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Fear
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Fear

Trump in the White House

Bob Woodward
Simon & Schuster, 2018
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Editorial Rating

9

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  • Innovative
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  • Insider's Take

Recommendation

Donald Trump’s closest advisers are terrified to let him make decisions, writes famed journalist Bob Woodward. Senior staff and advisers have, for instance, made sensitive documents – including a letter ending the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement – disappear from Trump’s desk in an effort to contain the president’s capricious impulses. Such subterfuges – which, Woodward notes, amount to an “administrative coup d’état” – were necessary to prevent political chaos, the White House officials reasoned. Beyond such bombshells, Woodward’s chronicle offers less-than-charitable assessments of Trump’s psyche and emotional stability. Despite these harsh conclusions, Woodward acknowledges Trump’s popular appeal, and offers a more even-handed account of the president than that served up by Michael Wolff in Fire and Fury. Yet readers who have delved into Wolff’s book, Joshua Green’s Devil’s Bargain, or James Comey’s A Higher Loyalty will spot common themes about Trump’s volatile temper and general lack of knowledge. While always politically neutral, getAbstract recommends this account to readers seeking insight into the US president.

Summary

A President Not Trusted By His Top Advisers

When Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election he entered office as a novice politician, a self-designed populist and a petulant man given to insulting his closest advisers and unleashing temper tantrums on Twitter. His top advisers didn’t always trust him to make responsible decisions, so they sometimes resorted to rash measures such as removing sensitive memos from the president’s desk. For instance, in September 2017, Trump was considering ending the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement. Trump was upset that the United States spent $3.5 billion a year in military expenses in a nation with an $18 billion trade deficit. But, to many in Washington, the trade deficit was a non-issue. The bigger priority was maintaining the national security alliance which allowed for the presence of some 28,500 American troops in South Korea, as well as high-tech surveillance designed to detect and destroy any North Korean missiles aimed at the United States.

Trump’s advisers worried that, in a fit of pique, Trump would sign the withdrawal letter on his ...

About the Author

Bob Woodward is an American political journalist who has worked for the Washington Post since 1971. He and Carl Bernstein shared the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for the reporting on the Watergate scandal. Woodward’s other books include All the President’s Men, Obama’s Wars and The Brethren.

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