Rage
Page 38
Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, was often deployed personally by Trump as an out-of-channels special project officer. Kushner said, “One of his greatest strengths is that he somehow manages to have his enemies self-destruct and make stupid mistakes. He’s just able to play the media like a fiddle, and the Democrats too. They run like dogs after a fire truck, chasing whatever he throws out there. And then he solves the problem and does the next—then they go on to the next thing.”
Beep! went Dr. Anthony Fauci’s internal radar when he saw early reports of the new coronavirus. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, thought, “China. New virus. Wet market. Wow.” On briefing Trump, Fauci told an associate, “His attention span is like a minus number. His sole purpose is to get reelected.”
Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, saw the first report of an unexplained pneumonia in China on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2019, and immediately went on alert. As the virus spread in 2020, he privately told others of his deepest fears. “We were now in a race,” Redfield said. “I think we all understood now we were in a race. We’re in a marathon. We’re in a two-year, three-year race. Not a one-year, not a six-month race.”
Dr. Deborah Birx, pictured second from right, was the response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, pictured right. When Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin was opposed to shutting down travel from Europe to the U.S., he said it would bankrupt everyone and destroy the economy. “What data are you relying on for that?” asked Birx. “You’ve been asking me for my data. What data do you have?”
“I get along very well with Erdogan, even though you’re not supposed to because everyone says ‘What a horrible guy,’ ” Trump said about Turkish president Recep Erdogan in a January 22, 2020, interview. “But for me it works out good. It’s funny, the relationships I have, the tougher and meaner they are, the better I get along with them. You know? Explain that to me someday, okay? But maybe it’s not a bad thing. The easy ones are the ones I maybe don’t like as much or don’t get along with as much.”
President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un exchanged a series of at least 27 private letters in 2018 and 2019, reviewed by the author. After meeting in Singapore, Kim wrote Trump they would have “another historic meeting between myself and Your Excellency reminiscent of a scene from a fantasy film.”
“I didn’t do it,” Trump said of accusations his 2016 campaign had worked with Russians. “I’ve done a lot of bad things, but I didn’t do this.” Despite the criticism of his relationship with Putin, the president said he had support. “I have Russia and Sean Hannity with me,” Trump said during a January 20, 2020, interview with the author.
In a February 6, 2020, phone call, Chinese president Xi Jinping rebuffed Trump’s multiple offers to send public health officials into the country to investigate the new virus. Trump told the author he thought Xi may have intentionally let the virus spread: “I think what could’ve happened, is it got away from them and he didn’t want to contain it from the rest of the world because it would’ve put him at a big disadvantage.”
The author conducted an hour-and-14-minute interview with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on December 5, 2019. It was the first of Woodward’s 17 interviews with Trump, totaling more than nine hours, from December 2019 to July 2020. Also pictured, from left to right, are Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley, Woodward, and Vice President Mike Pence. “I have built a nuclear—a weapons system that nobody’s ever had in this country before,” Trump said in this interview. “We have stuff that you haven’t even seen or heard about. We have stuff that Putin and Xi have never heard about before. There’s nobody—what we have is incredible.”
Note to Readers
Nearly all interviews for this book were conducted under the journalist ground rule of “deep background.” This means that all the information could be used but I would not say who provided it.
The book is drawn from hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand participants and witnesses to these events. Nearly all allowed me to tape-record our interviews. When I have attributed exact quotations, thoughts or conclusions to the participants, that information comes from the person, a colleague with direct knowledge, or from government or personal documents, calendars, diaries, emails, meeting notes and other records.
I interviewed President Trump 17 times on the record for this book—in one case, I took handwritten notes and the other 16 were recorded with his permission.
Acknowledgments
My gratitude to Jon Karp for giving this book the benefit of his fully engaged, big-picture and brilliant editing skills while simultaneously stepping into his new role as CEO at Simon & Schuster. This is my 20th book at Simon & Schuster—my first without my editor, the late Alice Mayhew, and the first in decades without the late CEO Carolyn Reidy. As CEO, Jon is already carrying forward their traditions of excellence and aggressive editorial independence. He is now the Senior CEO Wonder.
