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Rage
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Nonfiction (2020)An unprecedented and intimate tour de force of original reporting on the Trump presidency from Bob Woodward.
Rage goes behind the scenes like never before, with stunning new details about early national security decisions and operations and Trump’s moves as he faces a global pandemic, economic disaster and racial unrest.
Woodward, the #1 internationally bestselling author of 13 #1 bestsellers, including Fear: Trump in the White House, shows Trump up close in his entirety before the 2020 presidential election.
President Trump has said publicly that Woodward has interviewed him. What is not known is that Trump provided Woodward a window into his mind through a series of exclusive interviews.
At key decision points, Rage shows how Trump’s responses to the crises of 2020 were rooted in the instincts, habits and style he developed during his first three years as president.
Rage draws from hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand witnesses, as well as participants’ notes, emails, diaries, calendars and confidential documents.
Woodward obtained 25 personal letters exchanged between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that have not been public before. Kim describes the bond between the two leaders as out of a “fantasy film,” as the two leaders engage in an extraordinary diplomatic minuet.
Rage will be the foundational account of the Trump presidency, its turmoil, contradictions and risks. It is an essential document for any voter seeking an accurate inside view of the Trump years—volatile and vivid.
Rage goes behind the scenes like never before, with stunning new details about early national security decisions and operations and Trump’s moves as he faces a global pandemic, economic disaster and racial unrest.
Woodward, the #1 internationally bestselling author of 13 #1 bestsellers, including Fear: Trump in the White House, shows Trump up close in his entirety before the 2020 presidential election.
President Trump has said publicly that Woodward has interviewed him. What is not known is that Trump provided Woodward a window into his mind through a series of exclusive interviews.
At key decision points, Rage shows how Trump’s responses to the crises of 2020 were rooted in the instincts, habits and style he developed during his first three years as president.
Rage draws from hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand witnesses, as well as participants’ notes, emails, diaries, calendars and confidential documents.
Woodward obtained 25 personal letters exchanged between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that have not been public before. Kim describes the bond between the two leaders as out of a “fantasy film,” as the two leaders engage in an extraordinary diplomatic minuet.
Rage will be the foundational account of the Trump presidency, its turmoil, contradictions and risks. It is an essential document for any voter seeking an accurate inside view of the Trump years—volatile and vivid.
475 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2020
About the author
Bob Woodward
72 books2,612 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Robert "Bob" Upshur Woodward is an assistant managing editor of The Washington Post. While an investigative reporter for that newspaper, Woodward, working with fellow reporter Carl Bernstein, helped uncover the Watergate scandal that led to U.S. President Richard Nixon's resignation. Woodward has written 12 best-selling non-fiction books and has twice contributed reporting to efforts that collectively earned the Post and its National Reporting staff a Pulitzer Prize.
Robert "Bob" Upshur Woodward is an assistant managing editor of The Washington Post. While an investigative reporter for that newspaper, Woodward, working with fellow reporter Carl Bernstein, helped uncover the Watergate scandal that led to U.S. President Richard Nixon's resignation. Woodward has written 12 best-selling non-fiction books and has twice contributed reporting to efforts that collectively earned the Post and its National Reporting staff a Pulitzer Prize.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,003 reviews
October 4, 2020
The immortality Trump is desperately searching for has already been created by wantonly helping to unleash a plague after nearly causing a WW3 style nuclear escalation that could have lead to a major war while downplaying racism, hate, and misogyny.
Like a child, he can take no criticism, never finished the deviant phase. This is certainly psychologically fascinating, especially regarding the latent and clinical pathology, but shouldn´t there be any mechanisms to maybe make sure that the psyche of presidents, ministers, and members of important cornerstones of democracy is stable? Not uncertain, not breaking easily, built on solid logic, not on drivel and false accusations?
Trump's relationship with Kim is a prime example of a narcissistic, social media obsessed hedonist without any conscience regarding the fact that he is having a bromance with a dictator, more keen on showing Woodward pictures of him and Kim than talking about the geopolitical and macroeconomic consequences of the historic event. Not as if he would have been able to spontaneously answer the simplest questions about these topics without preparation, maybe also one of the reasons why most of these interviews are about him, his attitudes, and people loving him because he is he. Me me me, again, child behavior.
That Trump wants to make himself immortal can´t just be seen in the historic milestone of talking a walk with Kim, but in trying to give Woodward a poster, arranging the White house desk like a PR table, and generally being obsessed about how cable news and social media react to him. Not serious books, not serious news channels, not magazines, the president watches TV and frenetically and obsessively scrolls social media timelines to decide what´s the best for his reputation, sometimes for the country. It´s not as if there would be enough monuments, world wonders, and megalomaniac buildings that show the desperate search for honor of mighty men by demonstrating their importance. Strange and telling that they never got or get the idea of doing it with reforms and pushing positive social and cultural evolution.
Why not talking about a secret nuclear weapons program? Would be even cooler if it would have happened live on a press conference while his generals are facepalming and eye rolling in the background.Would have made a great meme. Possibly he would have even mentioned where it´s researched. That´s just one of these points, nuclear war threat, that lets one ask if there isn´t still too much power concentrated in too few hands, especially because I naively tended to think that there are so many consultants, assistants, and lobbyists that help any high ranking member of the government to make decisions. It terrifyingly seems to me as if leaders still have some, potentially fatal, power left to just do anything they deem funny, I mean, how Mutually Assured Destruction is this?
One must imagine that leading employees were highly alarmed and stated that they deem the President unfit, dangerous, and generally completely incompetent without real attention span, the ability to reflect and understand, and many other problems. Nobody knows if this is just perfectly normal for Trump or if it is his age, but is again opens the question of how it´s possible that in a democracy, where a representative function such as a President should be under control by the other elected members of the government or any similar strange control instance entities, he can act just as he wishes to. That´s not really what one understands and imagines when thinking about democratic elections, that´s more of an
authoritarian government style, so how is it possible that there is still so much power in the hands of some strange people without any control instances?
I know that I am redundant in the last 2 paragraphs, but especially regarding that the danger of a Covid19 pandemic was known since the early days of February and nobody reacted in an appropriate way, nowhere, not in Europe, not in the US, just Korea and Japan going into an intelligent direction, let´s one wonder about how, why, and especially, when again? What´s the next surprise government knows about for months but, because the King or chancellor or leader or whatever is in a bad mood or disinterested, is simply hidden.
Completely without ageism, one has to ask, just as with certain jobs or maybe one day driving, if there shouldn´t be tests and/ or age limits for certain jobs. Strangely, it´s logical for a surgeon or a pilot who could hurt or kill just one or a few hundred people, while world leaders able to harm and injure hundreds of millions in their own countries and globally, are free to act as long as they wish, although it´s biological logic that at a certain, highly individual stage, the effect of age influence the ability to function. It´s ridiculous in each country with politicians that are far beyond 65, but the US is actually breaking the record, it might be impossible to spin doctor such candidates in other countries or, said with the wiseness of kids
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0ZTK...
certain candidates wouldn´t be elected by enlightened citizens.
Which sophisticated adult would ever dare to react by asking why this very old, seemingly not so healthy and mentally fit great great grandfather should be a president, asking how long he will live, etc.
Subjective note: That´s why I am astonished, motivated, and still hopeful, but extremely misanthropic regarding mostly anyone above the age of 25 to 30.
It´s forbidden to think that by the stupidity of adult´s political correctness and misunderstood courtesy, but as wrong as it just can be. Of course also a sign of a dysfunctional, mad, wrong neoliberal economic paradigm, where just superrich, white, old men can effort becoming president with programs continuing the completely wrong social direction most of the world is heading towards for soon over half a century. 74 and 77 years old, Trump vs Biden, honestly? That´s not really what one is imagining as a living, active democracy, more the caricature of a gerontocracy.
To be fair, I deem all, except of the Scandinavian countries, Swiss, and the Netherlands, industrial northern democracies the same messes, just with different grades of suffering and pain for the citizens. Social evolution has stagnated and lead to a dead, ridiculous democratic system, completely controlled by lobbyism, not to be taken seriously anymore, leading to a situation where comedy shows and websites such as
The daily show with Trevor Noah
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwWh...
The onion
https://www.theonion.com/
The late show with Stephen Colbert
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMtF...
etc.
bring more depth, insight, and truth than all education in schools, newspapers, news networks, and, lol, the representatives themselves. If it wouldn´t be so sad, destroy the planet, and harm so many innocent people, especially in the Southern hemisphere, the laughs wouldn´t be that bitter.
A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preside...
History of madness
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neocolo...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolibe...
Establishing the lunacy using
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaga...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_m...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychol...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychol...
The lenses it will be seen with
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_His...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrohi...
I´ve, in other reviews, said before that I wanted to avoid soft humanities such as politics, economics, homeopathy whose inventor was totally nuts too, etc., but I just couldn´t resist, sorry for that, relapse is my second name after procrastination.
Because of much talk and discussion about the replication crisis, I will add these thoughts to all following nonfiction books dealing with humanities in the future, so you might have already seen it.
One could call the replication crisis the viral fake news epidemic of many fields of science that was a hidden, chronic disease over decades and centuries and has become extremely widespread during the last years, since the first critics began vaccinating against it, provoking virulent counterarguments. I don´t know how else this could end than with nothing else than paradigm shifts, discovering many anachronisms, and a better, fact- and number based research with many control instances before something of an impact on the social policy gets accepted.
Some soft science books are nothing more than fairytales for adults who never had the chance to built a free opinion because most of the media they consume to stay informed and get educated avoids any criticism of the current economic system.
Without having read or heard ideas by Chomsky, Monbiot, Klein, Ken Robinson, Monbiot, Peter Singer, William McDonough, Ziegler, Colin Crouch, Jeremy Rifkin, David Graeber, John Perkins, and others, humans will always react to people like me, condemning the manipulation practiced everywhere with terrifying success, with anger and refusal.
These authors don´t hide aspects of the truth and describe the real state of the world, don´t predict the future and preach the one only, the true way, ignoring anything like black swans, coincidences, or the, for each small child logical, fact that nobody knows what will happen, and collect exactly the free available data people such indoctrinated people to ignore forever.
A few points that led to the replication crisis:
I had an intuitive feeling regarding this for years, but the replication crisis proofed that there are too many interconnections of not strictly scientific fields such as economics and politics with many humanities. Look, already some of the titles are biased towards a more positive or negative attitude, but thinking too optimistic is the same mistake as being too pessimistic, it isn´t objective anymore and one can be instrumentalized without even recognizing it.
In natural sciences, theoretical physicists, astrophysicists, physicians… that were friends of a certain idea will always say that there is the option of change, that a discovery may lead to a new revolution, and that their old work has to be reexamined. So in science regarding the real world the specialists are much more open to change than in some humanities, isn´t that strange?
It would be as if one would say that all humans are representative, similar, that there are no differences. But it´s not, each time a study is made there are different people, opinions, so many coincidences, and unique happenings that it´s impossible to reproduce it.
Scandinavia vs the normal world. The society people live in makes happiness, not theoretical, not definitive concepts.
One can manipulate so many parameters in those studies that the result can be extremely positive or negative, just depending on what who funds the study and does the study wants as results.
One could use the studies she/ he needs to create an optimistic or a pessimistic book and many studies about human nature are redundant, repetitive, or biased towards a certain result, often an optimistic outcome or spectacular, groundbreaking results. Do you know who does that too? Statistics, economics, politics, and faith.
I wish I could be a bit more optimistic than realistic, but not hard evidence based stuff is a bit of a no go if it involves practical applications, especially if there is the danger of not working against big problems by doing as if they weren´t there.
A few points that lead away from it:
1. Tech
2. Nordic model
3. Open data, open government,
4. Blockchains, cryptocurrencies, quantum computing, to make each financial transaction transparent and traceable.
5. Points mentioned in the Wiki article
6. It must be horrible for the poor scientists who work in those fields and are now suffering because the founding fathers used theories and concepts that have nothing to do with real science. They worked hard to build a career to just find out that the predecessors integrated methods that couldn´t work in other systems, let's say an evolving computer program or a machine or a human body or anywhere except in ones´ imagination. They are truly courageous to risk criticism because of the humanities bashing wave that won´t end soon. As in so many fields, it are a few black sheep who ruin everything for many others and the more progressive a young scientist is, the more he is in danger of getting smashed between a hyper sensible public awareness and the old anachronism shepherds, avoiding anything progressive with the danger of a paradigm shift or even a relativization of the field they dedicated their career to. There has to be strict segregation between theories and ideas and applications in real life, so that anything can be researched, but not used to do crazy things.
The worst bad science practice includes, from Wikipedia:
1. The replication crisis (or replicability crisis or reproducibility crisis) is, as of 2020, an ongoing methodological crisis in which it has been found that many scientific studies are difficult or impossible to replicate or reproduce. The replication crisis affects the social sciences and medicine most severely.[
2. The inability to replicate the studies of others has potentially grave consequences for many fields of science in which significant theories are grounded on unreproducible experimental work. The replication crisis has been particularly widely discussed in the field of psychology and in medicine, where a number of efforts have been made to re-investigate classic results
3. A 2016 poll of 1,500 scientists reported that 70% of them had failed to reproduce at least one other scientist's experiment (50% had failed to reproduce one of their own experiments).[8] In 2009, 2% of scientists admitted to falsifying studies at least once and 14% admitted to personally knowing someone who did.
4. „Psychological research is, on average, afflicted with low statistical power."
Continued in comments
Like a child, he can take no criticism, never finished the deviant phase. This is certainly psychologically fascinating, especially regarding the latent and clinical pathology, but shouldn´t there be any mechanisms to maybe make sure that the psyche of presidents, ministers, and members of important cornerstones of democracy is stable? Not uncertain, not breaking easily, built on solid logic, not on drivel and false accusations?
Trump's relationship with Kim is a prime example of a narcissistic, social media obsessed hedonist without any conscience regarding the fact that he is having a bromance with a dictator, more keen on showing Woodward pictures of him and Kim than talking about the geopolitical and macroeconomic consequences of the historic event. Not as if he would have been able to spontaneously answer the simplest questions about these topics without preparation, maybe also one of the reasons why most of these interviews are about him, his attitudes, and people loving him because he is he. Me me me, again, child behavior.
That Trump wants to make himself immortal can´t just be seen in the historic milestone of talking a walk with Kim, but in trying to give Woodward a poster, arranging the White house desk like a PR table, and generally being obsessed about how cable news and social media react to him. Not serious books, not serious news channels, not magazines, the president watches TV and frenetically and obsessively scrolls social media timelines to decide what´s the best for his reputation, sometimes for the country. It´s not as if there would be enough monuments, world wonders, and megalomaniac buildings that show the desperate search for honor of mighty men by demonstrating their importance. Strange and telling that they never got or get the idea of doing it with reforms and pushing positive social and cultural evolution.
Why not talking about a secret nuclear weapons program? Would be even cooler if it would have happened live on a press conference while his generals are facepalming and eye rolling in the background.Would have made a great meme. Possibly he would have even mentioned where it´s researched. That´s just one of these points, nuclear war threat, that lets one ask if there isn´t still too much power concentrated in too few hands, especially because I naively tended to think that there are so many consultants, assistants, and lobbyists that help any high ranking member of the government to make decisions. It terrifyingly seems to me as if leaders still have some, potentially fatal, power left to just do anything they deem funny, I mean, how Mutually Assured Destruction is this?
One must imagine that leading employees were highly alarmed and stated that they deem the President unfit, dangerous, and generally completely incompetent without real attention span, the ability to reflect and understand, and many other problems. Nobody knows if this is just perfectly normal for Trump or if it is his age, but is again opens the question of how it´s possible that in a democracy, where a representative function such as a President should be under control by the other elected members of the government or any similar strange control instance entities, he can act just as he wishes to. That´s not really what one understands and imagines when thinking about democratic elections, that´s more of an
authoritarian government style, so how is it possible that there is still so much power in the hands of some strange people without any control instances?
I know that I am redundant in the last 2 paragraphs, but especially regarding that the danger of a Covid19 pandemic was known since the early days of February and nobody reacted in an appropriate way, nowhere, not in Europe, not in the US, just Korea and Japan going into an intelligent direction, let´s one wonder about how, why, and especially, when again? What´s the next surprise government knows about for months but, because the King or chancellor or leader or whatever is in a bad mood or disinterested, is simply hidden.
