
It’s always been clear that he didn’t have the intellectual horsepower for a job like this or the temperament. Obviously, his experience running a criminal enterprise has not translated well. His inability to tell the truth is a liability. He never actually understood the job. And I do believe, and hope that John Dowd is right—Donald will end up in an orange jumpsuit. Better late than never.
If November 6 is catastrophic for the GOP, Mitch McConnell will make sure Pence is sworn in as President on November 7.
He’ll do whatever it takes: have Donald arrested, force him to resign, or remove him from the WH in a strait jacket. Mitch knows Donald is crazy, for real. But he doesn’t want Donald fomenting riots with QAnon or their ilk—he needs them to be out voting for the GOP.
Until then, McConnell is focused on installing crazycakes’ selection on the Supreme Court. That’s a badge of shame Gorsuch and Kavanaugh will have to wear every day of their lives. Anyone with any decency would have said no thank you.
Watch this play out. Every GOP Senator will pretend that they have never heard of Bob Woodward. But the knives are out. Donald doesn’t have to worry just about the Dems anymore. Once his party is sidelined, he is on very thin ice.
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Given Mr Woodward's credentials - If this is what can be published, what else is happening?
4
Will no one rid Us of this troublesome realtor?
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I'm afraid we have The Twilight Zone's Willie the Talking Dummy sitting on the Presidential Chair.
4
Will no one rid us of this turbulent president?
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25th amendment baby. What about just general lack of qualification even setting aside whether he is strictly diagnosable?
8
This makes no sense. A three year old can't possibly be in fifth grade.
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Sure. I know. "That's fake news. Here's the real news: 'Trump is making American great again.' Repeat as often as possible."
Thank God for Bob Woodward. Not to mention George Orwell.
5
What if every major news organization did not report on anything Trump did or said for two weeks straight
First we would become a happier more relaxed nation with the additional benefit of Trump most likely resigning, as to him there would be no point in remaining in office if he was not a part of the news cycle. We seem to feed him with every nightly news broadcast and every article, time to put him on a diet!
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@Scott Silverstein I have thought this many times. He cares for nothing but himself, and he must be the center of his pitiful universe at all times. Taking that away would be like taking air away from any normal human. He would quickly wither and die.
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@Scott Silverstein Disagree. Press needs to keep telling the public everything Trump says, and pointing out that almost all of it is wrong. If they don't, his base will get the tweets and Fox News articles and continue to believe them. His remarks and deeds upset everybody, but we have to be upset to be motivated. Mien Kampf should have been serialized in every newspaper, along with thoughtful rebuttals of its lies.
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@Chasethebear
Our Trump-supporting relatives in the South haven't watched a "news" program other than Fox for years. I don't think they have any idea what the "mainstream" news channels report because those news programs are much too liberal and now "socialist" (and truthful) for their taste.
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Trump has frontal lobe dementia. He speaks, acts and thinks at a fifth to sixth grade level. Compared to video at age 33, there has been a dramatic decline. The coverup of Trump's dementia is a story that should be told. While Trump says almost random things, several stories he has related are pathognomonic for frontal lobe dementia. He believed his confabulation that he watched as thousands of Muslims cheered in New Jersey when the twin towers came down. He believed Obama had his campaign wire tapped. He believed that the US murder rate was at a 60 year high and he believed, more recently, that California could not put out its wildfires because environmental laws restricted water availability to fight fires. The elephant in the room is a terribly impaired president. The impaired white house doctor, Jackson, may have been following orders in his assessment of Trump's mental status, or perhaps he is just as incompetent as the president.
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@John G
This is their exit strategy.
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@John G Now that is original, and fascinating. I'm no doctor and I wonder if you are, but I have known some with frontal temporal - a former neighbor and some of the inmates in my Mom's dementia care facility. My mom has your more run of the mill Alzheimer's.
One common thread I've observed in FTD is the lack of impulse control, the affairs, the divorces, that from my layperson's perspective ostensibly occur when the patient is still "competent" (and into incompetence in the case of my neighbor) but inevitably precede any formal diagnosis, thus marking a prodromal phase to this disease. The thing though is that Trump has been doing prodromal like all his life. My understanding is FTD has about a 5-7 year prognosis after formal diagnosis, and I thought the prodromal phase was measured in years not decades. So would a diagnosis of narcissist be more apt?