At Simon & Schuster, I thank the following: Kimberly Goldstein, Maria Mendez, Richard Rhorer, Julia Prosser, Stephen Bedford, Irene Kheradi, Lisa Erwin, Lisa Healy, Lewelin Polanco, Kate Mertes, Richard Shrout, W. Anne Jones, and Elisa Rivlin.
Although copy editor Fred Chase was unable to join my assistants and me in Washington because of the pandemic and we missed his endless in-person energy and cheer, the book benefited enormously from his unflagging dedication and attention to detail virtually and from a distance.
Carl Bernstein remains a source of endless ideas and insight. Although we don’t always agree, our regular discussions enhanced my understanding of politics and the White House.
My thanks to executive editor Marty Baron at The Washington Post, who continues to guide the paper with just the right touch, and managing editor Cameron Barr. Special extended thanks to Steven Ginsberg, the Post’s national editor.
The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos, is rich, steely and tough—the perfect and necessary combination for survival in 21st-century journalism. He has led the Post to a place of financial profitability and stability.
My gratitude to Robert Costa, Philip Rucker, Ashley Parker, Carol Leonnig, Josh Dawsey, Tom Hamburger, Rosalind Helderman, David Fahrenthold, Karen Tumulty, Robert O’Harrow, Amy Goldstein, Scott Wilson, Peter Wallsten, Dan Balz, Lucy Shackelford, Dave Clarke, Toluse Olorunnipa, David Nakamura and countless others at the Post.
Thanks to many old colleagues and friends at the Post or once there, including Don Graham, Sally Quinn, David Maraniss, Rick Atkinson, Christian Williams, Paul Richard, Patrick Tyler, Tom Wilkinson, Leonard Downie Jr., Marcus Brauchli, Steve Coll, Steve Luxenberg, Scott Armstrong, Al Kamen, Ben Weiser, Martha Sherrill, Bill Powers, Carlos Lozada, Fred Hiatt, John Feinstein and Fred Ryan.
Writing a book on Trump, the White House and an unfolding pandemic isn’t possible without following and learning from the reporting done by The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, NBC, AP, Reuters, Axios and Politico.
Many thanks to lawyer, counselor and friend Robert B. Barnett, who is always present, always loyal and always wise.
Evelyn, Steve and I are grateful for the care and kindness of Rosa Criollo.
Special thanks to these friends: Michael Newman, Linda Maraniss, Richard Snyder, Jamie Gangel, Danny Silva, Andy Lack, Betsy Lack, Tom Brokaw, Rita Braver, Carl Feldbaum, Anne Swallow, Jen Young, David Greenberg, Suzanne Nossel, Seymour Hersh, Richard Cohen, Steve Brill, Tom Boswell, Wendy Boswell, Judy Kovler, Peter Kovler, Ted Olson, Lady Olson, Karen Alexander, Brendan Sullivan, Bill Nelson, Jim Hoagland, Jane Hitchcock, Robert Redford, Katharine Weymouth, Mike Allen, Glenn Kessler, David Remnick, David Martin, Gerald Rafshoon, Cheryl Haywood, George Haywood, Jim Wooten, Patience O’Connor, Christine Kuehbeck, Ken Burns, David Woodward, Wendy Woodward, Lynn Keller, Sue Whall, Harry Rhoads, Bernie Swain, Klair Watson, Kevin Baine, Catherine
Joyce, Jon Sowanick, Bill Slater, Carey Greenauer, Don Gold, Kyle Pruett, Marsha Pruett, Therese McNerney, Veronica Walsh, Mickey Cafiero, Grail Walsh, Redmond Walsh, Diana Walsh, Kent Walker, Daria Walsh, Bruce McNamara, Josh Horwitz, Ericka Markman, Barbara Guss, Bob Tyrer, Sian Spurney, Michael Phillips, Neil Starr, Shelly Hall, Ali Matini, Dr. William Hamilton, James Vap, Joan Felt, Ken Adelman, Carol Adelman, Tony D’Amelio, Joanna D’Amelio, Matt Anderson, Jenny Taylor, Brady Dennis, Jeff Glasser, Bill Murphy, Josh Boak, Rob Garver, Stephen Enniss, Steve Milke, Chris Haugh, Pat Stevens, Bassam Freiha, Jackie Crowe, Chauncey Foust, Brian Foley, Cyrille Fontaine, Dan Foley, Betty Govatos, Barbara Woodward.