Completely without ageism, one has to ask, just as with certain jobs or maybe one day driving, if there shouldn´t be tests and/ or age limits for certain jobs. Strangely, it´s logical for a surgeon or a pilot who could hurt or kill just one or a few hundred people, while world leaders able to harm and injure hundreds of millions in their own countries and globally, are free to act as long as they wish, although it´s biological logic that at a certain, highly individual stage, the effect of age influence the ability to function. It´s ridiculous in each country with politicians that are far beyond 65, but the US is actually breaking the record, it might be impossible to spin doctor such candidates in other countries or, said with the wiseness of kids
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0ZTK...
certain candidates wouldn´t be elected by enlightened citizens.
Which sophisticated adult would ever dare to react by asking why this very old, seemingly not so healthy and mentally fit great great grandfather should be a president, asking how long he will live, etc.
Subjective note: That´s why I am astonished, motivated, and still hopeful, but extremely misanthropic regarding mostly anyone above the age of 25 to 30.
It´s forbidden to think that by the stupidity of adult´s political correctness and misunderstood courtesy, but as wrong as it just can be. Of course also a sign of a dysfunctional, mad, wrong neoliberal economic paradigm, where just superrich, white, old men can effort becoming president with programs continuing the completely wrong social direction most of the world is heading towards for soon over half a century. 74 and 77 years old, Trump vs Biden, honestly? That´s not really what one is imagining as a living, active democracy, more the caricature of a gerontocracy.
To be fair, I deem all, except of the Scandinavian countries, Swiss, and the Netherlands, industrial northern democracies the same messes, just with different grades of suffering and pain for the citizens. Social evolution has stagnated and lead to a dead, ridiculous democratic system, completely controlled by lobbyism, not to be taken seriously anymore, leading to a situation where comedy shows and websites such as
The daily show with Trevor Noah
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwWh...
The onion
https://www.theonion.com/
The late show with Stephen Colbert
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMtF...
etc.
bring more depth, insight, and truth than all education in schools, newspapers, news networks, and, lol, the representatives themselves. If it wouldn´t be so sad, destroy the planet, and harm so many innocent people, especially in the Southern hemisphere, the laughs wouldn´t be that bitter.
A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this completely overrated real life outside books: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preside...
History of madness
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neocolo...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolibe...
Establishing the lunacy using
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaga...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_m...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychol...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychol...
The lenses it will be seen with
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_His...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrohi...
I´ve, in other reviews, said before that I wanted to avoid soft humanities such as politics, economics, homeopathy whose inventor was totally nuts too, etc., but I just couldn´t resist, sorry for that, relapse is my second name after procrastination.
Because of much talk and discussion about the replication crisis, I will add these thoughts to all following nonfiction books dealing with humanities in the future, so you might have already seen it.
One could call the replication crisis the viral fake news epidemic of many fields of science that was a hidden, chronic disease over decades and centuries and has become extremely widespread during the last years, since the first critics began vaccinating against it, provoking virulent counterarguments. I don´t know how else this could end than with nothing else than paradigm shifts, discovering many anachronisms, and a better, fact- and number based research with many control instances before something of an impact on the social policy gets accepted.
Some soft science books are nothing more than fairytales for adults who never had the chance to built a free opinion because most of the media they consume to stay informed and get educated avoids any criticism of the current economic system.
Without having read or heard ideas by Chomsky, Monbiot, Klein, Ken Robinson, Monbiot, Peter Singer, William McDonough, Ziegler, Colin Crouch, Jeremy Rifkin, David Graeber, John Perkins, and others, humans will always react to people like me, condemning the manipulation practiced everywhere with terrifying success, with anger and refusal.
These authors don´t hide aspects of the truth and describe the real state of the world, don´t predict the future and preach the one only, the true way, ignoring anything like black swans, coincidences, or the, for each small child logical, fact that nobody knows what will happen, and collect exactly the free available data people such indoctrinated people to ignore forever.
A few points that led to the replication crisis:
I had an intuitive feeling regarding this for years, but the replication crisis proofed that there are too many interconnections of not strictly scientific fields such as economics and politics with many humanities. Look, already some of the titles are biased towards a more positive or negative attitude, but thinking too optimistic is the same mistake as being too pessimistic, it isn´t objective anymore and one can be instrumentalized without even recognizing it.
In natural sciences, theoretical physicists, astrophysicists, physicians… that were friends of a certain idea will always say that there is the option of change, that a discovery may lead to a new revolution, and that their old work has to be reexamined. So in science regarding the real world the specialists are much more open to change than in some humanities, isn´t that strange?
It would be as if one would say that all humans are representative, similar, that there are no differences. But it´s not, each time a study is made there are different people, opinions, so many coincidences, and unique happenings that it´s impossible to reproduce it.
Scandinavia vs the normal world. The society people live in makes happiness, not theoretical, not definitive concepts.
One can manipulate so many parameters in those studies that the result can be extremely positive or negative, just depending on what who funds the study and does the study wants as results.
One could use the studies she/ he needs to create an optimistic or a pessimistic book and many studies about human nature are redundant, repetitive, or biased towards a certain result, often an optimistic outcome or spectacular, groundbreaking results. Do you know who does that too? Statistics, economics, politics, and faith.
I wish I could be a bit more optimistic than realistic, but not hard evidence based stuff is a bit of a no go if it involves practical applications, especially if there is the danger of not working against big problems by doing as if they weren´t there.
A few points that lead away from it:
1. Tech
2. Nordic model
3. Open data, open government,
4. Blockchains, cryptocurrencies, quantum computing, to make each financial transaction transparent and traceable.
5. Points mentioned in the Wiki article
6. It must be horrible for the poor scientists who work in those fields and are now suffering because the founding fathers used theories and concepts that have nothing to do with real science. They worked hard to build a career to just find out that the predecessors integrated methods that couldn´t work in other systems, let's say an evolving computer program or a machine or a human body or anywhere except in ones´ imagination. They are truly courageous to risk criticism because of the humanities bashing wave that won´t end soon. As in so many fields, it are a few black sheep who ruin everything for many others and the more progressive a young scientist is, the more he is in danger of getting smashed between a hyper sensible public awareness and the old anachronism shepherds, avoiding anything progressive with the danger of a paradigm shift or even a relativization of the field they dedicated their career to. There has to be strict segregation between theories and ideas and applications in real life, so that anything can be researched, but not used to do crazy things.
The worst bad science practice includes, from Wikipedia:
1. The replication crisis (or replicability crisis or reproducibility crisis) is, as of 2020, an ongoing methodological crisis in which it has been found that many scientific studies are difficult or impossible to replicate or reproduce. The replication crisis affects the social sciences and medicine most severely.[
2. The inability to replicate the studies of others has potentially grave consequences for many fields of science in which significant theories are grounded on unreproducible experimental work. The replication crisis has been particularly widely discussed in the field of psychology and in medicine, where a number of efforts have been made to re-investigate classic results
3. A 2016 poll of 1,500 scientists reported that 70% of them had failed to reproduce at least one other scientist's experiment (50% had failed to reproduce one of their own experiments).[8] In 2009, 2% of scientists admitted to falsifying studies at least once and 14% admitted to personally knowing someone who did.
4. „Psychological research is, on average, afflicted with low statistical power."
Continued in comments
November 9, 2023
[According to Jared Kushner] “In the beginning…20 percent of the people we had thought Trump was saving the world, and 80 percent thought they were saving the world from Trump. Now, I think we have the inverse. I think 80 percent of the people working for him think he’s saving the world, and 20 percent—maybe less now—think they’re saving the world from Trump.”--------------------------------------
Let that analysis sink in. Twenty percent of the president’s staff think they are “saving the world” from the president.
Mattis summarized, “When I was basically directed to do something that I thought went beyond stupid to felony stupid, strategically jeopardizing our place in the world and everything else, that’s when I quit.”Bob Woodward has been reporting on American presidents for a long time. He and Carl Bernstein, reporters at The Washington Post, broke into public consciousness with their coverage of the Watergate scandal back in the early 1970s, culminating with their book, All the Presidents Men, one of the great political books of all time. In the intervening years Bob Woodward has continued covering politics in DC. He still holds the title of Associate Editor at the Post, but his production these days tends toward the long form. He has written 19 books since that first one.
Bob Woodward- image from The Guardian - photo by Christopher Lane
In another collaboration with Carl Bernstsein, The Final Days, he wrote about Richard Nixon’s last year in power. Rage covers seven months of Donald Trump’s last year in office (unless the Donald manages to pull a coup out of a MAGA hat), so maybe The Penultimate Months, as of this writing. (November 2020, after Trump lost to Joe Biden) No talking to the presidential portraits this time. No excess consumption of liquid spirits. But, of course, one must always wonder what pharmaceuticals have been propping up the 45th president during the entirety of his term, so maybe. At least it is not something that is reported on or speculated about here. I am sure there will be more than a few reports, whether leaked to the press or included in memoirs, of Trump’s antics and gracious concession in the months after his electoral loss.
Woodward had seventeen on-the-record conversations with Trump (that is what it says in the book flap, but on 60 minutes he says 18 and in the Axios interview he says 19) for this book, some in person, some by phone.
“I call him the night prowler. I think it’s true. He doesn’t drink. He has this kind of savage energy and it comes through in some of the recordings I’ve released. It comes through in his rallies. So for me, it’s a window into his mind. It’s much like, as somebody said, the Nixon tapes where you see what he’s actually thinking and doing.” - from the Guardian interviewHe also had access to a vast range of official documents, and spoke with many others in the administration. While those conversations were conducted as “deep background,” it is pretty clear who made themselves available. Primary among these are Dan Coats, the erstwhile Director of National Intelligence, James Mattis, Trump’s first Secretary of Defense, Rex Tillerson, the former Secretary of State, even Jared Kushner, still the son-in-law. One can expect that they all want to portray themselves in the best possible light. I rolled my eyes a lot, particularly, when Jared was handed the mike. Woodward concentrates on their interactions with Trump, leaving aside many other issues relevant for each.
Woodward shows the extreme degree of disorganization in the administration governed by impulse, the chaos that is the Trumpian way. It had Mattis sleeping at the job, terrified of an imminent nuclear war with North Korea during the period when the boss was joyfully taunting Kim Jung Un as “Little Rocket Man.” Most impressive is the tracking of Trump’s reaction to the Corona Virus Pandemic from January to July 2020. This permeates the book, which opens with Trump being informed by his National Security Advisor, Robert O’Brien, on January 28, 2020, that Corona would be the largest national security threat of his presidency. Matt Pottinger, the deputy National Security Advisor, a China expert, had done some research with his contacts in China, and reported to the president about having been told by a Chinese expert ”Don’t think SARS 2003…Think influenza pandemic of 2018”, which killed 675,000 Americans. Trump waited three days to close travel from China, and continued to downplay the disease in public in the months ahead.
Most of the outrages emanating from this book have had their time in the media. Playing down the significance of the Corona Virus is first among these, as Trump claims that he did not want to panic the public. Utter nonsense, of course. He was more than happy to panic the public with apocryphal reports of an invasive caravan of immigrants approaching our southern border, for example. More recently he has tried panicking suburban women by claiming that their nice, safe, white burbs would soon be overrun by “those people,” were Joe Biden to be elected. The public is nothing more to Donald Trump than a collection of marks waiting to be conned. The only things Trump cared about re the pandemic were how an increase in C-19 cases would make him look, and its potential impact on the stock market. Maybe co-first was the game Trump played with North Korea, noted above, that brought the nation to the brink of nuclear war.
In talking about the BLM movement, Woodward points out to Trump that they are both privileged, older white men who have, in a way, lived in a cave, with limited ability to understand the experience of people outside their group.
“No,” Trump said. “You really drank the Kool-Aid, didn’t you? Just listen to you,” he said, his voice mocking and incredulous. “Wow, I don’t feel that at all.”The establishment of the Mueller Investigation in May 2017 was hailed as a triumph of institutional integrity over venal self-dealing. Turns out, not so much, despite the holy aura vested in the probe by the mainstream media. In fact, it was a dodge. There was a real investigation that had begun in the FBI, led by Andrew McCabe, a die-hard Republican, looking into the connections between Trump, his campaign, and Vladimir Putin. McCabe was seen as being too straight a shooter to be trusted with this, so establishing the probe was a way to push him to the side.
During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on June 28, 2018, Republican representative from Florida Ron DeSantis…remarked to [Rod] Rosenstein, “They talk about the Mueller investigation—it’s really the Rosenstein investigation. You appointed Mueller. You’re supervising Mueller.”And Rosenstein made sure, by establishing a rigid chain of command, that McCabe would be kept well out of the loop.
One of the more interesting items in the book, one not covered much in media, was the notion of controversy as an accelerant for policy positions.
”Controversy elevates message,” Kushner said. This was his core understanding of communications strategy in the age of the internet and Trump.And Trump is certainly a genius (however unstable) at creating and sustaining controversy. Michael Cohen, in his book Disloyal, makes the related point that Trump has always had a genius for manipulating the media.
One does not think of Bob Woodward as being a particularly funny guy, but one of the things I enjoyed about the book was Woodward’s wry commentaries after reporting. There are many of these. Here is a small example:
I told him people I talked to were saying the presidential race between him and Biden was now a coin toss.another
“You know, maybe,” he said. “and maybe not.”
That sounded like a good description of a coin toss.
“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?”Woodward is indeed a master at getting people to talk, not that Donald Trump needs much prompting, particularly when the subject matter is his personal favorite. But Woodward demonstrates impressive patience and perseverance in coping with an interviewee who seemed to have the attention span of a goldfish. This talent is one that former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates appreciated, in an interview with Mike Allen for Politico.
That might not be difficult, I thought, but I didn’t say anything.
"I think he's obviously a very astute journalist," Gates said to POLITICO's Mike Allen…"I would have really liked to recruit him for the CIA because he has an extraordinary ability to get otherwise responsible adults to spill [their] guts to him, on background, nothing there for the historians, but his ability to get people to talk about stuff they shouldn't be talking about is extraordinary and maybe unique." - from the Politico articleDonald Trump is an angry person. Always aggrieved, always looking to blame others for his failures, hurling invective and employing demagoguery to rouse an unanalytical base to support rank foolishness. Woodward opens the book with a couple of quotes by Trump about his capacity for inducing rage in people. It is certainly something at which he excels. But he remains clueless about how that works, which is no surprise, as Trump is clearly one of the least self-aware leaders we have ever had, hell, maybe one of the least self-aware people of his time. Here in November, 2020, as Trump does all he can to poison the democracy that elected him in 2016, as he does all he can to sow chaos in America’s foreign policy, as he does everything he can to seek revenge on government employees he deems insufficiently loyal, as he lies at an automatic firing rate that is impressive even for him, it is clear that along with disgust, the proper response to Trump is the one Woodward focuses on here. Rage will leave you more informed than you were before, but it will also leave you seething. If it does not, you are part of the problem.
Review posted – 11/20/20
Publication date – 9/15/20
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to the author’s personal, Twitter and FB pages
Interviews
-----The Guardian - The right man for the job: how Bob Woodward pinned Trump to the page by David Smith
-----NPR - Interview With Bob Woodward, Part 1 by Mary Louise Kelly audio + transcript
----------Part 2
-----60 Minutes - Inside Donald Trump's 18 recorded interviews with Bob Woodward for his book "Rage" by Scott Pelley
-----Axios on HBO - Bob Woodward: Full interview, Part 1 by Jonathan Swan
My reviews of other books by the author
-----2018 - Fear
-----2010 - Obamas’s Wars
-----2008 - The War Within
Other books on Trump
-----Too Much and Never Enough by Mary Trump
-----Disloyal by Michael Cohen
-----A Warning by Anonymous
-----Tyrannical Minds by Anonymous
-----Fascism by Madeleine K. Albright
-----Trumpocracy by David Frum
-----Unbelievable by Katy Tur
There have been many books written about Trump and Trumpism, enough to warrant a shelf of their own. More particularly, there are two recent books, in addition to Rage, that have a lot to offer re getting a close, personal look at the man, Too Much and Never Enough, by Mary Trump, and Disloyal, by Michael Cohen. Both are well worth checking out.
