Trump Was 'Ecstatic' About Talking to Woodward--Until He Wasn't

[catbyte]

The president was itching to sit down with the famed author after not doing so for his first Trump book. And he was egged on by Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Asawin Suebsaeng
Maxwell Tani
Sam Stein
Updated Sep. 10, 2020 2:49AM ET

For weeks leading up to the publication of Bob Woodward’s latest book, West Wing aides were chatting about how damaging some of President Donald Trump’s quotes would be. In the past couple weeks, two senior Trump administration officials told The Daily Beast they were quietly gaming out how to combat or downplay what they’d heard was going to appear in the published work, and attempting to ferret out what other big tidbits would be in there as well.

“It’s been known for a while that this was going to be something that… needed some dealing-with,” one of the officials said. “The anticipation was that it would probably be worse than the other [earlier] Woodward book.”

That sense of impending dread stood in contrast to how the president initially felt about Woodward’s Rage, which deals with Trump’s handling of a range of high-stakes national security issues in addition to the coronavirus pandemic. President Trump was “ecstatic” about the prospect of sitting for interviews with Woodward, according to a White House official, and relished some of his conversations with the famous Washington Post journalist.

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It is unclear when, exactly, Trump decided that the Woodward book could prove harmful. According to a person with direct knowledge, Trump privately said before sitting for interviews with Woodward, that one reason he was looking forward to doing so was because of how “fair” the journalist was to him on the issue of “Russian collusion.” However, late last month this source recalled the president complaining unprompted that the then-upcoming Woodward book would be filled with “fake stories,” and that the author was a “big phony.” The source did not recall Trump bringing up any of the stories or quotes he directly gave Woodward.

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https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-was-ecstatic-about-talking-to-bob-woodward-until-he-wasnt

[no_hypocrisy]

1. So stupid that he's patting himself on the back for stabbing himself.

Trump even had warning. He obviously didn't read Woodward's prior book Fear and didn't remember the salacious excerpts. And he submitted himself to Woodward again.

And Trump had to know that Woodward was NOT a Fox News contributor. Not a Hannity. Not a Carlson.


And Trump didn't tell even his Chief of Staff he was doing this. Not even Jared . . . . .

[targetpractice]

2. Lindsey Graham is manipulating Trump...

I suspect Donald Trump has something on Lindsey Graham that he is using to extort him.

Lindsey is trapped, and might be doing what a lot of victims of malignant narcissist learn to do... Manipulate the narcissist in return.

I've been there... The narcissist's behavior becomes so easily predictable opening them up to manipulation by the victim.

I suspect Graham knew what would happen in an interview, knew that Donald Trump was eager to set the record straight with Woodward, and simply encouraged Donald to hoist himself with his own petard.

Just my theory.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. I endorse your theory as I have done it myself in retaliation to

someone who was persecuting me. It's like Eastern Martial Arts. Weight displacement more than a shove.

[targetpractice]

5. The difference is...

You probably felt sick and guilty doing it... Because you are normal.

[no_hypocrisy]

9. Actually no. It was liberating.

I unleashed the fury of people who persecuted my persecutor.

And my personal persecution (excuse the alliteration) stopped cold. Never happened again.


And I would make the same choice. Je n'regrette riens . . . .

[GoCubsGo]

7. Yep. And, there's no honor among thieves.

Thieves eventually turn on each other, and that's what happened here. Graham may be a victim, but he's as much a scumbag as is Trump.

[DinahMoeHum]

4. Basically, Trump thought he could bullshit Woodward. . .

. . .like so many others.

Clueless. Clearly, he never read up on Watergate.

And instead, Trump got "Deep-Throated" by his own mouth.

[Maeve]

6. "Clearly, he never read up on Watergate"

You could have stopped after the fourth word.

[bullimiami]

8. That John Barron is one arrogant mf. So cocksure how clever he is.

Of course he was glad to crow about himself.

[tanyev]

10. So is this Lindsay's revenge?

Or is he buried so deep in the bullshit pile he thought it would work, too?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

11. K&R