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White House: Woodward's Book 'Fabricated Stories'; Kelly Says He Didn't Call Trump an 'Idiot'

White House: Woodward's Book 'Fabricated Stories'; Kelly Says He Didn't Call Trump an 'Idiot'
Bob Woodward (AP)

By    |   Tuesday, 04 September 2018 03:48 PM EDT

Bob Woodward’s highly anticipated book on President Donald Trump is “nothing more than fabricated stories,” the White House said Tuesday.

"This book is nothing more than fabricated stories, many by former disgruntled employees, told to make the President look bad. While it is not always pretty, and rare that the press actually covers it, President Trump has broken through the bureaucratic process to deliver unprecedented successes for the American people,” the White House said in a statement. 

"Sometimes it is unconventional, but he always gets results. Democrats and their allies in the media understand the President's policies are working and with success like this, no one can beat him in 2020 – not even close."

Woodward’s forthcoming book, "Fear: Trump in the White House," reveals a nervous breakdown of Trump’s presidency through the eyes of the president’s inner circle, according to The Washington Post.

"Woodward describes 'an administrative coup d’etat' and a 'nervous breakdown' of the executive branch, with senior aides conspiring to pluck official papers from the president’s desk so he couldn’t see or sign them," the Post said in its report.

The book also claims Chief of Staff John Kelly called the president an "idiot" during discussions with associates.

"The idea I ever called the President an idiot is not true. As I stated back in May and still firmly stand behind: "I spend more time with the President than anyone else, and we have an incredibly candid and strong relationship,” Kelly said in a statement. “He always knows where I stand, and he and I both know this story is total BS."

Kelly frequently told colleagues that he thought the president was "unhinged," Woodward writes in the book, according to the Washington Post. In one small group meeting, Kelly said of Trump: "He's an idiot. It’s pointless to try to convince him of anything. He's gone off the rails. We’re in Crazytown. I don’t even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I've ever had."

Woodward writes that his book is drawn from hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand participants and witnesses, many of which were conducted on condition he would not reveal that they were the source of information. His account is also drawn from meeting notes, personal diaries and government documents, according to the Washington Post article.

The post published a transcript and audio of a phone call between Woodward and Trump, who the newspaper said didn’t respond to the author’s interview requests until August, after the book was completed.

Woodward’s book comes less than a month after former White House aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman published a tell-all account of her first year in the Trump administration, calling the president a "con" and a "racist."

Bloomberg News contributed to this report.

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Politics
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly denied a report by the Washington Post's Bob Woodward that he called President Donald Trump an idiot, and Trump's spokeswoman called Woodward's latest book a collection of "fabricated stories.""The idea I ever called the President an...
kelly, trump, woodward, book, deny, idiot
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2018-48-04
Tuesday, 04 September 2018 03:48 PM
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