Items of Interest
-----Washington Post - Woodward book: Trump says he knew coronavirus was ‘deadly’ and worse than the flu while intentionally misleading Americans by Robert Costa and Phil Rucker – This article includes links to tapes of some of Woodward’s conversations with Trump
-----The Lincoln Project - Bloodlines
September 19, 2020
This year -2020 - has turned me into a political junkie: books, TV, Radio, podcasts, and a little social media ....I haven’t been able to stay away. The ongoing devastations of this year changes people.
So... I read another Trump book.
Bob Woodward’s, RAGE, is comprehensive, and up-to-date....
....a truthful unfolding on Trump’s Presidency.
A very honorable book resulting from scrupulous journalistic ultracareful fastidious fact-checking.
The November 3rd election is counting down— only 46 more days to go.
The important issues remain: the coronavirus pandemic, health care, the economy, race and ethnic inequality, Supreme Court appointments,
*[BLESSINGS RBG....RIP*]
Foreign Policy, immigration, global climate change, violent crime, gun policy, abortion.
Bob Woodward’s “RAGE” ....[44 chapters, 391 pages, 19 visits between Trump and Woodward with documented recorded taped conversations], left the veteran journalist depleted, disturbed, and seriously concern for our country. Woodward has interviewed nine presidents and this is the first time he ever made an editorial comment at the end of ‘any’ of his books.
Woodward wrote: “When his performance as president is taken in it’s entirety, I can reach one conclusion. Trump is the wrong man for the job”.
WRONG MAN FOR THE JOB!!!! A DANGER TO OUR COUNTRY!!!!
This book is filled with the inner workings of Trump.....
.....along with conversations about Covid, China, Foreign Policy and National security, the economy, domestic current issues, criminal justice reform, North Korea, Russia,Jarad Kushner, Lindsey Graham, Kim Jong, Jim Mattis, Rex Tillerson, Dan Coats, Mike Pompeo, and Trump’s loyal Republican supporters, and those who don’t support him.
Throughout this book we see Woodward constantly wanting to focus on the coronavirus...but Trump dodges the topic - by talking about his grand A+ achievements ....( haha)....
reminding us that the economy was “BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD”.....before the “China Virus”....
OH MAN!!!!
This was one of the best books - of all the political books I’ve read this year about Trump, his administration, Trump’s cognitive skills, and the IMPORTANT ISSUES AT HAND....
WRONG MAN FOR THE JOB......
....excellent detailed and documented book-of-RAGE!
A+ for Bob Woodrow
F- for Trump
So... I read another Trump book.
Bob Woodward’s, RAGE, is comprehensive, and up-to-date....
....a truthful unfolding on Trump’s Presidency.
A very honorable book resulting from scrupulous journalistic ultracareful fastidious fact-checking.
The November 3rd election is counting down— only 46 more days to go.
The important issues remain: the coronavirus pandemic, health care, the economy, race and ethnic inequality, Supreme Court appointments,
*[BLESSINGS RBG....RIP*]
Foreign Policy, immigration, global climate change, violent crime, gun policy, abortion.
Bob Woodward’s “RAGE” ....[44 chapters, 391 pages, 19 visits between Trump and Woodward with documented recorded taped conversations], left the veteran journalist depleted, disturbed, and seriously concern for our country. Woodward has interviewed nine presidents and this is the first time he ever made an editorial comment at the end of ‘any’ of his books.
Woodward wrote: “When his performance as president is taken in it’s entirety, I can reach one conclusion. Trump is the wrong man for the job”.
WRONG MAN FOR THE JOB!!!! A DANGER TO OUR COUNTRY!!!!
This book is filled with the inner workings of Trump.....
.....along with conversations about Covid, China, Foreign Policy and National security, the economy, domestic current issues, criminal justice reform, North Korea, Russia,Jarad Kushner, Lindsey Graham, Kim Jong, Jim Mattis, Rex Tillerson, Dan Coats, Mike Pompeo, and Trump’s loyal Republican supporters, and those who don’t support him.
Throughout this book we see Woodward constantly wanting to focus on the coronavirus...but Trump dodges the topic - by talking about his grand A+ achievements ....( haha)....
reminding us that the economy was “BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD”.....before the “China Virus”....
OH MAN!!!!
This was one of the best books - of all the political books I’ve read this year about Trump, his administration, Trump’s cognitive skills, and the IMPORTANT ISSUES AT HAND....
WRONG MAN FOR THE JOB......
....excellent detailed and documented book-of-RAGE!
A+ for Bob Woodrow
F- for Trump
Want to read
July 15, 2024SPOILER ALERT: WORST PRESIDENT EVER
Back when I was a younger man, protesting the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, there was no one on Earth I hated more than George W. Bush. These days, I would take him back in a heartbeat, but I guess I'll settle for Biden this fall instead. And I wonder why more Republicans don't agree, because there are ways in which the Obama administration made even Reagan's seem liberal by comparison. I guess it's like Chomsky said, how politics in this country is sort of like a football game where the entire thing is being played on the right side of the field, so anything even approaching the center gets labeled socialist. Discuss.
Back when I was a younger man, protesting the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, there was no one on Earth I hated more than George W. Bush. These days, I would take him back in a heartbeat, but I guess I'll settle for Biden this fall instead. And I wonder why more Republicans don't agree, because there are ways in which the Obama administration made even Reagan's seem liberal by comparison. I guess it's like Chomsky said, how politics in this country is sort of like a football game where the entire thing is being played on the right side of the field, so anything even approaching the center gets labeled socialist. Discuss.
November 2, 2020
I was not going to read this. Not another Trump book. Alas, my friends, I am weak. I won't get too much into the details, because, honestly, the book contains little that would surprise you at this point. What is astonishing, however, is that Trump allowed Woodward to record all the imbecilic, narcissistic things he said in all manner of crises. He made time to chat with a journalist for hours on end to pump up his ego, while a war with Iran was not out of the question, people were protesting racial injustice outside the White House, people were dying by the thousands from a disease that could have been controlled, etc. A further recurring theme of the interviews is that he is NUMBER ONE! On Twitter, on Facebook, number one for African Americans, number one in planning for Covid, number one for the economy, and on and on it goes. More than once, I thought he sounded like a spoilt child that always has to win, and who has indulgent parents (in form of cowardly senators) who give him a lot of merit trophies to avoid having to deal with too bad a tantrum. I can't comment much on whether Woodward should have come forward with his information sooner, because as far as I could judge, it wouldn't have changed much. I could go on, but all that I can say that really matters is VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! We can do better than this.
Find my book reviews and more at http://www.princessandpen.com
Find my book reviews and more at http://www.princessandpen.com
November 1, 2020
How stupid can you get? Really! HOW STUPID CAN YOU GET?!?
Imagine you are the President of the United States and you sit down with a journalist to give him interviews for a book—interviews that YOU WANTED and gave him permission to record!—and you keep telling this journalist how great you are and what a wonderful job you have done with whatever you touched, what do you expect this journalist to write?
Do you really think that he will write how great you are and what a wonderful job you have done? Or is he more likely to quote you praising yourself endlessly? Remember, this journalist has all of it on tape—recorded with your permission.
And it is not only the continuous self-adulation. You also told this journalist that you have known all along that this coronavirus was deadly, while you had touted on tv numerous times that it was a nothing, a hoax, and would be gone soon. And because you always have trouble keeping your mouth in check and tend to ramble on with whatever is on your mind, holding endless and rather senseless monologues, you have told this journalist so many more things that prove your dishonesty and incompetence—and all of it on tape!
So I can only repeat: HOW STUPID CAN YOU GET?!?
Had Trump ever read a book, he should have known what an accomplished journalist and author of political/historical books would do with such information. So why did Trump hand this “real gift for the press” to Woodward on a plate? My answer: Trump’s pathological need for feeding his ego with boasting and bragging is so big that he disregards and forgets everything else. It must be something like a food-addicted morbidly obese person gulping down a huge layer cake. That’s about the only explanation I have.
Bob Woodward’s book is not only about 17 interviews (plus another phone call), during which Trump blew up his ego, it also provides a lot of “behind the curtain” talks by people of Trump’s orbit; some of these talks given directly to Woodward, others leaked to him.
All in all, Woodward’s book comes to the conclusion: — — —. Sorry, I just changed my mind. No, I won’t tell you the last sentence of the book, as this book really and truly is worth reading. So go and buy it and read it yourself. Bob Woodward deserves this. Just imagine how the poor man must have suffered listening to all this bullshit while desperately trying to hold Trump focussed on whatever was the topic of the conversation, which, of course, proved to be mission impossible.
Imagine you are the President of the United States and you sit down with a journalist to give him interviews for a book—interviews that YOU WANTED and gave him permission to record!—and you keep telling this journalist how great you are and what a wonderful job you have done with whatever you touched, what do you expect this journalist to write?
Do you really think that he will write how great you are and what a wonderful job you have done? Or is he more likely to quote you praising yourself endlessly? Remember, this journalist has all of it on tape—recorded with your permission.
And it is not only the continuous self-adulation. You also told this journalist that you have known all along that this coronavirus was deadly, while you had touted on tv numerous times that it was a nothing, a hoax, and would be gone soon. And because you always have trouble keeping your mouth in check and tend to ramble on with whatever is on your mind, holding endless and rather senseless monologues, you have told this journalist so many more things that prove your dishonesty and incompetence—and all of it on tape!
So I can only repeat: HOW STUPID CAN YOU GET?!?
Had Trump ever read a book, he should have known what an accomplished journalist and author of political/historical books would do with such information. So why did Trump hand this “real gift for the press” to Woodward on a plate? My answer: Trump’s pathological need for feeding his ego with boasting and bragging is so big that he disregards and forgets everything else. It must be something like a food-addicted morbidly obese person gulping down a huge layer cake. That’s about the only explanation I have.
Bob Woodward’s book is not only about 17 interviews (plus another phone call), during which Trump blew up his ego, it also provides a lot of “behind the curtain” talks by people of Trump’s orbit; some of these talks given directly to Woodward, others leaked to him.
All in all, Woodward’s book comes to the conclusion: — — —. Sorry, I just changed my mind. No, I won’t tell you the last sentence of the book, as this book really and truly is worth reading. So go and buy it and read it yourself. Bob Woodward deserves this. Just imagine how the poor man must have suffered listening to all this bullshit while desperately trying to hold Trump focussed on whatever was the topic of the conversation, which, of course, proved to be mission impossible.
October 2, 2020
Seriously, I am done with Trump tell-all books. Wait, Woodward is writing one more? Oh, well. Pre-ordered.
Update: October 2nd 2020. Read it!
Woodward is no longer only a reporter. He is so frustrated with the lack of plan that he tries to push Trump to have a plan and put some people in charge of the various parts of battle against the corona virus.
The first chapters focuses on Tillerson and Mattis. Mattis pondering “if a war came and the best person was not in the chairmanship?” He is thinking about the military leaders during WWII and now, and Woodward leaves it to the reader to connect to the war against Covid.
Just to be safe: There is nothing subtle about the conclusion: “Trump is the wrong man for the job.”. (Last line of the book).
Update: October 2nd 2020. Read it!
Woodward is no longer only a reporter. He is so frustrated with the lack of plan that he tries to push Trump to have a plan and put some people in charge of the various parts of battle against the corona virus.
The first chapters focuses on Tillerson and Mattis. Mattis pondering “if a war came and the best person was not in the chairmanship?” He is thinking about the military leaders during WWII and now, and Woodward leaves it to the reader to connect to the war against Covid.
Just to be safe: There is nothing subtle about the conclusion: “Trump is the wrong man for the job.”. (Last line of the book).
October 29, 2020
I have decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2020 US Presidential Election. Many of these will focus on actors intricately involved in the process, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.
This is Book #32 in my 2020 US Election Preparation Challenge.
Analysis of the 45th President of the United States (POTUS) proves to be a sport of conversations, insults, and downright headaches, particularly when scanning the published word. As I have done with the other books in my challenge, I sought to approach reading this text with an open and curious mind, as I did with the first tome on Trump penned by Bob Woodward.
The author remains a highly esteemed journalist in his own right, having been blunt in his assessments, no matter what the subject matter might be. While this may sting the ever-Trumpers, the smears hurled fall on deaf ears and Woodward’s Teflon suit. Eager readers should gather round, as this is yet another stellar piece of work, with more than simply the leaked COVID-19 tidbits to open an eye or two.
Woodward returns to the early time in the Trump presidency to explore some of the key cabinet selections he made. Those mentioned are men who would shape the Administration, but also serve as Trump’s puppets. As would become the case with all those who received special attention in the early chapters, the men were either fired or resigned because of the micromanagement of the president for reasons not entirely clear. It would seem that things would always have to run on the Trump-table, a guideline and timing that baffles many and is fuelled by consumption of Diet Coke.
The book moves between a number of themes throughout, offering the reader a glimpse into all of them on a rotating basis. Woodward explores the the ongoing development of some peace with the North Koreans. While Trump entered the White House with a warning from President Obama about how troubling North Korea and Kim Jong Un would be, the incoming Leader of the Free World was ready to make some noise and turn things into a political pissing contest. Woodward explores how Trump used his Secretary of State to show that America meant business, demanding a scaling back of nuclear weapons in the brashest terms. Only Trump could grab Kim by the proverbial ‘missile’ and not be called a political misogynist.
The warming of relations between these two did eventually occur when Kim agreed to denuclearise. Woodward speaks of a handful of ‘love letters’ (Trump’s words) between the two that were used as background research for the book and helped to promote two key summits. These letters were chivalrous and highly praise-worthy, according to Trump, something that would surely baffle many who see both men on television and how they comport themselves.
Trump also came out swinging on America’s military role in the world. He sought to pull troops from Syria, even though the civil war there was balancing precariously. He also sought to remove America from its NATO commitments, citing a fiscal imbalance, something that Woodward probes in some of his early interviews. The eternal businessman, Trump is so focussed on the ledger and the outcomes that he cannot see the game of political Jenga he’s playing.
When it came to the intelligence community, Trump was ready to dismiss America’s capabilities form the get-go, especially since much of the early (read: first week on the job) messaging sought to show that Russia interfered in the election that Trump won. Those with concrete proof sought to present it and show that there was an issue that needed addressing. However, as many readers will already know, Trump chose to stick his fingers in his ears and sing a loud song, thereby negating the intelligence as being fake and part of a leftist conspiracy.
As I mentioned in my review of Woodward’s last book, if there is a single theme that echoes throughout the pages of all well-documented chapters, it is that Trump wanted to do things his own way, choosing rarely to follow the advice proffered by those tasked with being the representatives or experts. Such renegade behaviour is enough to make anyone rage at such an ignorant leader. As seen above and on more occasions below, it was Trump’s way or no way, going so far as being a narrative that the president believed, with the alternative labelled #fakenews. Woodward challenged him on this numerous times, as appears in the narrative, though Trump always found a way to be boisterous and ignore the topic if it did not suit him.
Woodward explores some of the interesting backstory into the creation of the Special Counsel of Robert S. Mueller III, tasked with exploring Russian meddling and any collusion by the Trump Campaign. While this event was so sensationalised that there is not likely much ‘new’ information, the attentive and curious reader will see the blunt and egotistical responses to the investigation. Trump and his sycophants alike sought to diminish the importance of the process and neuter Mueller from the get-go, at times mulling over firing him. One can only imagine what might have happened had this taken place.
As the country remains in the grip of the COVID-19 crisis, Woodward uses many of his interviews with Trump to hash out what he knew and when. Much of it has been leaked now, but it is eye opening to see just how dismissive Trump was about things, which parallels some of the idiocy shown after he contracted COVID and still downplayed the severity of it. Woodward uses a significant amount of time exploring the needed backstory and reactions around the COVID-19 crisis, dispelling many of the myths that the White House has tried to shove down the throats of the general public. Many of the interviews with Trump for the book took place as things were developing, allowing for a great narrative and ongoing exploration of sentiments in almost real time.
