President Trump has hit back at veteran writer Bob Woodward criticizing his highly anticipated book called “Fear.” Trump sent a tweet on Monday morning blasting Woodward and called the book a “joke.” The book will be published on Tuesday. The president added that the publication is the latest in a series of “assaults” against him and his administration. He also said that we will write his own book detailing the “real story.”
The Woodward book has caused a lot of reactions in the US especially because of its account of how Trump’s White House has been run so far. In the book, the Pulitzer Prize winner recalls an incident in which Defense Secretary James Mattis compared president Trump to a sixth-grader. Woodward also claims in the book that Chief of Staff John Kelly has also had his moments working with Trump calling him an “idiot.” Kelly also felt that working with Trump was the same as working in a “crazy town.” Both Mattis and Kelly have disowned the remarks associated with them. This was also captured in the president’s morning tweet where he claimed that people have already come out to describe the assertions made by Woodward as “pure fiction.”
Trump also attacked the “anonymous sources” being used to discredit his presidency. This comes after an anonymous source inside the White House wrote a controversial op-ed in the New York Times titled “I am part of the resistance in the Trump administration.” The op-ed appears to be a hit below the belt for the president. Emerging reports indicate that Trump’s aides are trying to identify the source of the op-ed.
However, in his book, Woodward defends the use of anonymous sources saying that this is a common practice in journalism that’s supposed to encourage people to come out and speak as whistleblowers. Most of the events in the book are recounted in direct quotes, and they appear to demonstrate the experiences of former and current top aides in the White House including former chief of staff Reince Priebus as well as former White House strategist Steve Bannon. Rob Porter, a former staff secretary and economic advisor Gary Cohn are also mentioned in the book. Woodward says that despite his efforts to interview the president, Trump declined.
Appearing during an interview with NBC, Woodward was quick to note that his reporting isn’t in any way anonymous. He added that his information has directly come from sources close to operations in the Trump administration. Bob Woodward and fellow journalist Carl Bernstein became famous after the two were extensively involved in reporting the Watergate scandal that brought down President Richard Nixon.
He has defended his book saying that it gives detailed accounts of what happened, the time it happened, who was present and who was involved. The writer is also highly celebrated and could be the most credible reporter to date to write something about the Trump administration and the operations at the White House.
