The Most Shocking Excerpts From Woodward’s White House Memoir

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 3: Journalist Bob Woodward arrives at Trump Tower, January 3, 2017 in New York City. President-elect Donald Trump and his transition team are in the process of filling cabinet and other high le... NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 3: Journalist Bob Woodward arrives at Trump Tower, January 3, 2017 in New York City. President-elect Donald Trump and his transition team are in the process of filling cabinet and other high level positions for the new administration. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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The Washington Post obtained an advance copy of legendary reporter Bob Woodward’s soon-to-be-released White House memoir “Fear.”

Here are the most stunning episodes from the report:

Trump constantly mocks and puts down his own staff

  • Trump called former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus a “little rat” who “scurries around”
  • Trump said former Former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster dresses like a “beer salesman”
  • Trump told Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that he was “past his prime” and that he didn’t trust him to make deals
  • Trump said that Attorney General Jeff Sessions is “mentally retarded” and a “dumb Southerner”

White House staffers often mock the President behind his back and fight internally

  • Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that Trump has the understanding of “a fifth or sixth grader”
  • Chief of Staff John Kelly called Trump an “idiot” and said that being his chief of staff was “the worst job” he ever had
  • Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon called Ivanka Trump just a “goddamn staffer” —she retorted that as first daughter, she would never be a regular staffer

Trump told Mattis to “fucking kill” Assad

Trump told Mattis to “fucking kill” Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad after he attacked his own people, and Mattis ignored the order and deescalated the situation after the President left. Trump also reportedly asked for plans of a preemptive military strike on North Korea only one month into his presidency.

Trump waffled on testifying for the Mueller probe, frustrating legal team

Trump and his legal team did a mock sit-down interview with a fake Special Counsel Robert Mueller—it did not go well.

Per the Washington Post, after grilling, Trump exploded, saying: “This thing’s a goddamn hoax” and “I don’t really want to testify.”

Later, Trump’s former personal attorney John Dowd told the President to his face about how he’d fare in the real scenario when the President gained confidence in his abilities again.

“Don’t testify. It’s either that or an orange jumpsuit,” Dowd reportedly told Trump.

“I’ll be a real good witness,” Trump told Dowd, according to Woodward.

“You are not a good witness,” Dowd replied. “Mr. President, I’m afraid I just can’t help you.”

Dowd resigned the next morning.

Read the full Washington Post report here.

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