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.
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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.
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