Woodward’s 448-page book Fear: Trump in the White House provides an unprecedented look through the eyes of the President’s inner circle
DONALD Trump’s aides say he has turned the White House into “Crazytown” and is a national security risk, a new book by Watergate journalist Bob Woodward claims.
They swipe papers from his desk to stop him signing dangerous orders, it adds.
Chief of Staff John Kelly reportedly raged: “He’s an idiot. We’re in Crazytown. This is the worst job I’ve had.”
Defense Secretary James Mattis likened his intellect to “a fifth or sixth grader” — a child aged 11 or 12.
Mr Trump’s lawyer John Dowd is said to have deemed him a “f****** liar” and warned of jail if he agreed to a formal quiz over Russia links.
The President did not want to testify.
After trying to prep him, Mr Dowd said: “You’re not a good witness. I’m afraid I just can’t help you.”
What we know so far:
Fear: Trump In The White House — by famed Watergate reporter Bob Woodward — also details his rants.
He called Attorney General Jeff Sessions “mentally retarded” and allegedly added: "He’s this dumb Southerner. … He couldn’t even be a one-person country lawyer down in Alabama.”
And Trump told defense chiefs about Syrian leader Bashar Assad: “Let’s f****** kill him" after a chemical attack in April 2017.
According to the account, Mattis told Trump he would get right on it — and then told his staff “We’re not going to do any of that.”
He also ridiculed his lawyer Rudy Giuliani as “a little baby”.
Trump is said to have blasted: “They took your diaper off right there.
"You're like a little baby that needed to be changed. When are you going to be a man?”
The President also laid into the late Presidential candidate and Republican titan Senator John McCain.
At a dinner with military chiefs Trump said that war hero McCain was a "coward" because he had "taken early release from a prisoner of war camp in Vietnam because of his father’s military rank".
In fact, McCain - who died last week - turned down early release and spent five years being tortured because he refused to leave without his men.
Former chief of staff Reince Priebus described the toxic atmosphere in the White House in the early days of the Trump Presidency.
He said: "When you put a snake and a rat and a falcon and a rabbit and a shark and a seal in a zoo without walls — things start getting nasty and bloody”.
Woodward also reveals that Trump orders print outs of his tweets and studied them to find out which ones were most popular.
Security leaders warned him that Twitter could lead to a war.
Aides described his tweets as the “devil’s workshop” – but Trump was said to have insisted he was the Ernest Hemingway of Twitter.
When Twitter expanded to 280 characters, he was said to have claimed: “It's a good thing, but it's a bit of a shame because I was the Ernest Hemingway of 140 characters.”
Former economic adviser Gary Cohn removed a letter from Trump's desk which would have scrapped a trade agreement with South Korea had the President signed it, according to the book.
But Trump did not notice the letter was missing — and the trade pact was saved.
Cohn, who is Jewish, was also furious with the President's reaction to a violent far right rally in Charlottesville that left one left-wing protester dead and several injured.
Trump famously said in the wake of the riot that "both sides" were to blame for the bloodshed.
The President later reportedly told aides it was “the biggest f***ing mistake I’ve made" — and Cohn threatened to quit.
Chief of Staff John Kelly told Cohn he was furious too — and he would have “taken that resignation letter and shoved it up (Trump's) a** six different times.”
The White House last night said the book told “fabricated stories” from “disgruntled” ex-staff.