Elsa Walsh, my wife, has played an extraordinarily pronounced role in this book. She is a brilliant and clear-eyed editor who had the stamina to stick with a seemingly unending editing process. I repeatedly showed new chapter drafts—or redrafts—to her. “How many times have I seen this?” she would ask. I had to answer honestly that I had lost count. She always gave more, gave the most. Often pages had as many of her handwritten notes as they did typed words. There were always reasons, which it often took me time to realize. Her work enhanced every scene and can only be described as devoted.
Several times, in several different forms, she uttered the dreaded editor’s mantra: “You’re not saying what you mean.” She would then help me find what I meant, or should mean. Still a disciple of Henry James’s notion about the importance of kindness, she is always gentle. I will never be able to thank her enough for her contributions to my work and our life together. This is the 16th book in the last 39 years we have been together. I still have not been able to get the complete answers to questions such as, How does she know? Where does this intellect come from? All I know for sure is that she remains the love of my life.
More from the Author
Fear
The Last of the President's Men
The Price of Politics
The Final Days
Bush At War
Plan of Attack
About the Author
© LISA BERG
BOB WOODWARD is an associate editor at The Washington Post, where he has worked since 1971. He has shared in two Pulitzer Prizes, first for the Post’s coverage of the Watergate scandal with Carl Bernstein, and second as the lead reporter for coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He has authored or coauthored 19 books, all of which have been national nonfiction bestsellers. Thirteen of those have been #1 national bestsellers.
SimonandSchuster.co.uk
www.SimonandSchuster.co.uk/authors/Bob-Woodward
ALSO BY
BOB WOODWARD
Fear:
Trump in the White House
The Last of the President’s Men
The Price of Politics
Obama’s Wars
The War Within:
A Secret White House History, 2006–2008
State of Denial
The Secret Man
(with a Reporter’s Assessment by Carl Bernstein)
Plan of Attack
Bush at War
Maestro:
Greenspan’s Fed and the American Boom
Shadow:
Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate
The Choice
The Agenda:
Inside the Clinton White House
The Commanders
Veil:
The Secret Wars of the CIA, 1981–1987
Wired:
The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi
The Brethren
(with Scott Armstrong)
The Final Days
(with Carl Bernstein)
All the President’s Men
(with Carl Bernstein)
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Source Notes
The information in this book comes primarily from my deep background interviews with firsthand participants and witnesses. Additional source notes follow:
PROLOGUE
“How concerned are you”: “Interview: Sean Hannity Interviews Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago,” February 2, 2020. Available on YouTube.
That morning, even National Security Adviser O’Brien: Face the Nation transcript, CBS, February 2, 2020.
About halfway through: “Remarks by President Trump in State of the Union Address,” U.S. Capitol, February 4, 2020, WhiteHouse.gov.
When I later asked the president: Interview with President Donald J. Trump, May 6, 2020.
“I wanted to always play it down”: Interview with President Donald J. Trump, March 19, 2020.
“Now we’ve got a little bit”: Interview with President Donald J. Trump, February 7, 2020.
The president had also said: Interview with President Donald J. Trump, December 13, 2019.
While discussing Fear on television: CBS Sunday Morning, CBS, September 9, 2018.
CHAPTER ONE
Trump had promised in the campaign: “Transcript of the Second Debate,” The New York Times, October 10, 2016.
“All I can say is he is the real deal”: “Trump Calls Mattis ‘The Real Deal’ After Meeting,” The Hill, November 19, 2016.