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@John G Having know 2 folks with frontal lobe dementia I think you are correct. It will get much worse.
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Michael Wolf's book --they said he had no credibility.
Omoroso's book--they said a disgruntled employee, no credibility.
Now we have those books being confirmed by one of the most respected investigative journalists in the nation.
Can anyone still deny that this man creates nothing more than complete chaos and havoc, and instability. That he is ignorant, cruel and destroying the very fabric of our Nation?
For goodness sake, this is the White House, also called the People's House---let's stop trump from making it into the Mad House!
This is insanity. trump MUST GO. We need our sanity back.
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While reporting on this book from the Post and the Times is almost identical - and quite disturbing - it might be wise to read the entire book to see if there are less dramatic, less troubling parts of the work before commenting on the excerpts used in both takes to describe Mr. Woodward's writing. Not suggesting current reporting on the book from either outlet is "fake news" or biased; just saying that such a book is important enough to view in its totality since Mr. Woodward usually writes in as balanced a style as is possible. In any case, it seems "Fear" in its full scope is not be to taken lightly by anybody.
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@Steve I have not read it, but somehow the title might lead one to imagine that no, there are no redeeming qualities to this presidency.
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@JFMACC Hard to disagree with your logic. I'm not even suggesting there are redeeming qualities to this presidency. Just suggesting there may be parts in the 450 pages may not be not quite so disturbing. For all I know, there may be worse passages. But I don't know that yet.
@Steve,
While I admire your desire to see the the totality, the possible absence of additional reasons to ensure that he is removed from office matters not when the more troubling parts of the work in themselves suffice to justify his removal.
3
Who could tolerate working in that White House for even a week ? Having a boss whose intelligence is one third their own must feel humiliating and demoralizing.
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@Alan, well, they chose their situation.
DJ Trump demonstrates why future candidates for elected office should be required to:
1. obtain a Top Secret clearance with full lifestyle polygraph
2. pass tests of civics, US government, and domestic and foreign policy
3. prove literacy at the twelfth grade level in at least one language
To be fair, any candidate should have access to free remedial coursework to enable them to pass the tests.
6
@Karen Lee
And show their income tax returns.
2
Donald Trump doesn't need a personal physician - he needs a guardian at litem.
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How dare Jim Mattis compare the President to a fifth or sixth grader! Jim Mattis owes an immediate apology - to fifth and sixth graders everywhere.
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We all know this Now what do we do about it?
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I'm taking my annual company compliance training right now. It's the usual set of basic workplace standards to ensure that the environment is respectful and conducive to bringing out the best among all employees. Things such as harassment, creating a hostile workplace, making demeaning statements to or about others, etc are unacceptable and may be subject to immediate dismissal. Our Imbecile in Chief is incapable of conducting himself in a way that meets even these most fundamental workplace standards. He is a monster and the fact that he is President represents a profound indictment of our political system, which raised such a low-life to the highest office in the land.
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Plus, he wouldn’t qualify for a security clearance. Why on earth would a political party nominate someone who can’t qualify for a security clearance? That’s reason alone not to vote for a GOP candidate. They don’t vet them.
Don’t ask, don’t care.
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"... an impulsive, ill-informed and undisciplined president."
Sort-of elected by an impulsive, ill-informed and undisciplined country.
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@Diego
"...uniquely unqualified to be President..." President Barack Obama, I believe said this. He knows.
2
@Diego He was "elected" by the electors of the electoral college, which was designed to give extra influence to the slave states. His Democratic opponent got 3 million more votes then he did, but those votes did not count according to the electoral college. But I do agree with you that his voters are impulsive undisciplined and ill-informed. This is why the rest of us MUST vote for Democrats down-ticket in November.
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@Patricia J Thomas
Right. That's why I said "Sort-of elected..."
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I might be revealing a good deal of ignorance concerning the political realities constraining those in the American president’s inner circle, but this article leads me to a few obvious, possibly naive, questions.
When men like Jim Mattis, John Kelly and Rex Tillerson, who have accepted positions in the administration of a newly or recently elected president, come to fully realize that the POTUS is completely unfit for the office he holds, to whom or to what do these folks owe their primary loyalty?
Does the fact that “an idiot” named someone to a cabinet-level position override that person’s fundamental loyalty to our nation, to the US Constitution or to simple common sense?