While Woodward does offer praise where needed, especially when Trump agreed to a country-wide shutdown in March, he also explores how the president would not push for stronger safety measures and precautions. Interest to see how Trump felt it would not be good for POTUS to wear a mask ‘when greeting heads of state, queens, kings, and ambassadors’, as though this would show weakness. Fast forward to the autumn, as an infected president refuses to follow the guidelines, showing that there was likely some cerebral infection in the part of the brain where reasoning occurs (my sentiments, not Woodward’s). I suppose we should applaud him for being consistent (and reckless?)!
It would seem that Trump was scorned by other world leaders for his practices, as Woodward cites numerous examples within the text. Things were said to his face and then the opposite done thereafter. While perhaps not the laughing stock of the world, his bombast proved to be more than enough for some, who could not take his blowhard approach. Much of this can be attributed to his Trump-table approach, immovable and unwilling to accept that he could be wrong. This doesn’t to bode well for a political leader, particularly one representing a large population on the world scene.
Woodward should be applauded again for this second book, seeking to offer insights through the eyes of others, rather than rallying his own personal attacks with little substantive proof. While he does seek to challenge Trump to think and explore what he’s saying (as any good journalist would do), he permits the president to dig his own grave with a presidential shovel. This is not a book of ‘gotcha’ moments, unless the reader chooses to label such writing as one where direct quotes in open interviews serve to entrap the speaker.
I sought to secure my copy of this book the day it was announced as being ready for pre-order. This interest only grew when the leaked tapes emerged, so I could see the context in which Trump and others would box themselves into corners or speak frankly. From what I have seen and heard, some love the book for being open and exploring many topics, while others hate it for its few ‘aha’ moments. Still others are critical because it knocks POTUS down a peg or two at a time when we ought to rally around him (maskless and Proud Boy shirt visible) during this crisis. It is this latter group for whom I have the most pity, as someone has surely been lacing your Kool-Aid with ignorance powder!
The book opened my eyes in many ways and I felt as though much could be taken away from it by the dedicated reader. While I have read a fair number of books on the Trump presidency over the last month (all in preparation for the election), there are themes that come out in all of them. These include: obsession with television portrayals, refusal to read background materials for essential decisions, preconceived notions of effective governance, and a hatred for all who oppose him. Woodward explored this in the first book and revisits them again, showing that nothing has changed. Billy club in hand (in the form of his Twitter account), Trump forges on.
All of these and other perspectives were further solidified through the interviews Woodward undertook with those closest to Trump and the president himself. This was not Woodward dusting off the soap box and issuing criticism dreamed up in his own mind, though some will spin it as such. Woodward used the words and sentiments of many who were ‘in the trenches’ to garner a better understanding for the reader and to show that things were not always peachy behind the velvet curtain. These type of books are likely the best, as they provide truths that are hidden from the general public, or discounted on a regular basis.
Call me naive again, but I cannot see Bob Woodward using weak information to build his arguments, having written about nine presidents in his career. Woodward has shown time and again that he asks the tough questions, but seeks to be fair in his delivery. First hand accounts serve as the foundation of this book’s narrative momentum, which I applaud. As I mentioned above, he went so far as to document that he held Trump accountable, even when the man refused to see his ignorance wafting around his coiffed head.
There are moments of praise for Trump and others of complete mockery, but when they come from within, can be really call it a smear campaign by liberal media sources? I have never hidden my sentiments on this topic and have built up a foundation of understanding through reading and trying to better understand the situation. Of note, no one once approached me with any recommendations for great tomes on the right (see disclaimer at the top of the review), which leads me to wonder if there are any. I may be an outsider, hailing from Canada, but I do love my politics.
Should we, as citizens of the world, have lived in fear up to the 2020 elections, as many Republican senators did? Might the type of behaviour exemplified in this book lead to horrible things if the Russians collude again and skew the results? There is that possibility, but this book could also be a rallying cry for American voters to turn out to cast their ballots, while Intelligence agencies work to plug some of the gaping holes that permitted outsider influences in elections past. We’re almost there people and if you have not cast your ballot yet, I’ve spent a lot of time summarising a ton of information for you to consider (as well as countless others)!
Kudos, Mr. Woodward, for giving me something about which to think yet again. While this is not the final book in my challenge, I am glad I left it as one of the last!
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
This is Book #32 in my 2020 US Election Preparation Challenge.
Analysis of the 45th President of the United States (POTUS) proves to be a sport of conversations, insults, and downright headaches, particularly when scanning the published word. As I have done with the other books in my challenge, I sought to approach reading this text with an open and curious mind, as I did with the first tome on Trump penned by Bob Woodward.
The author remains a highly esteemed journalist in his own right, having been blunt in his assessments, no matter what the subject matter might be. While this may sting the ever-Trumpers, the smears hurled fall on deaf ears and Woodward’s Teflon suit. Eager readers should gather round, as this is yet another stellar piece of work, with more than simply the leaked COVID-19 tidbits to open an eye or two.
Woodward returns to the early time in the Trump presidency to explore some of the key cabinet selections he made. Those mentioned are men who would shape the Administration, but also serve as Trump’s puppets. As would become the case with all those who received special attention in the early chapters, the men were either fired or resigned because of the micromanagement of the president for reasons not entirely clear. It would seem that things would always have to run on the Trump-table, a guideline and timing that baffles many and is fuelled by consumption of Diet Coke.
The book moves between a number of themes throughout, offering the reader a glimpse into all of them on a rotating basis. Woodward explores the the ongoing development of some peace with the North Koreans. While Trump entered the White House with a warning from President Obama about how troubling North Korea and Kim Jong Un would be, the incoming Leader of the Free World was ready to make some noise and turn things into a political pissing contest. Woodward explores how Trump used his Secretary of State to show that America meant business, demanding a scaling back of nuclear weapons in the brashest terms. Only Trump could grab Kim by the proverbial ‘missile’ and not be called a political misogynist.
The warming of relations between these two did eventually occur when Kim agreed to denuclearise. Woodward speaks of a handful of ‘love letters’ (Trump’s words) between the two that were used as background research for the book and helped to promote two key summits. These letters were chivalrous and highly praise-worthy, according to Trump, something that would surely baffle many who see both men on television and how they comport themselves.
Trump also came out swinging on America’s military role in the world. He sought to pull troops from Syria, even though the civil war there was balancing precariously. He also sought to remove America from its NATO commitments, citing a fiscal imbalance, something that Woodward probes in some of his early interviews. The eternal businessman, Trump is so focussed on the ledger and the outcomes that he cannot see the game of political Jenga he’s playing.
When it came to the intelligence community, Trump was ready to dismiss America’s capabilities form the get-go, especially since much of the early (read: first week on the job) messaging sought to show that Russia interfered in the election that Trump won. Those with concrete proof sought to present it and show that there was an issue that needed addressing. However, as many readers will already know, Trump chose to stick his fingers in his ears and sing a loud song, thereby negating the intelligence as being fake and part of a leftist conspiracy.
As I mentioned in my review of Woodward’s last book, if there is a single theme that echoes throughout the pages of all well-documented chapters, it is that Trump wanted to do things his own way, choosing rarely to follow the advice proffered by those tasked with being the representatives or experts. Such renegade behaviour is enough to make anyone rage at such an ignorant leader. As seen above and on more occasions below, it was Trump’s way or no way, going so far as being a narrative that the president believed, with the alternative labelled #fakenews. Woodward challenged him on this numerous times, as appears in the narrative, though Trump always found a way to be boisterous and ignore the topic if it did not suit him.
Woodward explores some of the interesting backstory into the creation of the Special Counsel of Robert S. Mueller III, tasked with exploring Russian meddling and any collusion by the Trump Campaign. While this event was so sensationalised that there is not likely much ‘new’ information, the attentive and curious reader will see the blunt and egotistical responses to the investigation. Trump and his sycophants alike sought to diminish the importance of the process and neuter Mueller from the get-go, at times mulling over firing him. One can only imagine what might have happened had this taken place.
As the country remains in the grip of the COVID-19 crisis, Woodward uses many of his interviews with Trump to hash out what he knew and when. Much of it has been leaked now, but it is eye opening to see just how dismissive Trump was about things, which parallels some of the idiocy shown after he contracted COVID and still downplayed the severity of it. Woodward uses a significant amount of time exploring the needed backstory and reactions around the COVID-19 crisis, dispelling many of the myths that the White House has tried to shove down the throats of the general public. Many of the interviews with Trump for the book took place as things were developing, allowing for a great narrative and ongoing exploration of sentiments in almost real time.
While Woodward does offer praise where needed, especially when Trump agreed to a country-wide shutdown in March, he also explores how the president would not push for stronger safety measures and precautions. Interest to see how Trump felt it would not be good for POTUS to wear a mask ‘when greeting heads of state, queens, kings, and ambassadors’, as though this would show weakness. Fast forward to the autumn, as an infected president refuses to follow the guidelines, showing that there was likely some cerebral infection in the part of the brain where reasoning occurs (my sentiments, not Woodward’s). I suppose we should applaud him for being consistent (and reckless?)!
It would seem that Trump was scorned by other world leaders for his practices, as Woodward cites numerous examples within the text. Things were said to his face and then the opposite done thereafter. While perhaps not the laughing stock of the world, his bombast proved to be more than enough for some, who could not take his blowhard approach. Much of this can be attributed to his Trump-table approach, immovable and unwilling to accept that he could be wrong. This doesn’t to bode well for a political leader, particularly one representing a large population on the world scene.
Woodward should be applauded again for this second book, seeking to offer insights through the eyes of others, rather than rallying his own personal attacks with little substantive proof. While he does seek to challenge Trump to think and explore what he’s saying (as any good journalist would do), he permits the president to dig his own grave with a presidential shovel. This is not a book of ‘gotcha’ moments, unless the reader chooses to label such writing as one where direct quotes in open interviews serve to entrap the speaker.
I sought to secure my copy of this book the day it was announced as being ready for pre-order. This interest only grew when the leaked tapes emerged, so I could see the context in which Trump and others would box themselves into corners or speak frankly. From what I have seen and heard, some love the book for being open and exploring many topics, while others hate it for its few ‘aha’ moments. Still others are critical because it knocks POTUS down a peg or two at a time when we ought to rally around him (maskless and Proud Boy shirt visible) during this crisis. It is this latter group for whom I have the most pity, as someone has surely been lacing your Kool-Aid with ignorance powder!
The book opened my eyes in many ways and I felt as though much could be taken away from it by the dedicated reader. While I have read a fair number of books on the Trump presidency over the last month (all in preparation for the election), there are themes that come out in all of them. These include: obsession with television portrayals, refusal to read background materials for essential decisions, preconceived notions of effective governance, and a hatred for all who oppose him. Woodward explored this in the first book and revisits them again, showing that nothing has changed. Billy club in hand (in the form of his Twitter account), Trump forges on.
All of these and other perspectives were further solidified through the interviews Woodward undertook with those closest to Trump and the president himself. This was not Woodward dusting off the soap box and issuing criticism dreamed up in his own mind, though some will spin it as such. Woodward used the words and sentiments of many who were ‘in the trenches’ to garner a better understanding for the reader and to show that things were not always peachy behind the velvet curtain. These type of books are likely the best, as they provide truths that are hidden from the general public, or discounted on a regular basis.
Call me naive again, but I cannot see Bob Woodward using weak information to build his arguments, having written about nine presidents in his career. Woodward has shown time and again that he asks the tough questions, but seeks to be fair in his delivery. First hand accounts serve as the foundation of this book’s narrative momentum, which I applaud. As I mentioned above, he went so far as to document that he held Trump accountable, even when the man refused to see his ignorance wafting around his coiffed head.
There are moments of praise for Trump and others of complete mockery, but when they come from within, can be really call it a smear campaign by liberal media sources? I have never hidden my sentiments on this topic and have built up a foundation of understanding through reading and trying to better understand the situation. Of note, no one once approached me with any recommendations for great tomes on the right (see disclaimer at the top of the review), which leads me to wonder if there are any. I may be an outsider, hailing from Canada, but I do love my politics.
Should we, as citizens of the world, have lived in fear up to the 2020 elections, as many Republican senators did? Might the type of behaviour exemplified in this book lead to horrible things if the Russians collude again and skew the results? There is that possibility, but this book could also be a rallying cry for American voters to turn out to cast their ballots, while Intelligence agencies work to plug some of the gaping holes that permitted outsider influences in elections past. We’re almost there people and if you have not cast your ballot yet, I’ve spent a lot of time summarising a ton of information for you to consider (as well as countless others)!
Kudos, Mr. Woodward, for giving me something about which to think yet again. While this is not the final book in my challenge, I am glad I left it as one of the last!
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
September 21, 2020
Rage
By: Bob Woodward
Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
We all know just about everything about the large orange guy that lives in the White House. We know about his daily vomit of lies, tweet storms, his continual chest pounding and patting himself on the back. We know he loves his base, Proud Boys, nice fellows like the Nazis, and the white supremacist groups. He claims to love his trumpers too. He gave himself an A on his response on the pandemic he ignored but behind the scenes, what is really happening? That's where the author gives us a real look!
The fat orange guy is just as rotten, or worse, behind the scene! I really didn't think it possible! He almost got us in a war. He could have save 140,000 lives. The economy crashed due to the pandemic he couldn't and wouldn't control! He knew months before! The other tidbits of inside info tells how he can't stand the Christians and his fans! Of course he called them names!
He is not mentally fit to watch my animals yet he is in charge of the lives of all of America! It is such a scary thought! May he lose in November before we lose our democracy. He is dangerous. He knew about the killing of the journalist by the Saudi government. He doesn't care!
That is his motto, I don't care!
By: Bob Woodward
Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
We all know just about everything about the large orange guy that lives in the White House. We know about his daily vomit of lies, tweet storms, his continual chest pounding and patting himself on the back. We know he loves his base, Proud Boys, nice fellows like the Nazis, and the white supremacist groups. He claims to love his trumpers too. He gave himself an A on his response on the pandemic he ignored but behind the scenes, what is really happening? That's where the author gives us a real look!
The fat orange guy is just as rotten, or worse, behind the scene! I really didn't think it possible! He almost got us in a war. He could have save 140,000 lives. The economy crashed due to the pandemic he couldn't and wouldn't control! He knew months before! The other tidbits of inside info tells how he can't stand the Christians and his fans! Of course he called them names!
He is not mentally fit to watch my animals yet he is in charge of the lives of all of America! It is such a scary thought! May he lose in November before we lose our democracy. He is dangerous. He knew about the killing of the journalist by the Saudi government. He doesn't care!
That is his motto, I don't care!
September 16, 2020
An automatic buy for me.
An engrossing deep dive into the Presidency and mind of DJT.
An engrossing deep dive into the Presidency and mind of DJT.
September 21, 2020
Woodward concludes this book with one of the most obvious statements ever made: “Trump is the wrong man for the job.” James Mattis was warned by his 94 year old mother not to work for the horrible man. You should listen to your mother. This book spends a lot of time on North Korea and ends up with the COVID 19 crisis. A lot of time is also spent on Trump’s besotted son in law. Kushner is actually proud of the fact that “Trump did a full hostile takeover of the Republican Party”. Hostile takeovers tend not to turn out well for the targets. That’s fine with me since they deserve the worst. In the view of the author, under Trump there has been increased concentration of power in the office of the president, however Trump has “not imposed martial law or suspended the Constitution”. Is that really the standard we want to use to judge whether a president has not done an abominable job? Oh well, at least he hasn’t suspended the Constitution - yet.
July 19, 2024
UPDATE:
HEADLINE
BIDEN BEATS TRUMP
Harris Is First Woman Elected Vice President
As it turned out, the coronavirus was Trump's kryptonite. There was some doubt before, but confirmation came on November 7, 2020
UPDATE:
HEADLINES
Trump Downplays Danger of Coronavirus as He Returns to White House
Despite Growing West Wing Outbreak, Trump Says ‘Don’t Be Afraid’ of Virus
*****
You can ignore my closing sentence. I knew it was wishful thinking.
*****
MEN OF STEEL
I have this theory about Donald Trump that I have shared with friends and family members, in which I compare him to Superman. I know -- now wait, wait – let me explain.
