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Just started reading latest Bob Woodward book "Rage" and I will be highlighting interesting passages as I go...
First up, Woodward quotes Rex Tillerson telling Trump during a Dec 6, 2016 meeting "Putin is a terrible racist, as we all know. All Russians are, generally."
Trump receives the President's Daily Brief (on intelligence).....three times a week. (p. 29)
Page 31, Dan Coates (Director National Intelligence aka DNI): "Trump was on a different page than just about anything I believed in."
Page 49, Woodward reports Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General, thought the letter Trump and Stephen Miller drafted to fire Comey in May 2016 showed a disturbed mind
Page 69 "The president has no moral compass," Mattis replied.
"True," Coats agreed. "To him, a lie is not a lie. It's just what he thinks. He doesnt know the difference between the truth and a lie."
"True," Coats agreed. "To him, a lie is not a lie. It's just what he thinks. He doesnt know the difference between the truth and a lie."
Page 92 "You know what I did?" Trump said. "One thing. I met. Big fucking deal. It takes me two days. I met. I gave up nothing."
Trump not understanding the significance of a President meeting with a despot. In this specific case Kim Jong Un of North Korea
Trump not understanding the significance of a President meeting with a despot. In this specific case Kim Jong Un of North Korea
Through 150 pages Mike Pence really is coming off as an optimist who is successful at diffusing messy personnel issues. He is playing a long game, willing to suffer short term embarrassment. Guess we have to hope that all the broken norms are a blip and not a new feature
Page 166 retired Defense Secretary to DNI Dan Coats May 25, 2019
"He's dangerous," Mattis said. "He's unfit."
"He's dangerous," Mattis said. "He's unfit."
Page 194. Just LOLed - Woodward's 2nd interview Dec 13, 2019 Trump keeps proudly referring to pictures of himself and Kim in the DMZ. As interview is wrapping he gifts a poster sized photo to Woodward and says, "I dont even know why I'm giving it to you. That's my only one."
Pages 256-59 Chapter 33 - Jared's 4 text recommendations that provide key insights into Trump. NOT FLATTERING AT ALL.
They are: 2018 Peggy Noonan WSJ oped calling him "crazy," Cheshire Cat from AIW showing persistence and no direction, Whipple's book on WH Chiefs of Staff noting "Trump will be Trump, no matter his chief of staff" & Dilbert creator book coining "intentional wrongness persuasion"
Woodward writes, "I could hardly believe anyone would recommend these as ways to understand their father-in-law, much less the president they believed in and served." Page 259
Page 262-63 Kushner is pleased to report 20% of the White House staff is working there to save the world from Trump! That number apparently down from 80% during year 1 of their administration...
Page 285 - Trump recounts a conversation with Barron re the coronavirus in mid March 2020. "I said, it came out of China, Barron, pure and simple. It should have been stopped. And to be honest with you, Barron, they should've let it be known it was a problem two months earlier."
Page 316 - "Okay. I hope you treat me better than Bush, because you made him look like a stupid motion, which he was."
Trump realizing Woodward intended to release this book pre-election and starting to worry it may not be flattering
Trump realizing Woodward intended to release this book pre-election and starting to worry it may not be flattering
Page 351 - Senator Lindsay Graham in early June 2020 is privately advising Trump to tackle 1) DACA, 2) police reform and 3) infrastructure saying, "you will have a more consequential presidency and you are more likely to get reelected."
Seems a bit ambitious??
Seems a bit ambitious??
Page 354 - "His attention span is like a minus number," Fauci said privately.
Page 365 - June 22, 2020 talking about the speech for his rally in Tulsa "How long have I worked on it? It's a very interesting question. I guess my whole life I've worked on it, right? No, when you think of it. No, I didn't work on it."
Yeah I LOLed again
Yeah I LOLed again
Page 386 - Epilogue - unvarnished commentary from Woodward and here is the kicker:
"When his performance as president is taken in its entirety, I can only reach one conclusion: Trump is the wrong man for the job."
"When his performance as president is taken in its entirety, I can only reach one conclusion: Trump is the wrong man for the job."
Thank you for joining me while I worked my way through "Rage" by Bob Woodward. It is an easy read. Familiar.
A more appropriate title might be "Aggrieved" as Trump spends most of the time complaining about how unfair / hard he has it.
Overall an excellent piece of journalism!
A more appropriate title might be "Aggrieved" as Trump spends most of the time complaining about how unfair / hard he has it.
Overall an excellent piece of journalism!