CHAPTER TWO
Records show Tillerson made more: Federal Election Commission, Itemized Receipts, FEC.gov.
Exxon had a 30 percent interest: “ExxonMobil in Russia,” ExxonMobil, March 30, 2020.
CHAPTER THREE
On December 1, in Cincinnati: Dan Lamothe, “Trump Picks Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis for Secretary of Defense,” The Washington Post, December 1, 2016.
He characterized his difference: George P. Shultz, Turmoil and Triumph: My Years as Secretary of State (New York: Scribner’s, 1993), p. 650.
CHAPTER FOUR
When the Access Hollywood tape: @SenDanCoats, “Donald Trump’s vulgar comments are totally inappropriate and disgusting, and these words have no place in our society,” 10:16 a.m., October 8, 2016, Twitter.com.
“I fear if we do not unite”: Marsha Coats, “Unity Makes the Impossible, Possible,” Indiana GOP News Release, May 19, 2016.
Six months earlier, as a civilian: Carla Marinucci, “Ex-Military Leaders at Hoover Institution Say Trump Statements Threaten America’s Interests,” Politico, July 15, 2016.
He thanked Trump and Pence: “Secretary of Defense Ceremonial Swearing-In,” C-SPAN, January 27, 2017.
The travel ban, which began: Jenna Johnson, “Trump Calls for ‘Total and Complete Shutdown of Muslims Entering the United States,’ ” The Washington Post, December 7, 2015.
On March 19, 2017, The Washington Post: Lisa Rein and Juliet Eilperin, “White House Installs Political Aides at Cabinet Agencies to Be Trump’s Eyes and Ears,” The Washington Post, March 19, 2017.
In early April, Trump ordered: See Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2018), Chapter 18.
Mattis sent a memo: Ibid., p. 161.
CHAPTER SIX
In the CIA’s reexamination of its role: See Bob Woodward, “With CIA Push, Movement to War Accelerated,” The Washington Post, April 19, 2004.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Trump was “steaming, raging mad”: Philip Rucker, Robert Costa, and Ashley Parker, “Inside Trump’s Fury: The President Rages at Leaks, Setbacks and Accusations,” The Washington Post, March 5, 2017.
“Dear Director Comey, While I greatly”: Special Counsel Office, “The Mueller Report,” DOJ, Vol. 2 p. 65.
In July 2016, Comey had usurped: “Statement by FBI Director James B. Comey on the Investigation of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s Use of a Personal E-Mail System,” July 5, 2016, FBI.gov.
“I do not understand
his refusal”: Rod J. Rosenstein, “Subject: Restoring Public Confidence in the FBI,” May 9, 2017.
Comey was in Los Angeles speaking: James Comey, A Higher Loyalty (New York: Flatiron Books, 2018), p. 263.
“FBI Director James Comey Is Fired by Trump”: Michel D. Shear and Matt Apuzzo, “Director James Comey Is Fired by Trump,” The New York Times, May 9, 2017.
“In Trump’s firing of James Comey”: Peter Baker, “In Trump’s Firing of James Comey, Echoes of Watergate,” The New York Times, May 9, 2017.
The White House put out a statement: Statement from the Press Secretary, WhiteHouse.gov, May 9, 2017.
The next morning, Wednesday, May 10: Andrew G. McCabe, The Threat (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2019), Chapter 7. See McCabe’s book for a full account of the call.
The Democratic governor Terry McAuliffe: D’Angelo Gore, “Clinton’s Connection to FBI Official,” FactCheck.org, October 25, 2016; and “Trump Wrong About Campaign Donations,” FactCheck.org, July 26, 2017.
CHAPTER EIGHT
On May 11, two days after: Michael S. Schmidt, “In a Private Dinner, Trump Demanded Loyalty. Comey Demurred,” The New York Times, May 11, 2017.
The conversation was “chaotic”: A Higher Loyalty (New York: Flatiron Books, 2018), p. 239.