People of a certain age – my age, that is – will remember a syndicated TV series that starred George Reeves as Superman. And if so, they will also remember the numerous times that a bad guy pulled a pistol on Superman and shot him until the gun was empty only to find to his dismay that the bullets bounced off the man of steel’s chest. When the last shot was fired the villain in desperation often threw the gun at Superman and of course it also bounced off his chest and then if there were two villains our hero would end the confrontation by picking both up by their collars and banging their heads together.
Now let’s consider Donald Trump. How many times has he weathered episodes that would have ended the careers of normal politicians? Ronald Reagan was given the nickname “the Teflon Man,” because they said nothing stuck to him, but the Access Hollywood tape in which Trump expressed his crude views of women would have brought down Reagan or any other politician. Though the tape was leaked just shortly before the election it did not keep Trump from being elected. It bounced off his chest.
There was more to come, including the Mueller investigation that led to the House of Representatives impeachment of the President. But the Senate acquitted him of both articles of impeachment. His approval rating even went up. The long investigation and impeachment bounced off his chest.
Then there were the books. Bob Woodward published Fear: Trump in the White House, which scared a lot of readers, but not the President’s followers, not even the ones who read it. Then there was A Very Stable Genius, written by two award-winning journalists, that like Fear became a number one bestseller, but also did not influence the President’s hardcore following.
The President’s niece published a biography of him that has a scary title: Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man. The book was another bestseller that apparently failed to diminish the President’s political prospects. John Bolton, the President’s former National Security Adviser, published The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, an insider’s critical analysis of Trump, also a bestseller, and also one that has had no lasting effect.
Bob Woodward has recently published Rage, his second book about Trump and his administration. Unlike Fear, this time the president consented to be interviewed by the writer. In a “Note to Readers” at the end of Rage, Woodward writes:
“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.”
It was thought that maybe this time the president would be unable to dispute a book written about him, that because of the tapes he would be unable to blow it off as all lies and fake news as he had with the other books. He might be able to dispute some of Woodward’s reporting, but he couldn’t deny all of it.
A few journalists wrote stories in which they wondered if the tapes might bring Trump down the way they did Richard Nixon. Well, the answer to that question is no. Once again the President walked away with his support still solid and unyielding.
Even the recent reports that Trump paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and again in 2017 and that he had paid no federal income taxes at all in ten of the previous 15 years seemed to bounce off him without causing major damage. His supporters came to his defense saying that it was only a case in which a good businessman took advantage of existing tax laws, though there appears to be more to the story than just that.
KRYPTONITE
Even Superman had weaknesses, but only two. One is that even with x-ray vision he couldn’t see through lead, but that’s minor compared to the other one. It relates to a substance called kryptonite that weakened Superman to the point that he could not even have been able to whip Jimmy Olsen, the world’s oldest living cub reporter. In fact, the man of steel was rendered into a state of total helplessness.
I had begun making the comparison of Trump to Superman right after Woodward’s first book was published and that despite its wall-to-wall news coverage, its vault to the bestseller list, it nevertheless had little or no effect on the President’s support. Then came the Mueller investigation and impeachment, and the same thing happened.
Here is where my weird comparison became even weirder.
This past Friday morning, I -- as did everyone else -- discovered that the President had tested positive for the coronavirus. The President has spent most of the year playing down the severity of a virus that has caused the deaths of over 200,000 Americans and just hours before his positive test he was insisting that the corner had been turned on the epidemic. Now this ......
Superman knew that he could not ignore kryptonite and he took every precaution to avoid it. Donald Trump thought that he could just ignore the virus and that it would go away. He failed to take precautions and in doing so he endangered himself, his family, the people who work for him, and his supporters who attended his rallies and had remained in his camp through it all. He had finally confronted the one opponent that he could not push aside with his usual tactics of bluster, intimidation, and ridicule – nor could this opponent be ignored.
I wish him a safe and speedy recovery, but I should add that there is a lesson to be learned here, and I hope, for his sake and our sake, that he learns it.
HEADLINE
BIDEN BEATS TRUMP
Harris Is First Woman Elected Vice President
As it turned out, the coronavirus was Trump's kryptonite. There was some doubt before, but confirmation came on November 7, 2020
UPDATE:
HEADLINES
Trump Downplays Danger of Coronavirus as He Returns to White House
Despite Growing West Wing Outbreak, Trump Says ‘Don’t Be Afraid’ of Virus
*****
You can ignore my closing sentence. I knew it was wishful thinking.
*****
MEN OF STEEL
I have this theory about Donald Trump that I have shared with friends and family members, in which I compare him to Superman. I know -- now wait, wait – let me explain.
People of a certain age – my age, that is – will remember a syndicated TV series that starred George Reeves as Superman. And if so, they will also remember the numerous times that a bad guy pulled a pistol on Superman and shot him until the gun was empty only to find to his dismay that the bullets bounced off the man of steel’s chest. When the last shot was fired the villain in desperation often threw the gun at Superman and of course it also bounced off his chest and then if there were two villains our hero would end the confrontation by picking both up by their collars and banging their heads together.
Now let’s consider Donald Trump. How many times has he weathered episodes that would have ended the careers of normal politicians? Ronald Reagan was given the nickname “the Teflon Man,” because they said nothing stuck to him, but the Access Hollywood tape in which Trump expressed his crude views of women would have brought down Reagan or any other politician. Though the tape was leaked just shortly before the election it did not keep Trump from being elected. It bounced off his chest.
There was more to come, including the Mueller investigation that led to the House of Representatives impeachment of the President. But the Senate acquitted him of both articles of impeachment. His approval rating even went up. The long investigation and impeachment bounced off his chest.
Then there were the books. Bob Woodward published Fear: Trump in the White House, which scared a lot of readers, but not the President’s followers, not even the ones who read it. Then there was A Very Stable Genius, written by two award-winning journalists, that like Fear became a number one bestseller, but also did not influence the President’s hardcore following.
The President’s niece published a biography of him that has a scary title: Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man. The book was another bestseller that apparently failed to diminish the President’s political prospects. John Bolton, the President’s former National Security Adviser, published The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, an insider’s critical analysis of Trump, also a bestseller, and also one that has had no lasting effect.
Bob Woodward has recently published Rage, his second book about Trump and his administration. Unlike Fear, this time the president consented to be interviewed by the writer. In a “Note to Readers” at the end of Rage, Woodward writes:
“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.”
It was thought that maybe this time the president would be unable to dispute a book written about him, that because of the tapes he would be unable to blow it off as all lies and fake news as he had with the other books. He might be able to dispute some of Woodward’s reporting, but he couldn’t deny all of it.
A few journalists wrote stories in which they wondered if the tapes might bring Trump down the way they did Richard Nixon. Well, the answer to that question is no. Once again the President walked away with his support still solid and unyielding.
Even the recent reports that Trump paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and again in 2017 and that he had paid no federal income taxes at all in ten of the previous 15 years seemed to bounce off him without causing major damage. His supporters came to his defense saying that it was only a case in which a good businessman took advantage of existing tax laws, though there appears to be more to the story than just that.
KRYPTONITE
Even Superman had weaknesses, but only two. One is that even with x-ray vision he couldn’t see through lead, but that’s minor compared to the other one. It relates to a substance called kryptonite that weakened Superman to the point that he could not even have been able to whip Jimmy Olsen, the world’s oldest living cub reporter. In fact, the man of steel was rendered into a state of total helplessness.
I had begun making the comparison of Trump to Superman right after Woodward’s first book was published and that despite its wall-to-wall news coverage, its vault to the bestseller list, it nevertheless had little or no effect on the President’s support. Then came the Mueller investigation and impeachment, and the same thing happened.
Here is where my weird comparison became even weirder.
This past Friday morning, I -- as did everyone else -- discovered that the President had tested positive for the coronavirus. The President has spent most of the year playing down the severity of a virus that has caused the deaths of over 200,000 Americans and just hours before his positive test he was insisting that the corner had been turned on the epidemic. Now this ......
Superman knew that he could not ignore kryptonite and he took every precaution to avoid it. Donald Trump thought that he could just ignore the virus and that it would go away. He failed to take precautions and in doing so he endangered himself, his family, the people who work for him, and his supporters who attended his rallies and had remained in his camp through it all. He had finally confronted the one opponent that he could not push aside with his usual tactics of bluster, intimidation, and ridicule – nor could this opponent be ignored.
I wish him a safe and speedy recovery, but I should add that there is a lesson to be learned here, and I hope, for his sake and our sake, that he learns it.
October 5, 2020
I found that I knew most of the content of this book. The parts of the book that were new I had heard about watching interviews of Woodward about the book.
The book is well written and interesting. What I found most interesting were the remarks by General James Mattis. The section about the CoVid-19 virus has been well covered. Overall, it was worth the read just to provide an overview of the past 3 years.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book was thirteen hours and ten minutes. Robert Petkoff does a good job narrating the book. Petkoff is an actor and well-known audiobook narrator.
The book is well written and interesting. What I found most interesting were the remarks by General James Mattis. The section about the CoVid-19 virus has been well covered. Overall, it was worth the read just to provide an overview of the past 3 years.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book was thirteen hours and ten minutes. Robert Petkoff does a good job narrating the book. Petkoff is an actor and well-known audiobook narrator.
September 13, 2020
Re. Bob Woodward's book: Rage
My personal review:
1. It reads as scrupulously fair to President, Donald Trump. A very balanced read. If you want a highly-approachable, well-written narrative account of his presidency to date, then buy > read this book. I highly recommend it.
2. I wasn't shocked by what I read. Indeed, the text contains nothing all that surprising (imho) to anyone who has followed US politics since 2016.
3. The idea that this book will doom his chances of another presidential term, again imho, is risible. With this president, you know what you get, love or loathe. Most people know where they stand regarding Trump already. This book isn't going to shift many people either way.
4. 2020's presidential election will be with us in 50 or so days. Then there will be its aftermath, whatever that turns out to be. Reading this book now, in mid-September 2020, seems very much before the storm. After that storm has blown in and out, this book will not seems nearly as current as it does now. Woodward / Simon & Schuster knew what he was doing with timing this book's publication, before the general election. Longer-term, it will surely prove a great historical resource/ book of record, written almost contemporaneously to the events that it so ably describes.
My personal review:
1. It reads as scrupulously fair to President, Donald Trump. A very balanced read. If you want a highly-approachable, well-written narrative account of his presidency to date, then buy > read this book. I highly recommend it.
2. I wasn't shocked by what I read. Indeed, the text contains nothing all that surprising (imho) to anyone who has followed US politics since 2016.
3. The idea that this book will doom his chances of another presidential term, again imho, is risible. With this president, you know what you get, love or loathe. Most people know where they stand regarding Trump already. This book isn't going to shift many people either way.
4. 2020's presidential election will be with us in 50 or so days. Then there will be its aftermath, whatever that turns out to be. Reading this book now, in mid-September 2020, seems very much before the storm. After that storm has blown in and out, this book will not seems nearly as current as it does now. Woodward / Simon & Schuster knew what he was doing with timing this book's publication, before the general election. Longer-term, it will surely prove a great historical resource/ book of record, written almost contemporaneously to the events that it so ably describes.
Read
September 11, 2020Yet another book confirming a vote for Trump makes you a bad American.
September 18, 2020
Audio 5 + Story
Book 5+ Stars
Book 5+ Stars
Shelved as 'wish-list'
August 13, 2020
New Bob Woodward book will include details of 25 personal letters between Trump and Kim Jong Un. Journalist Bob Woodward’s new book, his second on the Trump presidency, will include 25 personal letters exchanged between President Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un, according to details of the book revealed by publisher Simon & Schuster on Wednesday.
The 25 letters obtained by Woodward have never been public, according to the Amazon description of the forthcoming book, titled “Rage.”
Oh Dear. Not only has the emperor got no clothes, The Donald has lost his Trousers
September 19, 2020
Donald Trump has made an inordinate number of mistakes since assuming the presidency, however one of his most egregious was agreeing to an eighteen hour over nine session interview with author Bob Woodward. The Washington Post investigative reporter had previously written a chronicle of Trump’s first two years in office entitled, FEAR which was not very flattering toward the president. Trump, a firm believer in his own powers of persuasion was out of his league assuming if he developed a personal relationship with Woodward that his new book would praise the president and be an asset in the current presidential campaign. The result has been Woodward’s latest work, RAGE which was once again even less flattering toward Mr. Trump.
Woodward’s effort is somewhat ironic in that his reporting during the Watergate crisis of the early 1970s helped remove Richard M. Nixon from office. Now, almost fifty years later Woodward has written a book supported by audiotapes of his interviews with the president that provides evidence for the numerous falsehoods that president has engaged in since the book’s release. As a historian I find it more than a coincidence that a reporter as thorough as Woodward is involved in another pursuit of a lawless president involving tape recordings.
The book itself presents countless examples of Trump’s lies to the American people over a number of important issues that include his downplaying the coronavirus, his relationship with and the actions of North Korean leader Kim Jun-Un, his approach to racism and white nationalism, and of course his impeachment. Trump comes across as a liar, a petty vengeful individual, a self-absorbed person who appears devoid of human decency who exhibits little or no empathy in his approach to a pandemic, hurricanes, and the wildfires out west.
From the outset, Woodward pulls no punches in recounting Trump’s attitude toward Covet-19. Trump freely admits, though he has since denied that he downplayed the effects of the virus and its possible impact on the American people. As early as January 28, 2020, Trump was warned by Robert O’Brien, the National Security advisor that “this is going to be the roughest thing you face.” Matt Pottinger, the Deputy NSC advisor reaffirmed what O’Brien had stated and argued that after speaking with his Chinese sources concluded “don’t think SARS 2003, think influenza pandemic 1918.” On February 7th, Trump told Woodward that “I think that [it] goes away in two months with heat…you know as it gets hotter that tends to kill the virus. You know, you hope.” Trump described the virus as “deadly” and “it goes through the air.” At the same time as he expressed these fears in private Trump publicly reassured the American people that there was nothing to worry about and he had everything under control. There is no reason to discuss the impact of Trump’s attitude and actions. But it cannot be denied that while over 200,000 people have died, Trump has not carried out his constitutional duties to protect and defend the American people.
The book presents a plethora of examples of Trump’s malfeasance in office. Each example is supported by excellent sourcing, a Woodward trademark, and we have audio tapes to support what the narrative purports. One must keep in mind that Woodward has been chronicling presidential administrations for close to fifty years, that’s over twenty-percent of all presidents have been subject to Woodward’s incisive pen. In all that time there has been little if any hint of emotion on his part in dealing with his subject matter. However, in the current instance that emotional current is present. Trump realized that the first draft of history of any administration during the last five decades has been written by Woodward, and Trump wanted to influence it. But, Woodward, aware of Trump’s obsession with the book still is the truth teller and if one turns to the last few pages of the narrative his personal reaction is based on Trump’s constant denials and absence of responsibility as he has lied to the American people. Woodward concludes that Trump was the wrong man for the job of president because of the overwhelming evidence that the president has no sense of reason, order, guidance and morality and his administration suffers from “an organizational sickness,” and Trump, a personal sickness forcing Woodward to reach no other conclusion.
In reaching this judgement Woodward has examined the most important aspects of the Trump administration. His personal relationships with James Mattis, John Kelly, Dan Coates, Rex Tillerson, and numerous others are all explored and it is interesting as information about them has reached the public with the publication of RAGE none of these individuals has come forth to dispute what Woodward has written. Areas of concern include the relationship with Kim Jun-Un where the North Korean leader, after a legitimate war scare as related by Mattis, meets with Trump and achieves everything that he sought, particularly recognition by the United States, with Washington receiving little or nothing in return. The situation in Syria is documented as Trump, as a favor to another of his authoritarian “buddies” convinced Trump to withdraw and or reposition US troops in Syria in order for the Turkish military to go after the Kurds, our ally for over a decade and our main partner against ISIS. Trump’s attitude toward NATO and allies in general is depicted and an obvious cause for concern as Trump’s transactional nature is such that he does not accept the American need for allies with the attitude that there is little they can do for America and that they do not carry their own military and financial weight. Mattis wondered what made Trump think anyone could make it alone in the world. A country always needs allies just examine history, but since Trump does not read and has no sense or knowledge of history this intellectual exercise is superfluous.
