Bob Woodward's new book 'Fear' paints a damning portrait of Donald Trump's presidency, based on hundreds of hours of anonymous conversations with key players. The White House chief of staff, John Kelly, reportedly described the president as an 'idiot' and complained they were in 'Crazytown'. The book, obtained by the Washington Post ahead of its release, portrays Trump as paranoid over the Russia investigation and barely able to function.
Woodward, famed for his role in exposing the Watergate scandal, depicts the administration in a state of 'nervous breakdown'. Among the revelations, Trump mocked his former national security adviser HR McMaster by impersonating him with a puffed-out chest. He called his former chief of staff Reince Priebus 'a little rat' and Attorney General Jeff Sessions 'mentally retarded'. The commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, was told: 'I don't trust you … you're past your prime.'
The book also details Trump's disdain for the late Senator John McCain, whom he called a coward for being captured in Vietnam. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis corrected Trump, noting McCain refused early release out of solidarity. Mattis was reportedly so exasperated by Trump's understanding of North Korea that he compared it to a 10-year-old's.
Top officials plotted to thwart Trump's more extreme desires, including swiping documents from his desk. After a chemical weapons attack in Syria, Trump allegedly said: 'Let's fucking kill him! Let's go in. Let's kill the fucking lot of them.' Mattis promised action but quietly dropped the assassination idea. The White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, dismissed the book as 'fabricated stories' from disgruntled former employees.
