Woodward Book Reveals Trump Aide Privately Called Him an ‘Idiot’
White House chief of staff John Kelly also openly questioned the president's mental faculties.
Journalist Bob Woodward at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in 2017. (Cliff Owen / AP)
An upcoming book by journalist Bob Woodward says President Donald Trump’s chief of staff privately called him an “idiot” and presidential aides plucked sensitive documents off Trump’s desk and thought he was often unaware of foreign policy basics.
Those are some of the explosive anecdotes in Woodward’s book on Trump’s first 18 months in office. The Washington Post on Tuesday published details from “Fear: Trump in the White House.”
Woodward quotes an exasperated Chief of Staff John Kelly doubting Trump’s mental faculties, declaring during one meeting, “We’re in Crazytown.”
Trump’s former lawyer in the Russia probe, John Dowd, is also said to have doubted Trump’s ability to avoid perjuring himself should he be interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
TRUTHDIG’S JOURNALISM REMAINS CLEARThe storytellers of chaos tried to manipulate the political and media narrative in 2025, but independent journalism exposed what they tried to hide.
When you read Truthdig, you see through the illusion.
Support Independent Journalism.
Political and media elites from both major parties may now consider Trump a threat, but their reasons and potential fixes are in line with their own interests.
Bob Woodward paints a harrowing picture of an unhinged president and a White House where, as one aide put it, the staff was "walking along the edge of the cliff perpetually."
The president complains that journalists shouldn't be able to "get away with" such depictions and urges Congress to change libel laws.
Here are some of the points gleaned from excerpts from Bob Woodward’s upcoming book, “Fear,” which profiles the Trump White House on the basis of hundreds of hours of interviews with staffers.
Reports of the Republican front-runner's demise are premature, and they may be the product of wishful thinking.
To see the big picture behind the latest legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act, follow the money.To see the big picture behind the latest Supreme Court challenge to the Affordable Care Act, follow the money.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.