In other words, if the Secretary of State, and Defense, and the WH Chief of Staff, and the Attorney General, etc. had made the truth about President Trump’s lack of leadership ability public when they became aware that he is NOT the man for the job, couldn’t they have facilitated the avoidance of a great deal of danger and dysfunction for our country?
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@Tom W, of course they knew that "the POTUS is completely unfit for the office he holds", long before they joined his administration.
3
@Tom W
Should a President be allowed to make decisions ( like nominating a supreme court justice) or tear up trade agreements or agree to ones less good or consider starting a war or authorizing an attack if it is witnessed/ known by men in the cabinet that he is incapable of the tasks required for his position, putting the safety of others at risk? We need safe guards not just for this president but to protect in future if this should happen again. The electorate apparently didn't get an education which included critical thinking skills.
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Really, none of this is surprising to those who were paying attention to Trump during the campaign and in his previous career.
A man of dubious intelligence and no morality; a pathological liar. It was obvious, and many were indeed paying attention on election night 2016. Of course, legions were ignorant of the obvious, and then prominent members of Congress agreed to ride Trump as a stalking horse to advance arch conservative dreams.
Of all public personalities, David Letterman voiced my concern, "Donald Trump is despicable."
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I had Trump spotted as a pathological liar, a business crook, a draft dodger, a tax evader, a willful destroyer of other people’s reputations, a faithless husband, a serial philanderer,
a bad influence on children, a man with no discernible knowledge of foreign affairs or American history, a man devoid of sympathy for minorities and a friend of Putin long before the American people hired him.
What I need now is for Melania and Ivanka to publicly confirm all of these charges.
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@A. Stanton. Yeah but they are clearly in it for themselves and would not risk losing their share of the $$!
2
@A. Stanton
No, you don't need any confirmation from them. It has been glaringly evident from his own words and behavior for years.
"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time". - Maya Angelou
2
He acted like a fifth grader during the campaign so...
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Yes 5th or 6th grade. But behind him is Pence planning his demonic right wing holier than thou brand of conservative horrors. He’d like to destroy medical care for seniors and hurt us his own way. He’s slick willie doing the rope a dope hoping to takeover. Pence needs to go along with Trump. He’d like to party in the name of the lord at Kavanaughs House!
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Can`t wait to get my hand over the book from the Public Library .
Trump will continue to trash Bob Woodward like he did to Omarosa Manigault but won`t work this time. Woodward is a seasonal writer for decades.
Let us all hope trump does not win the Presidency in 2020 he is going to completely destroy the Country we all love called America.
7
A shocking story of a mentally unfit president, corraberated by inner circle staff, researched and reported by a respected investigative journalist, also credited with exposing the Watergate Scandal, doesn’t rank above the old news of Colin Kaepernick’s protest? I get that Woodward is a WAPO guy but come on - This blew my socks off!
9
I'm kind of amazed he hasn't blown us all up yet.
17
IMO, Trump is an idiot savant. He is a true genius at manipulating people, but is incapable (unwilling?) of filling in the many gaps in his knowledge--he is completely ignorant of most things and seems oblivious to his ignorance. it's pathetic that he is so impressed with himself.
11
“...a fifth or sixth grader.”
Heaven help us!
4
Trump makes notes? Why?
5
@northlander poor memory and fairly low IQ.
2
@northlander - Probably doesn't actually write notes. More like draws little pictures.
3
Mr. Mattie, you have probably talked yourself out of a job leaving nothing but "yes" men in the cabinet. Now that the cat's out of the bag can't you address the people of our once great country and spill the whole can of worms?
Please, step up. WWMcD?
2
I never thought I’d say this, but oh my God I am so happy I live in crazy Brexitland right now. I do not know how you guys cope, but I can empathise with the sometimes paralysing quality of democracy, where a vote that comes out of leftfield and does the utterly wrong thing (maybe for the right reasons*) leaves grown-up, responsible politicians feeling they must - must - honour it.
(*Thinking of the unemployed rust-belt folks here, who want their jobs, income and self-respect back. And because the 2016 vote was betwixt the same old capitalist Scylla to a tax-dodging, money-laundering, racist fool Charybdis.)
Those quotes by Dowd, Kelly and Cohn are just...wow. Dowd’s words in particular. Wow.