What separates Woodward’s work from others is the detail that he presents after assiduous research. A prime example are the letters between Trump and Kim Jun-Un seemingly declaring an uncomfortable “bromance.” These letters present insights into the minds of both men and go a long way in explaining why to this day nothing of major importance has been accomplished. The conversations between President Xi and Trump are eye opening as more and more it is clear the Chinese stonewalled, but in an earlier conversation Trump asked Xi to help him get reelected. The commentary of Coates and Mattis is important since neither has gone public with their evaluations and experiences with Trump, but for the first time we see their angst over this presidency, the damage he has caused, and their fears for the future.
Woodward’s discussion of the Mueller Report and impeachment is fair and well thought out. His conclusions are interesting in that he argues that it was more Ron Rosenstein’s investigation and report rather than Mueller. The fact that there was no “John Dean type” with a smoking gun like Watergate was a major reason that Trump seems to have gotten away with colluding with Russia, though the Mueller Report did not exonerate him despite what Attorney General Bill Barr stated in his four page summary of the report. Mueller was limited in what appeared to be an expansive investigation. Mueller himself, as well as his staff of lawyers and investigators could not stray too far for fear of being fired, which Rosenstein made clear. In the end Trump weathered the greatest threat to his presidency to that point which certainly emboldened him. It is no accident that Trump’s machinations with Ukraine to smear Joe Biden through his son Hunter began almost simultaneously to the end of the Mueller investigation.
Trump’s disparagement of the intelligence community is on full display and the true nature of Vice President Pence is apparent as he throws his former close friend Dan Coates under the bus with his “fawning” over the president. Be it Putin, Xi, Erdogan, Covid-19, the threat of White supremacists, Trump, when he actually reads his daily briefing always finds fault with the CIA, FBI, and a myriad of other intelligence agencies. It caused Coates to state, “to him a lie is not a lie. Its just what he thinks. He doesn’t know the difference between truth and a lie.” Intelligence had to conform to Trump’s prejudices and beliefs, if not they were rejected outright.
At times it seems as if Woodward is banging his head against the wall as he tries to reason with Trump, i.e., his questioning of Trump over the Ukrainian matter that led to his impeachment. For Trump, his “perfect phone call and transcript” were enough and he did not grasp the concept that a president cannot shake down a foreign leader to acquire dirt on a political opponent. Other conversations would repeatedly produce a Trumpian riff dealing with past disparagement and feelings and get nowhere. But I admire Woodward for trying.
Woodward relies heavily on interviews with a number of important former administration officials which he refuses to name, but their identity comes out in the narrative. Their frustration and fear of Trump is warranted based on their experiences. Nothing was more dangerous than the reaction to Covid-19 and the policies or lack thereof of the administration. Woodward covers the full expanse of Trump’s tenure in office, but it is his response and lies to the American people are the most important aspect of the book. A great deal of what Woodward covers has been mined by others, but in the realm of Covid-19 it reflects how dangerous Trump is for the health of American people, as even Trump realized as early as February 7, 2020 in reference to Covid-19 when he said, “there’s dynamite behind every door,” at the same time he was playing down the coming pandemic and lying to the American people by arguing “the virus would go away on its own” at a time when there was only twelve cases. But as we know the virus proliferated and Trump obfuscated as he remarked that he “always played down…I still like playing it down because I don’t want to create panic.” In the end he said, “I don’t take any responsibility at all.”
Woodward treats the reader to important comments and conversations dealing with Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Up until April 17, 2020, Trump had at least implemented travel bans against China and Europe, shut the country down for fifteen days but amidst a thirty day extension of the shut down on April 17, the president tweeted about liberating Virginia, Minnesota, and Michigan violating his own stated policy. Trump’s mantra was to open up the country willing to accept the tidal wave of death that would result and decided to muzzle of Fauci. A frustrated and concerned Fauci remarked that Trump “was on a separate channel,” his leadership was “rudderless” and his “attention span is like minus-number as “his stated purpose is to get reelected.” No matter what question Woodward would ask the result would be a defensive Trump saying “the virus had nothing to do with me. It’s not my fault. It’s—China let the damn virus out.” When Woodward pointed out he was in charge of the national interest, Trump would ignore the question or change the subject.
Rosa Brooks in her September 10, 2020 review of the book in the Washington Post asks what new insights does Bob Woodward’s latest book, RAGE offer? “We learn that President Trump is not the sharpest tool in the shed; members of his Cabinet consider him a narcissistic fool, devoid of empathy and incapable of distinguishing between truth and falsehood. Trump blithely minimizes the lethality of coronavirus because he doesn’t want to look bad. He takes no responsibility for anything, boasts repeatedly about his wealth and genius, and shows nothing but contempt for those who happen to get in his way.” The end results this morning the 200,000th American death was announced. What wonders what might have been different if Trump would have performed his constitutional duties.
Woodward’s effort is somewhat ironic in that his reporting during the Watergate crisis of the early 1970s helped remove Richard M. Nixon from office. Now, almost fifty years later Woodward has written a book supported by audiotapes of his interviews with the president that provides evidence for the numerous falsehoods that president has engaged in since the book’s release. As a historian I find it more than a coincidence that a reporter as thorough as Woodward is involved in another pursuit of a lawless president involving tape recordings.
The book itself presents countless examples of Trump’s lies to the American people over a number of important issues that include his downplaying the coronavirus, his relationship with and the actions of North Korean leader Kim Jun-Un, his approach to racism and white nationalism, and of course his impeachment. Trump comes across as a liar, a petty vengeful individual, a self-absorbed person who appears devoid of human decency who exhibits little or no empathy in his approach to a pandemic, hurricanes, and the wildfires out west.
From the outset, Woodward pulls no punches in recounting Trump’s attitude toward Covet-19. Trump freely admits, though he has since denied that he downplayed the effects of the virus and its possible impact on the American people. As early as January 28, 2020, Trump was warned by Robert O’Brien, the National Security advisor that “this is going to be the roughest thing you face.” Matt Pottinger, the Deputy NSC advisor reaffirmed what O’Brien had stated and argued that after speaking with his Chinese sources concluded “don’t think SARS 2003, think influenza pandemic 1918.” On February 7th, Trump told Woodward that “I think that [it] goes away in two months with heat…you know as it gets hotter that tends to kill the virus. You know, you hope.” Trump described the virus as “deadly” and “it goes through the air.” At the same time as he expressed these fears in private Trump publicly reassured the American people that there was nothing to worry about and he had everything under control. There is no reason to discuss the impact of Trump’s attitude and actions. But it cannot be denied that while over 200,000 people have died, Trump has not carried out his constitutional duties to protect and defend the American people.
The book presents a plethora of examples of Trump’s malfeasance in office. Each example is supported by excellent sourcing, a Woodward trademark, and we have audio tapes to support what the narrative purports. One must keep in mind that Woodward has been chronicling presidential administrations for close to fifty years, that’s over twenty-percent of all presidents have been subject to Woodward’s incisive pen. In all that time there has been little if any hint of emotion on his part in dealing with his subject matter. However, in the current instance that emotional current is present. Trump realized that the first draft of history of any administration during the last five decades has been written by Woodward, and Trump wanted to influence it. But, Woodward, aware of Trump’s obsession with the book still is the truth teller and if one turns to the last few pages of the narrative his personal reaction is based on Trump’s constant denials and absence of responsibility as he has lied to the American people. Woodward concludes that Trump was the wrong man for the job of president because of the overwhelming evidence that the president has no sense of reason, order, guidance and morality and his administration suffers from “an organizational sickness,” and Trump, a personal sickness forcing Woodward to reach no other conclusion.
In reaching this judgement Woodward has examined the most important aspects of the Trump administration. His personal relationships with James Mattis, John Kelly, Dan Coates, Rex Tillerson, and numerous others are all explored and it is interesting as information about them has reached the public with the publication of RAGE none of these individuals has come forth to dispute what Woodward has written. Areas of concern include the relationship with Kim Jun-Un where the North Korean leader, after a legitimate war scare as related by Mattis, meets with Trump and achieves everything that he sought, particularly recognition by the United States, with Washington receiving little or nothing in return. The situation in Syria is documented as Trump, as a favor to another of his authoritarian “buddies” convinced Trump to withdraw and or reposition US troops in Syria in order for the Turkish military to go after the Kurds, our ally for over a decade and our main partner against ISIS. Trump’s attitude toward NATO and allies in general is depicted and an obvious cause for concern as Trump’s transactional nature is such that he does not accept the American need for allies with the attitude that there is little they can do for America and that they do not carry their own military and financial weight. Mattis wondered what made Trump think anyone could make it alone in the world. A country always needs allies just examine history, but since Trump does not read and has no sense or knowledge of history this intellectual exercise is superfluous.
What separates Woodward’s work from others is the detail that he presents after assiduous research. A prime example are the letters between Trump and Kim Jun-Un seemingly declaring an uncomfortable “bromance.” These letters present insights into the minds of both men and go a long way in explaining why to this day nothing of major importance has been accomplished. The conversations between President Xi and Trump are eye opening as more and more it is clear the Chinese stonewalled, but in an earlier conversation Trump asked Xi to help him get reelected. The commentary of Coates and Mattis is important since neither has gone public with their evaluations and experiences with Trump, but for the first time we see their angst over this presidency, the damage he has caused, and their fears for the future.
Woodward’s discussion of the Mueller Report and impeachment is fair and well thought out. His conclusions are interesting in that he argues that it was more Ron Rosenstein’s investigation and report rather than Mueller. The fact that there was no “John Dean type” with a smoking gun like Watergate was a major reason that Trump seems to have gotten away with colluding with Russia, though the Mueller Report did not exonerate him despite what Attorney General Bill Barr stated in his four page summary of the report. Mueller was limited in what appeared to be an expansive investigation. Mueller himself, as well as his staff of lawyers and investigators could not stray too far for fear of being fired, which Rosenstein made clear. In the end Trump weathered the greatest threat to his presidency to that point which certainly emboldened him. It is no accident that Trump’s machinations with Ukraine to smear Joe Biden through his son Hunter began almost simultaneously to the end of the Mueller investigation.
Trump’s disparagement of the intelligence community is on full display and the true nature of Vice President Pence is apparent as he throws his former close friend Dan Coates under the bus with his “fawning” over the president. Be it Putin, Xi, Erdogan, Covid-19, the threat of White supremacists, Trump, when he actually reads his daily briefing always finds fault with the CIA, FBI, and a myriad of other intelligence agencies. It caused Coates to state, “to him a lie is not a lie. Its just what he thinks. He doesn’t know the difference between truth and a lie.” Intelligence had to conform to Trump’s prejudices and beliefs, if not they were rejected outright.
At times it seems as if Woodward is banging his head against the wall as he tries to reason with Trump, i.e., his questioning of Trump over the Ukrainian matter that led to his impeachment. For Trump, his “perfect phone call and transcript” were enough and he did not grasp the concept that a president cannot shake down a foreign leader to acquire dirt on a political opponent. Other conversations would repeatedly produce a Trumpian riff dealing with past disparagement and feelings and get nowhere. But I admire Woodward for trying.
Woodward relies heavily on interviews with a number of important former administration officials which he refuses to name, but their identity comes out in the narrative. Their frustration and fear of Trump is warranted based on their experiences. Nothing was more dangerous than the reaction to Covid-19 and the policies or lack thereof of the administration. Woodward covers the full expanse of Trump’s tenure in office, but it is his response and lies to the American people are the most important aspect of the book. A great deal of what Woodward covers has been mined by others, but in the realm of Covid-19 it reflects how dangerous Trump is for the health of American people, as even Trump realized as early as February 7, 2020 in reference to Covid-19 when he said, “there’s dynamite behind every door,” at the same time he was playing down the coming pandemic and lying to the American people by arguing “the virus would go away on its own” at a time when there was only twelve cases. But as we know the virus proliferated and Trump obfuscated as he remarked that he “always played down…I still like playing it down because I don’t want to create panic.” In the end he said, “I don’t take any responsibility at all.”
Woodward treats the reader to important comments and conversations dealing with Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Up until April 17, 2020, Trump had at least implemented travel bans against China and Europe, shut the country down for fifteen days but amidst a thirty day extension of the shut down on April 17, the president tweeted about liberating Virginia, Minnesota, and Michigan violating his own stated policy. Trump’s mantra was to open up the country willing to accept the tidal wave of death that would result and decided to muzzle of Fauci. A frustrated and concerned Fauci remarked that Trump “was on a separate channel,” his leadership was “rudderless” and his “attention span is like minus-number as “his stated purpose is to get reelected.” No matter what question Woodward would ask the result would be a defensive Trump saying “the virus had nothing to do with me. It’s not my fault. It’s—China let the damn virus out.” When Woodward pointed out he was in charge of the national interest, Trump would ignore the question or change the subject.
Rosa Brooks in her September 10, 2020 review of the book in the Washington Post asks what new insights does Bob Woodward’s latest book, RAGE offer? “We learn that President Trump is not the sharpest tool in the shed; members of his Cabinet consider him a narcissistic fool, devoid of empathy and incapable of distinguishing between truth and falsehood. Trump blithely minimizes the lethality of coronavirus because he doesn’t want to look bad. He takes no responsibility for anything, boasts repeatedly about his wealth and genius, and shows nothing but contempt for those who happen to get in his way.” The end results this morning the 200,000th American death was announced. What wonders what might have been different if Trump would have performed his constitutional duties.
November 21, 2020
We were speaking past each other, almost from different universes.
Under normal circumstances, I would not subject myself to a single book about Donald Trump, much less two. But I happened to finish A Very Stable Genius—written by two of Woodward’s fellow reporters at the Washington Post—during one of the most bizarre weeks in Trump’s very bizarre presidency.
The week began ordinarily enough, with the revelation in the New York Times that Trump was using his business failures to avoid taxes. Big surprise. This scandal was quickly eclipsed by Trump’s unhinged performance in the first presidential debate, which even some keen supporters found unpalatable. And then Trump managed to top his own performance, by announcing his coronavirus diagnosis. Somehow, even this potentially solemn event quickly devolved into a carnival of lies, as various reports on the president’s health conflicted. The farce was capped off by Trump’s tweeting “Don’t be afraid of COVID” after leaving the hospital.
I mention all this only to show that, even after four years and four thousand scandals, Trump has retained his ability to completely absorb my attention and, yes, to shock me. Hoping for some more insight or clarity, I reached for this book—yet another in the long list of Trump exposés. And I did find that Rage complemented the story told in A Very Stable Genius quite nicely, covering much of what is left out in that earlier book. Whether I am any the wiser for having read these books is another question.
The basic story is simple: Trump relentlessly wore down his advisors and officials through unreasonable and often contradictory demands, until they either resigned in frustration or were fired (often via a Tweet). As the authors of A Very Stable Genius put it, Trump ground through his human guard rails. This way, advisors willing to oppose or moderate the president were gradually replaced by sycophants who did little to curb his more destructive whims. Thus, when a real crisis hit the country, one requiring a complex and coordinated response, the White House was completely unprepared.
However, it is also apparent that this was not originally the story that Woodward set out to tell. The first half of the book focuses quite steadily on foreign policy, and is clearly the fruit of much careful research. There are the usual stories of Trump snubbing allies and pining after Putin. But the real surprise comes when Woodward reveals that he somehow obtained the letters exchanged between Trump and Kim Jong-un. Though containing little of substance, these letters are quite surprising in their affectionate and even flowery tone. Even so, this is one section of the book where Trump does not come off so badly. Nothing was gained from the meetings and the letters, but nothing was lost, either; and arguably it was worth a try to extend an olive branch.
Like so much of life, the book gets severely derailed in its second half by the arrival of the coronavirus. It was around this time, too, that Woodward gained access to Trump himself. From January to shortly before the book’s publication, Woodward interviewed the president eighteen times, for a total of over nine hours. This meant that Woodward had a direct line to Trump during the greatest test of his presidency. The book thus becomes a kind of character study in a time of crisis, with Woodward pushing and probing, trying to understand why Trump is handling the pandemic so badly.
