Trump calls for libel law changes in the wake of explosive book
The disturbing and disquieting accounts of the Trump White House laid out in Bob Woodward’s new book have the president and other administration officials scrambling to fight back.
While the chaotic scenes described by Woodward are consistent with previous reports, Trump claimed Wednesday that he is “the exact opposite” of the bumbling, unprofessional and ignorant president portrayed in the forthcoming tome.
“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 tweeted.
Woodward’s “Fear: Trump in the White House” paints a picture of a West Wing in a state of utter dysfunction, staffed by officials who have no respect for the former reality TV star in the Oval Office. The Washington
Post first published excerpts from the work on Tuesday.
Trump tweeted nine times about the book in less than 12 hours after the excerpts began appearing online. White House chief of staff John Kelly, Defense Secretary James Mattis and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders all released statements disputing Woodward’s reporting, with Mattis calling the book “a product of someone’s rich imagination.”
The book says presidential aides were forced to snatched sensitive documents off of Trump’s desk in order to keep him from making dangerous and impulsive decisions.
Woodward writes that Kelly described the president as an “idiot,” “unhinged” and told staffers in his office working for Trump was “the worst job I’ve ever had.”
A frustrated Mattis reportedly told associates at one point that the president had the “understanding of — ’a fifth- or sixthgrader.’ “
Mattis also exploded on former press secretary Sean Spicer after being asked repeatedly to appear on Sunday morning talk shows to defend the president, according to Woodward.
“’Sean,’ Mattis finally said, ’I’ve killed people for a living. If you call me again, I’m going to f — ing send you to Afghanistan. Are we clear?’”
In a stunning reveal, Woodward writes that Trump considered his attempts to walk back his widely condemned “both sides” remark regarding violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. last summer “the biggest f_-ing mistake I’ve made.”
In the book, Trump blasts attorney and former mayor Rudy Giuliani after he appears on Sunday talk shows to defend then-candidate Trump in the wake of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape. Trump says: “I’ve never seen a worse defence of me in my life.”
Trump openly suggested Wednesday that Congress should change libel laws so that he would be better positioned to seek “retribution” against Woodward. Woodward, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, says he stands by his work.