«Fear» paints a harrowing portrait of the Trump presidency, based on in-depth interviews with administration officials and others.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday (Sept. 5) that Congress should change libel laws so that he would be better positioned to seek «retribution» against Bob Woodward, the author of the explosive new book that portrays a presidency careening toward a «nervous breakdown.»
«Isn’t it a shame that someone can write an article or book, totally make up stories and form a picture of a person that is literally the exact opposite of the fact, and get away with it without retribution or cost,» Trump wrote on Twitter. «Don’t know why Washington politicians don’t change libel laws?»
The president’s tweet was part an aggressive effort by the White House to discredit Woodward’s forthcoming book, «Fear,» which paints a harrowing portrait of the Trump presidency, based on in-depth interviews with administration officials and others.
Woodward, an associate editor at The Washington Post, has said he stands by his reporting.
During an appearance on Fox News shortly after Trump’s tweet, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she hasn’t «had the conversation» with Trump about any legal actions he might pursue against Woodward. Trump has frequently threatened legal action against others he says have wronged him without following through.
Hours after The Washington Post first reported several key incidents from Woodward’s book on Tuesday, the administration issued a vigorous string of public denials, with statements from top advisers — White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Sanders — as well as from Trump’s former personal attorney John Dowd.
Mattis called the book «fiction,» and Sanders denounced the tome in a statement as «nothing more than fabricated stories, many by former disgruntled employees» without disputing any of the specifics that have been reported in excerpts.
A central theme of the book is the stealthy machinations used by those in Trump’s inner sanctum to try to control his impulses and prevent disasters, both for the president personally and for the nation he was elected to lead.
Woodward describes «an administrative coup d’etat» and a «nervous breakdown» of the executive branch, with senior aides conspiring to pluck official papers from the president’s desk so he couldn’t see or sign them.
Again and again, Woodward recounts at length how Trump’s national security team was shaken by his lack of curiosity and knowledge about world affairs and his contempt for the mainstream perspectives of military and intelligence leaders.
Trump tweeted the denial statements Tuesday evening and then, without providing evidence, suggested the book’s release was timed to affect the midterm elections in November.