The closer a look one gets of Trump, the stranger he appears. To use Woodward’s phrase, he is a “living paradox”—or at least bafflingly inconsistent. One obvious example of this is Trump’s decision to do these interviews in the first place. After all, Woodward had already written a book highly critical of Trump, and is an associate editor at the Washington Post, a paper Trump routinely derides as liberal media spouting fake news. Was it simply bad judgment? More likely, in my opinion, Trump thought that by personally speaking with Woodward, he could convince the journalist to change his tone. (Trump hoped to do the same with Mueller, Putin, and Kim Jong-un, after all.) Either that, or he simply found the publicity and prestige offered by a Woodward book irresistible.
Another tension in Trump’s personality is that between authoritarianism and negligence. Trump’s admiration for strong-men around the world has often been noted, as has his demand for loyalty and praise from his subordinates. And his response to the Black Lives Matter protests—threatening to send the military, and using federal troops to illegally detain protesters—is broadly authoritarian. On the other hand, Trump’s response to the coronavirus crisis reveals a man quite averse to real responsibility, as he often left it up to the governors to deal with the problem. An aspiring autocrat could easily have used the emergency to appropriate more power for himself, but Trump did no such thing.
But this apparent paradox is resolved when one realizes that Trump’s conception of authority is very superficial. Being praised by subordinates, being the center of attention, being declared the best, being seen as a tough guy—this is the extent of what Trump demands from the world.
This superficiality is pervasive in Trump’s makeup, and has much to do with his (almost non-existent) relationship with the truth. It is common to call Trump a “liar”—and, of course, the major revelation of this book is that Trump apparently knew how dangerous the coronavirus was in February, and did not take action or warn the public. Yet for me this term is misleading, as it implies that Trump is fully aware of the truth and is carefully concealing it. I am sure he does that sometimes, of course. But more often it is as if he is speaking as a person might when totally overcome with emotion—in extreme rage or ecstatic joy—without even considering the truth.
The reason I say this—and I hope that I am not getting carried away here—is that, when Trump speaks, the words do not seem to come from some deep place inside himself, as happens during a thoughtful conversation. Rather, the words seem to pop out of thin air, determined only be the immediate needs of the present. To put it slightly differently, Trump never seems to be searching inside himself as he speaks—turning an issue over mentally or finding the appropriate phrase—but instead his mouth goes off by itself, like a machine gun, in its predictably staccato rhythm. The following excerpt captures this quite well:
“I’ve talked to lots of your predecessors,” [Woodward] said. “I never talked to Nixon, but I talked to many, many of them. They get philosophical when I ask the question, what have you learned about yourself? And that’s the question on you: What have you learned about yourself?”
Trump sighed audibly. “I can handle more than other people can handle. Because, and I’ll tell you what, whether I learned about it myself—more people come up to me and say—and I mean very strong people, people that are successful, even. A lot of people. They say, I swear to you, I don’t know how it’s possible for you to handle what you handle. How you’ve done this, with the kind of opposition, the kind of shenanigans, the kind of illegal witch hunts.”
I find this response so telling, because we can safely ignore the truth or falsity of Trump’s words. Indeed, I am inclined to think that questions of this kind usually elicit bullshit. But if I were asked this, I know that I would have to pause and search within myself for something that at least appeared to be self-knowledge. I would have to at least simulate speaking from the heart. And it takes a certain amount of self-awareness to do this. Trump’s answer, meanwhile (which essentially amounts to “I am better than other people”), pivots almost immediately from self-knowledge to what anonymous “very strong people” are telling him. In other words, it does not even betray the modicum of self-knowledge necessary to plausibly bullshit.
I am writing this to fully express these thoughts for myself, even though I am painfully aware that I am falling into the tar-pit of Trump’s personality. But enough. Let us move on from Trump to the secondary question of whether Woodward is guilty of journalistic malpractice for sitting on the information about the coronavirus. And I think he is. Woodward has given multiple reasons why he did not go public with the Trump tape, such as that he needed to give the story more context, or that he thought Trump was just talking about China. Neither of these make much sense to me. And I do think it could have made a difference if the recording of Trump had been released in, say, March.
Be that as it may, this book is still a valuable and alarming look into Trump’s White House and character. After such a steady inspection, it is difficult to disagree with Woodward’s conclusion: “Trump is the wrong man for the job.”
September 18, 2020
My biggest problem with Woodward's first book on Trump, Fear: Trump in the White House, was that though he attempted to be unbiased, he had a clear contempt for Trump and a lot of the people who worked for him, which bled through into the writing, and added a clear bias to it. This book is much better in that regard. Woodward is often bewildered by Trump's behavior and the things that he says, but he keeps the contempt that was so present in the last book out of it.
I felt that the book was actually very fair, in that a very large chunk of it is just transcripts of on the record recorded conversations between Trump and Woodward, with only an occasional aside to fact check statements here and there. He basically lets Trump's own words speak for themselves, and asks the kinds of questions you'd expect from someone with decades of journalistic experience. Near the end, in some of their interviews, you could really see Woodward trying very, very hard just to get Trump to say that he cared about people, and Trump clearly just didn't even understand.
There were points in this book where a situation would arise, and Trump would suggest a course of action, and even I--ME, fierce Trump critic that I am--would admit that it was a pretty good way to handle things. AND THEN HE WOULD KEEP TALKING!!! And that good way of handling things would go right out the window and get buried under so much bullshit, hatred, and sheer out of touch maliciousness that I would be completely shocked at how fast he went from reasonable, with ideas I could get behind, to the worst fucking human being on this earth.
I come away from this book with one very strong question. How can a man with access to all of the intelligence of an entire nation, and the knowledge and experience of literally any expert in the world at his command, be so utterly oblivious to reality?
This is kind of a hard book to read, because of just how ignorant Trump shows himself to be, and how unwilling he is to hear any viewpoint other than his own, and how he won't even listen to anyone who says anything that does not fit his own narrative about the world around him.
I'm sure that other people will take other things away from this book, but that's what I got out of it.
I felt that the book was actually very fair, in that a very large chunk of it is just transcripts of on the record recorded conversations between Trump and Woodward, with only an occasional aside to fact check statements here and there. He basically lets Trump's own words speak for themselves, and asks the kinds of questions you'd expect from someone with decades of journalistic experience. Near the end, in some of their interviews, you could really see Woodward trying very, very hard just to get Trump to say that he cared about people, and Trump clearly just didn't even understand.
There were points in this book where a situation would arise, and Trump would suggest a course of action, and even I--ME, fierce Trump critic that I am--would admit that it was a pretty good way to handle things. AND THEN HE WOULD KEEP TALKING!!! And that good way of handling things would go right out the window and get buried under so much bullshit, hatred, and sheer out of touch maliciousness that I would be completely shocked at how fast he went from reasonable, with ideas I could get behind, to the worst fucking human being on this earth.
I come away from this book with one very strong question. How can a man with access to all of the intelligence of an entire nation, and the knowledge and experience of literally any expert in the world at his command, be so utterly oblivious to reality?
This is kind of a hard book to read, because of just how ignorant Trump shows himself to be, and how unwilling he is to hear any viewpoint other than his own, and how he won't even listen to anyone who says anything that does not fit his own narrative about the world around him.
I'm sure that other people will take other things away from this book, but that's what I got out of it.
December 22, 2020
As the author said in his epilogue:
"But now, I’ve come to the conclusion that the “dynamite behind the door” was in plain sight. It was Trump himself. The oversized personality. The failure to organize. The lack of discipline. The lack of trust in others he had picked, in experts. The undermining or the attempted undermining of so many American institutions. The failure to be a calming, healing voice. The unwillingness to acknowledge error. The failure to do his homework. To extend the olive branch. To listen carefully to others. To craft a plan.
Mattis, Tillerson and Coats are all conservatives or apolitical people who wanted to help him and the country. Imperfect men who answered the call to public service. They were not the deep state. Yet each departed with cruel words from their leader. They concluded that Trump was an unstable threat to their country. Think about that for a moment: The top national security leaders thought the president of the United States was a danger to the country. Trump said the intelligence people needed to go back to school. The generals were stupid. The media was fake news.
Trump had spent so many years undermining people who challenged him. Not only his opponents but those who worked for him and for the American public.
And here was the problem: By undermining so many others not only had he shaken confidence in them but he had shaken confidence in himself. This was particularly apparent when the country most needed to feel the government knew what it was doing in an unprecedented health crisis. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law [and head ass-licker], maybe had it more right than he knew when he said understanding Trump meant understanding Alice in Wonderland."
Trump selects competent people, but as soon as they inform him of facts he doesn't believe in, he fires them or they resign, because they get tired of being treated like trash, and then he just does as he pleases. He has no respect for science and no loyalty to and no respect for those who sincerely seek to help him unless they are as much of a kiss-ass as Kushner.
On briefing Trump, Fauci told an associate, “His attention span is like a minus number. His sole purpose is to get reelected.” And he was sooo right!
Trump is so vain that he was flattered that Kim Jong Un called him "Your Excellency".
“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.” said Donald Trump to the author of this book.
"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."
When Trump asked the author to explain why he [Trump] prefers dictators, Woodward thought: "Easy to explain", but he didn't dare to tell it. He should have told him. So many people didn't and don't dare to tell him their thoughts, and this dangerous psychopath that is president continues to believe he is the embodiment of perfection.
One day, as the author insisted, "If you were wrong, would you be willing to apologize to the American people?" After the author repeated his question several times, the president finally answered, "Why would I apologize? I'm never wrong."
How Trump sees himself:
I'm afraid he's going to win in the next election. But I'm almost more afraid that he won't win, because then he'll accuse the Democrats or the whole world of cheating with the ballots. He may then lead all those who voted for him to revolt, to march in the streets, weapons in hand, as his son has already suggested. What then will happen to America still struggling with COVID-19?
"But leadership has failed. What did Trump want to accomplish? What were his goals? Too often he seemed not to know himself. Decision by tweet, often without warning to those charged with executing his policies, was one of the biggest sticks of dynamite behind the door [...] When his performance as president is taken in its entirety, I can only reach one conclusion: Trump is the wrong man for the job."
-- Bob Woodward
I give this book 4½ stars rounded up to 5/5. So I recommend it to all those who are concerned about truth, because the author has been as objective as humanly possible. I encourage all honest and sincere people who want to vote for Trump to read it with an open mind before putting their X in the checkbox.
"But now, I’ve come to the conclusion that the “dynamite behind the door” was in plain sight. It was Trump himself. The oversized personality. The failure to organize. The lack of discipline. The lack of trust in others he had picked, in experts. The undermining or the attempted undermining of so many American institutions. The failure to be a calming, healing voice. The unwillingness to acknowledge error. The failure to do his homework. To extend the olive branch. To listen carefully to others. To craft a plan.
Mattis, Tillerson and Coats are all conservatives or apolitical people who wanted to help him and the country. Imperfect men who answered the call to public service. They were not the deep state. Yet each departed with cruel words from their leader. They concluded that Trump was an unstable threat to their country. Think about that for a moment: The top national security leaders thought the president of the United States was a danger to the country. Trump said the intelligence people needed to go back to school. The generals were stupid. The media was fake news.
Trump had spent so many years undermining people who challenged him. Not only his opponents but those who worked for him and for the American public.
And here was the problem: By undermining so many others not only had he shaken confidence in them but he had shaken confidence in himself. This was particularly apparent when the country most needed to feel the government knew what it was doing in an unprecedented health crisis. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law [and head ass-licker], maybe had it more right than he knew when he said understanding Trump meant understanding Alice in Wonderland."
Trump selects competent people, but as soon as they inform him of facts he doesn't believe in, he fires them or they resign, because they get tired of being treated like trash, and then he just does as he pleases. He has no respect for science and no loyalty to and no respect for those who sincerely seek to help him unless they are as much of a kiss-ass as Kushner.
On briefing Trump, Fauci told an associate, “His attention span is like a minus number. His sole purpose is to get reelected.” And he was sooo right!
Trump is so vain that he was flattered that Kim Jong Un called him "Your Excellency".
“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.” said Donald Trump to the author of this book.
"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."
When Trump asked the author to explain why he [Trump] prefers dictators, Woodward thought: "Easy to explain", but he didn't dare to tell it. He should have told him. So many people didn't and don't dare to tell him their thoughts, and this dangerous psychopath that is president continues to believe he is the embodiment of perfection.
One day, as the author insisted, "If you were wrong, would you be willing to apologize to the American people?" After the author repeated his question several times, the president finally answered, "Why would I apologize? I'm never wrong."
How Trump sees himself:
I'm afraid he's going to win in the next election. But I'm almost more afraid that he won't win, because then he'll accuse the Democrats or the whole world of cheating with the ballots. He may then lead all those who voted for him to revolt, to march in the streets, weapons in hand, as his son has already suggested. What then will happen to America still struggling with COVID-19?
"But leadership has failed. What did Trump want to accomplish? What were his goals? Too often he seemed not to know himself. Decision by tweet, often without warning to those charged with executing his policies, was one of the biggest sticks of dynamite behind the door [...] When his performance as president is taken in its entirety, I can only reach one conclusion: Trump is the wrong man for the job."
-- Bob Woodward
I give this book 4½ stars rounded up to 5/5. So I recommend it to all those who are concerned about truth, because the author has been as objective as humanly possible. I encourage all honest and sincere people who want to vote for Trump to read it with an open mind before putting their X in the checkbox.
September 18, 2024
Rage Bob Woodward, Multiple candid interviews with Trump during his term in office. Then compiled into this not much of it in his favor that's probably understated. He's that guy you know says stuff some people love to hear. Make America great again, also with the funniest catch phrases, fake news, I would give myself an A+, We love winners. We love winners. Winners are winners., Hey, I’m the President of the United States! I’m not the President of the globe. I could care less about the political correctness, These are stupid people. These are very, very stupid people. I’m intelligent. Some people would say I’m very, very, very intelligent, the wall the great wall...Master of 3am tweets, tough and abrasive, and probably the most interesting and divisive president I've ever followed. Hiring and firing people like his own version of presidential apprentice. Speaking to other world leaders like a school yard bully. I have nothing on the line as it ain't my country, but what I don't get is a country with 330 million people and this is the best, aue alas. But in a weird way if he gets back in, what new funny New Yorker rude wise cracks is he going to fire around, Al Bhagdadi he died like a dog, but far-out man is in charge of the most powerful military force in the world kind of scary. Socrates and Plato if they were alive would probably yell told you and laugh from the bottomless pits democracy is a joke on you and keeps on giving. Trump is the candy man who says what stubborn and argumentative people love to hear, legend, and thats without a doubt tough rawhide. Bloody hell hope I'm wrong and it works out well for America because unlike the rest of the world we in New Zealand still love Americans. Anyway no way I would have read this, audio only in one massive dump. Good luck if you haven't its absolutely outstanding and outrageous with emphasis on rage, rage rage against the dying of the...you know, bit like the sun that's it.
8 years ago, T was that guy on apprentice, wait what now President 4 years ago what the hell, who smashed my face in, 2 years ago JHC T fights like a junkyard dog, legend, last 4 months T hate him or love him the guy is a fighter, and the US needs to fight, walked all over ain't rosy, anyway its 4 years a blink in the scheme of things.
Why folks work themselves into a tither about government is beyond me, if they ever fix stuff I think I hover between a dream come true and playing a harp on a cloud.
Anyway that's it go away.
8 years ago, T was that guy on apprentice, wait what now President 4 years ago what the hell, who smashed my face in, 2 years ago JHC T fights like a junkyard dog, legend, last 4 months T hate him or love him the guy is a fighter, and the US needs to fight, walked all over ain't rosy, anyway its 4 years a blink in the scheme of things.
Why folks work themselves into a tither about government is beyond me, if they ever fix stuff I think I hover between a dream come true and playing a harp on a cloud.
Anyway that's it go away.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 15, 2020
“Rage”, by Bob Woodward, is his latest attempt to try to understand and explain Donald Trump and his presidency. It’s Woodward’s second book about Trump; the previous one, “Fear” was not as well-written as most of Woodward’s earlier political books. Maybe Woodward was not as angry with “Fear” as was with “Rage”.; COVID was just making itself known to the Trump administration in January, 2020. Whatever Woodward’s mood, it is clear that he’s basically had enough of Donald Trump. In his new book. every crummy thing Donald Trump has ever done seems to be included by Bob Woodward.
