If you wondered about Trump’s intelligence level previously, Bob Woodward’s new book “Rage” should reinforce the fact that the president’s intelligence is not one of his strong points. First of all, why should Trump have given eighteen hours of interviews, mostly on tape, to one of the most incisive and clever journalists around. What did Trump have to gain aside from puffing up his ego because Woodward was interested in him? But time and again, Woodward had Trump saying things on tape that could only damage his chances in the election. Trump also allowed Woodward to speak to officials in the administration.
The most blatant mistake that Trump made with Woodward was admitting that he knew about the seriousness and danger of the Covid 19 virus from the beginning but held back from telling the nation because he didn’t want to alarm people. He kept telling people that the virus was nothing and would just disappear spontaneously. This means that because of Trump’s blunder, tens to hundreds of thousands of Americans died unnecessarily.
Even now, Trump holds to the idea that the public should not know the truth about the Covid 19 virus. He has not emphasized the importance of mitigation effects with his followers, such as wearing masks and social distancing. In fact, he has mocked people for wearing masks though his medical advisors strongly recommend that everyone wear masks when they are in crowds. Trump has held rallies with people squeezed together and no or few masks being used, with participants later dying from the virus. He has also minimized the virus’s effect on children, saying that they were almost immune and that it was not dangerous for them though he knew the virus could kill them.
Trump’s focus has always been on his election campaign and the economy instead of saving American lives. In April, when he started to open up the country, he told Woodward that the virus was so easily transmissible, you wouldn’t believe it.
Trump also mocked America’s top generals, saying that they were weak and cared more about alliances than trade deals. In another tete a tete, he labeled his generals as suckers for spending the nation’s money to protect South Korea. He said that without America defending South Korea, the nation would cease to exist. And Trump was also quoted as saying that “my fucking generals are a bunch of pussies.” General Mattis, the former Chief of Defense apparently told Dan Coats, the Director of National Intelligence that Trump was unfit for the office of president and dangerous. Coats believed that Russia must have some compromising information on Trump because of the cautious way Trump dealt with Putin and Russia. Both Mattis and Coats wondered if a time would come where they would have to speak out regarding their trepidations about Trump. Coats was fired by Trump when the DNI talked about the threat of Russia to the election’s integrity which Trump did not like.
Trump also showed Woodward letters he had received from Kim Jung-un, praising Trump and how wonderful their relationship was, just like a fantasy film. Trump declared that the two of them had a special chemistry while Kim was playing Trump for a fool, building up North Korea’s nuclear forces with Trump doing nothing. Bragging, Trump told Woodward that the United States had developed a new secret nuclear weapon that no one knew anything about. The reason Trump revealed the secret on the record to Woodward is unclear but probably to stress his own power.
When Woodward brought up white privilege and racism to Trump, the president disagreed with his comments, telling Woodward that he had drunk the Kool-Aid and that the president did not feel that way at all. Woodward also had long conversations about the Trump presidency with Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law.
Overall, the president got virtually nothing positive out of the time he spent with Woodward, but a lot of potentially damaging information was made public.
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Posted at 10:48 AM in 2016 election, Biden, Conspiracy theorists, Covid 19, Corona virus, Current Affairs, Donald Trump, Inequality, Kim Jong-un, North Korea, nuclear weapons, Politics, Putin, racism, Russia | Permalink
Tags: dangers Covid 19, denigration of generals, interviews, Rage, taping, Trump, Woodward
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020