4
Universal Studios have just confirmed the making of the Trump movie. Bozo the clown is to play Trump and the movie is to be named: Nightmare On Pennsylvania Avenue.
4
The lunatic lowlife in the WH needs to be put in a strait jacket and removed as unfit under the 25th amendment.SCOTUS nomination stopped ASAP and Pence is NOT put in WH.Every republican congressman that has remained silent during the last 600 days should be removed.Woodward book an absolute killer and every word of it to be believed.ENOUGH.
9
Years ago, I was typing something.
I do mean typing. This was back in the 1980's and I was using an electric typewriter.
Full disclosure. I'd had two glasses of white wine beforehand. Wine blurs your mind. Slows you down.
I kept making ridiculous errors I'd never made if sober. Eventually--I lost my temper.
And brought my fist down on the keys. They just didn't do what I wanted them to.
And I ruined the thing. I could never get it fixed. Word processors were already the rage--no one had time to fuss with electric typewriters.
I had to junk the thing.
Well--my tale has a MORAL, doesn't it.
CONTROL YOURSELF. DON'T LOSE YOUR TEMPER.
Most of us learn this before the age of ten. Or twenty. Or thirty.
Some learn it later.
Some never learn it at all.
This man--our President--has another man tailing him. Carrying the notorious "black bag" with all our nuclear codes.
This man--our President--off his own bat (as far as I can make out) can order a nuclear strike anywhere in the world. For any reason. Or for no reason at all.
I am not sure what safeguards our lackadaisical Congress has installed. If any.
But the man scares me. Sakes! does he scare me. Does he scare YOU, New York Times? Or the ever-chanting, ever-screaming members of his "base"?
We are like Phaethon--in the chariot piloted by the runaway horses of the sun god.
We'll go where he takes us.
Till we get rid of him.
12
Trump is a clear and present danger to world peace and not only to USA. This man is a maniac, demented , impulsive and a racist. How he became the President of the greatest country is a tragedy. And for this I blame Hillary Clinton and her incompetent campaign. I hope Trump is impeached before his term expires. These are trul very bad days for America and the rest of the world.
7
@Syed Abdulhaq
Hillary Clinton's campaign can't have been that bad, since she won the popular vote by more than 3 million.
Trump won through election fraud, Russian hacking, and a 30 year Republican smear campaign against Democratic candidates in general, and against Hillary Clinton in particular.
2
Cohn got his tax cut and then cut bait. Mission accomplished. What a mensch.
11
Fear and loathing in the White House. I stole that. Midterms will be interesting.
3
The worst to me is the enormous waste of this presidency.
11
@What'sNew,,you said i it all perfectly
1
So most of us would trust Woodward and I can't imagine he would lie because he knows where that could land him. So we have a pile of people who know the president is a lier and an idiot with the brain of a 6th grader.
And just think if these people (who now must deny everything or else they would be fired) would come out in public and confirm what they said (and be fired) the whole white house would have to shut down and the truth would be out and we could get some change. If these people remain silent they will go down in history as corrupt and weak and disgraceful.
8
Clearly I can't wait to read this.
One of the most revealing, which I only just learned now, is that the day before Dowd quit, he warned the president that he was at great risk of going to jail and "wearing an orange jump suit".
At least such attire would match his hair!
16
With apologies to people who treat families suffering from domestic abuse, let’s consider the following signs of White House staff enabling abusive behavior.
Toxic behaviors are encouraged. Without effective containment to shield the innocent from the abuser, their tirades become increasingly destructive. In fact, when unchallenged, the abuser is enabled to take out their problems on the rest of us.
Funds are threatened. Giving money to an abuser is an extremely risky enabling behavior. It often goes for purposes that do not support the rest of us.
Loved ones feel neglected. Directing all attention to the abuser may seem like the best course of action, but really only poisons lines of communication. Toxic dynamics threaten attempts to get the abuser help he needs.
Treatment is delayed. As the toxicity of behaviors and poisoning of relationships mount, efforts to end the situation become more difficult and dire.
The time to provide treatment for abuse is now. There is only one Constitutional remedy.
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I am sure I am not the first to write this. But as a teacher, I have known hundreds of fifth and sixth graders. Their understanding of issues, of multiple perspectives, and of the world's complexity is light years ahead of Donald Trump's.
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