“Rage” was written with full cooperation by Trump. Umpteen hours on the phone with Woodward caused Donald Trump to “spill” what he knew and what he did. The calls were taped by Woodward and have been leaked in the past week or so. But Woodward’s book is full of details just waiting to be read.
Why DID Donald Trump cooperate so closely with Bob Woodward? That’s the question just begging to be answered. Maybe we’ll find out sometime. In the meantime, enjoy the book.
“Rage” was written with full cooperation by Trump. Umpteen hours on the phone with Woodward caused Donald Trump to “spill” what he knew and what he did. The calls were taped by Woodward and have been leaked in the past week or so. But Woodward’s book is full of details just waiting to be read.
Why DID Donald Trump cooperate so closely with Bob Woodward? That’s the question just begging to be answered. Maybe we’ll find out sometime. In the meantime, enjoy the book.
September 16, 2020
Fascinating, scary, bewildering, jaw dropping. I feel sorry for America to see this man child destroy his own country through utter ignorance and chronic narcissism. I read this book after reading 'Fear' by Bob Woodward, I highly recommend both books.
Jared Kushner is quoted as saying, 'Understanding Trump meant understanding Alice in Wonderland'.
Jared Kushner is quoted as saying, 'Understanding Trump meant understanding Alice in Wonderland'.
September 20, 2020
Everyone featured in this book is a monster and the author himself is just as liable for the chaos that’s been unleashed upon us as are the monsters that lurk in this story.
As just one of many examples of the stupidity within this book, Tillerson (former Secretary of State and CEO of Exxon) gets quoted in this book that he has it on good authority from conversations with Putin that Obama can’t be trusted, is not reliable, and is bad to deal with and the stenographer Woodward just jots that down, never mentioning that Putin wants nothing more than to have the 500 Billion dollars sanctions implemented against Russia for their Crimea invasion lifted, and that perhaps Obama had good reasons to distrust the Russians while a former CEO of Exxon who was Secretary of State might think differently and clearly shows his stupidity for trusting Putin. They’re monsters, Tillerson, Mattis, and Coats and they hid behind their wives who get quoted on background in this book while affirming their husband’s greatness all the while acting like they were doing their constitutional duty when called to serve with this scum of a President and the wives even had the temerity to invoke their Christianity as a defense. I knew Trump was scum, I knew he was a fascist woman hating (‘I grab them by the p****y’) nut case with no relation to reality (‘Climate change is a Chinese Hoax’) way before he became President, and these enablers were surprised and shocked when Trump lied to them. (From Casablanca, Renault: ‘I’m shocked, I’m shocked, there is gambling in these premises. Croupier: Monsieur, here are your winnings’, Renault are who all the monsters featured in this book really are).
We’re in this situation because of stenographers like Woodward. There is a telling section when Woodward talks about Brad Pascale in this book and channels his deep background interviews that show how great Trump is by using Pascale’s Svengali hypnotic abilities and Trump’s magical ponies in showing how Trump can really relate to the common folk and that Pascale with his digital social media mastery knows exactly how to create that message to waken the people who only need to be enlightened by Trump’s greatness. It’s funny, since shortly after this book was finished it was reported that Pascale and his allies had spent $800 million dollars on advertising and there has been nothing to show for it. Woodward in the book does note that Pascale was replaced shortly before his publication deadline, but he quotes Pascale as if he was a genius and never notes the reality that Pascale was a con man and Trump was even a bigger fool for trusting him, and Woodward is the biggest fool of all for reporting it as if Pascale made an iota of sense!
Woodward is the problem. He allowed his stenography to act as journalism and reporting while forgetting he was interviewing self-serving manipulators of reality. Even in his questions and answers within this book with the President, Woodward shows no ability in getting to the heart of the matter, and would often say positive things like “Trump’s tone had changed” or worse yet he would try to get at what was in Trump’s heart! He especially did that when asking about race and Black Lives Matter.
I really hated this book. I hated Woodward’s Fear too. Trump in the end does get crucified by his own words in this book, but that’s mostly because listening to Trump in his own words is to listen to a fool because Trump is a fascist at heart that has no ability to learn or grow. It’s not because of Woodward’s questions, it’s because Trump is a fool in public, in private or where ever he is. All one needs to do is just let him speak in order to see there is nothing there and the only good thing within this book is Woodward got Trump to speak and show his cruelty when juxtaposed with reality.
Olivia Troye illustrates how Woodward skews our world view (commercial well worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGRBJ...). All one has to do is note her recent quotes on Trump (9/17/20) and realize that Woodward didn’t put her or 1000 others such as her in this book. Her quotes are braver and more insightful than anything in this book. She said that Trump thought the good thing about the Covid-19 was that he won’t have to shake the hands of disgusting people anymore, and she relayed a story about how Trump within a Covid-19 meeting spent 45 minutes talking about Tucker Carlson (a white supremist Fox News host who is usually a sycophant towards Trump) and how someone needs to deal with that. That, to me, is more revealing than Woodward ineptly asking Trump questions, or trying to find out how Trump feels about race relations, or noting Trump’s ‘tone’ has changed, and so on. All of the monsters featured in this book including Jarod Kushner, Lindsey Graham, Mattis, Tillerson, Coats, each and everyone of them enabled a monster to be a monster and are responsible for the chaos that they have created and it is as when Albert Speer whitewashed his role that he played with Hitler. Olivia Troye figured out Hitler (oops, I mean Trump) was a monster and she doesn’t hide behind ‘deep background’ with her damning indictments as all of the self-serving reputation saving monsters in this book do.
Woodward is of the Village and thinks like a villager and created this monster and enables the chaos while he gives a platform by providing deep background cover for cowards who care more about their status within the Village structure than they do about the good of the country or the world. Olivia Troye is braver than any of the monsters whose self-serving words betray their own cowardice, and Woodward is a stenographer who helps them jot down their version of revisionist history. After WW II, many of the Hitler enablers (such as Albert Speer) wrote self-serving biographies that are no more useful than this book. Except for the actual questions and answers with Trump, this book is void of value.
[If you feel like you must read this book, and I don’t recommend it, I would recommend getting it from Scribd as I did. At least that way it won’t cost you any money, but even at that price I don’t recommend this book]
As just one of many examples of the stupidity within this book, Tillerson (former Secretary of State and CEO of Exxon) gets quoted in this book that he has it on good authority from conversations with Putin that Obama can’t be trusted, is not reliable, and is bad to deal with and the stenographer Woodward just jots that down, never mentioning that Putin wants nothing more than to have the 500 Billion dollars sanctions implemented against Russia for their Crimea invasion lifted, and that perhaps Obama had good reasons to distrust the Russians while a former CEO of Exxon who was Secretary of State might think differently and clearly shows his stupidity for trusting Putin. They’re monsters, Tillerson, Mattis, and Coats and they hid behind their wives who get quoted on background in this book while affirming their husband’s greatness all the while acting like they were doing their constitutional duty when called to serve with this scum of a President and the wives even had the temerity to invoke their Christianity as a defense. I knew Trump was scum, I knew he was a fascist woman hating (‘I grab them by the p****y’) nut case with no relation to reality (‘Climate change is a Chinese Hoax’) way before he became President, and these enablers were surprised and shocked when Trump lied to them. (From Casablanca, Renault: ‘I’m shocked, I’m shocked, there is gambling in these premises. Croupier: Monsieur, here are your winnings’, Renault are who all the monsters featured in this book really are).
We’re in this situation because of stenographers like Woodward. There is a telling section when Woodward talks about Brad Pascale in this book and channels his deep background interviews that show how great Trump is by using Pascale’s Svengali hypnotic abilities and Trump’s magical ponies in showing how Trump can really relate to the common folk and that Pascale with his digital social media mastery knows exactly how to create that message to waken the people who only need to be enlightened by Trump’s greatness. It’s funny, since shortly after this book was finished it was reported that Pascale and his allies had spent $800 million dollars on advertising and there has been nothing to show for it. Woodward in the book does note that Pascale was replaced shortly before his publication deadline, but he quotes Pascale as if he was a genius and never notes the reality that Pascale was a con man and Trump was even a bigger fool for trusting him, and Woodward is the biggest fool of all for reporting it as if Pascale made an iota of sense!
Woodward is the problem. He allowed his stenography to act as journalism and reporting while forgetting he was interviewing self-serving manipulators of reality. Even in his questions and answers within this book with the President, Woodward shows no ability in getting to the heart of the matter, and would often say positive things like “Trump’s tone had changed” or worse yet he would try to get at what was in Trump’s heart! He especially did that when asking about race and Black Lives Matter.
I really hated this book. I hated Woodward’s Fear too. Trump in the end does get crucified by his own words in this book, but that’s mostly because listening to Trump in his own words is to listen to a fool because Trump is a fascist at heart that has no ability to learn or grow. It’s not because of Woodward’s questions, it’s because Trump is a fool in public, in private or where ever he is. All one needs to do is just let him speak in order to see there is nothing there and the only good thing within this book is Woodward got Trump to speak and show his cruelty when juxtaposed with reality.
Olivia Troye illustrates how Woodward skews our world view (commercial well worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGRBJ...). All one has to do is note her recent quotes on Trump (9/17/20) and realize that Woodward didn’t put her or 1000 others such as her in this book. Her quotes are braver and more insightful than anything in this book. She said that Trump thought the good thing about the Covid-19 was that he won’t have to shake the hands of disgusting people anymore, and she relayed a story about how Trump within a Covid-19 meeting spent 45 minutes talking about Tucker Carlson (a white supremist Fox News host who is usually a sycophant towards Trump) and how someone needs to deal with that. That, to me, is more revealing than Woodward ineptly asking Trump questions, or trying to find out how Trump feels about race relations, or noting Trump’s ‘tone’ has changed, and so on. All of the monsters featured in this book including Jarod Kushner, Lindsey Graham, Mattis, Tillerson, Coats, each and everyone of them enabled a monster to be a monster and are responsible for the chaos that they have created and it is as when Albert Speer whitewashed his role that he played with Hitler. Olivia Troye figured out Hitler (oops, I mean Trump) was a monster and she doesn’t hide behind ‘deep background’ with her damning indictments as all of the self-serving reputation saving monsters in this book do.
Woodward is of the Village and thinks like a villager and created this monster and enables the chaos while he gives a platform by providing deep background cover for cowards who care more about their status within the Village structure than they do about the good of the country or the world. Olivia Troye is braver than any of the monsters whose self-serving words betray their own cowardice, and Woodward is a stenographer who helps them jot down their version of revisionist history. After WW II, many of the Hitler enablers (such as Albert Speer) wrote self-serving biographies that are no more useful than this book. Except for the actual questions and answers with Trump, this book is void of value.
[If you feel like you must read this book, and I don’t recommend it, I would recommend getting it from Scribd as I did. At least that way it won’t cost you any money, but even at that price I don’t recommend this book]
April 20, 2021
Whenever there is access to Trump's outrageous words without having to look at his orange face and feather duster hair, or actually hear him speak, I count that as a win.
I want to know what's going on, but I can't bear to watch. Bob Woodward gave me exactly what I needed, and nothing I didn't. It wasn't easy to read, but as with Fear: Trump in the White House, there wasn't anything particularly shocking or surprising. It just helped to frame what I already knew, and to add some background where my knowledge of events was a little sparse.
I want to know what's going on, but I can't bear to watch. Bob Woodward gave me exactly what I needed, and nothing I didn't. It wasn't easy to read, but as with Fear: Trump in the White House, there wasn't anything particularly shocking or surprising. It just helped to frame what I already knew, and to add some background where my knowledge of events was a little sparse.
September 23, 2020
Not a ton new here. I already knew that Trump is a shameless narcissist without an ounce of worry or care about anyone but himself. There were some revelations though from Jared Kushner (“to understand Trump, you have to understand Alice in Wonderland”) and Lindsay Graham (Mr President, I think that was a big mistake going over to that church and holding up the Bible like that”).
September 17, 2020
I said after reading Woodward’s first book on Trump’s presidency, Fear, that things were so much worse than I had thought. This book elicits a similar reaction, because it delves into the ongoing responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and police brutality that has made the Black Lives Matter movement more widespread. It also features actual Trump interviews with Woodward, which are somehow both eye opening and not surprising in the slightest. All of the idiotic terms he uses for his base (crooked Hillary, Chinese virus, fake news, etc.) he uses in normal conversation as well. Which is downright alarming that he’s honestly convinced himself that he’s correct and that he isn’t lying to the American people.
A lot of things he says in this book make him come across as anything from a moron to a psychopath. Take for example, an interview that Woodward has with him just after the murder of George Floyd. It is downright moronic to say that he’s done the most for the black community out of any President except for maybe Lincoln (which is an actual quote that isn’t paraphrased). But it’s downright psychotic to say that he hasn’t had any white privilege in his life and that wouldn’t affect his ability to see plight that black people have had to go through in this country (also a real thing he said).
It also talks a lot about his coronavirus response, which he apparently thinks he’s doing amazingly well with. The plan is basically to just open everything up and let it go away on its own, which if you’ve seen any of his press briefings is pretty much exactly what he’s communicating. I don’t know whether to say that he’s apathetic to the loss of American lives or simply more concerned with the economy, or both.
He’s done nothing for this country except create more divisiveness than could’ve been previously imagined at the start of his presidency. The biggest problem I have with this book is the people who need to read it won’t. His cult will see themselves as the heroes of the story no matter what happens, and they’ll do nothing to actually educate themselves on what he’s doing to destroy this country and undermine everything it stands for. So I’ll say one last thing for my American friends out there: please make sure you’re registered to vote and come Election Day flock to the polls, because we need to do something before we lose what’s left of this country.
A lot of things he says in this book make him come across as anything from a moron to a psychopath. Take for example, an interview that Woodward has with him just after the murder of George Floyd. It is downright moronic to say that he’s done the most for the black community out of any President except for maybe Lincoln (which is an actual quote that isn’t paraphrased). But it’s downright psychotic to say that he hasn’t had any white privilege in his life and that wouldn’t affect his ability to see plight that black people have had to go through in this country (also a real thing he said).
It also talks a lot about his coronavirus response, which he apparently thinks he’s doing amazingly well with. The plan is basically to just open everything up and let it go away on its own, which if you’ve seen any of his press briefings is pretty much exactly what he’s communicating. I don’t know whether to say that he’s apathetic to the loss of American lives or simply more concerned with the economy, or both.
He’s done nothing for this country except create more divisiveness than could’ve been previously imagined at the start of his presidency. The biggest problem I have with this book is the people who need to read it won’t. His cult will see themselves as the heroes of the story no matter what happens, and they’ll do nothing to actually educate themselves on what he’s doing to destroy this country and undermine everything it stands for. So I’ll say one last thing for my American friends out there: please make sure you’re registered to vote and come Election Day flock to the polls, because we need to do something before we lose what’s left of this country.
Read
September 14, 2020One of his staff is openly advocating armed sedition....
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare...
=====================
Trump Knew. He lied, people died.
https://www.facebook.com/thelincolnpr...
I read this article not the book, but I suspect, as with Woodward's previous book, Fear, most of the interesting and revealing parts are in a Washington Post article.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare...
=====================
Trump Knew. He lied, people died.
https://www.facebook.com/thelincolnpr...
I read this article not the book, but I suspect, as with Woodward's previous book, Fear, most of the interesting and revealing parts are in a Washington Post article.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...
December 11, 2021
Whew! That was truly a long slog at almost 400 pages. Definitely the last “Trump book” I can stomach reading. Just too difficult to read the actual quotes of how this guy speaks privately and then realize he’s the President of the United States. Extremely demoralizing. If the dialogue wasn’t taken from actual tapes I would like to disbelieve it!
Anyway, read this book at your peril. The one thing I did find interesting was the tracking from the beginning of who knew what and when about the coronavirus. Otherwise this was a 3.5 read for me, rounded up just because I actually finished the entire book without completely losing it.
Anyway, read this book at your peril. The one thing I did find interesting was the tracking from the beginning of who knew what and when about the coronavirus. Otherwise this was a 3.5 read for me, rounded up just because I actually finished the entire book without completely losing it.
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