From "Let's F**king Kill Him" to "We're in Crazytown": The Most Disturbing Excerpts From Woodward's New Book on Trump White House

Legendary Watergate journalist Bob Woodward has a book coming out next month that details the first year and a half of Donald Trump’s presidency, and excerpts published by the Washington Post and CNN on Tuesday depict a White House in the midst of a “nervous breakdown,” sparked by a man who top aides have referred to as “an idiot,” a “fucking moron,” a “professional liar,” and “a goddamn dumbbell” who has the understanding of “a fifth- or sixth-grader.”

“He’s an idiot. It’s pointless to try to convince him of anything. He’s gone off the rails. We’re in Crazytown.”
—John Kelly, White House chief of staffAccording to the Post—where Woodward has worked as a reporter and editor for decades—the “thrust” of Fear: Trump in the White House “mostly focuses on substantive decisions and internal disagreements, including tensions with North Korea as well as the future of U.S. policy in Afghanistan.”

But these substantive decisions and disagreements often produced startling moments in which the president revealed his total ignorance and lack of fitness for office.

“He’s an idiot. It’s pointless to try to convince him of anything,” White House Chief of Staff John Kelly reportedly complained during a small group meeting. “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.”

Here are some of the most revealing and disturbing excerpts from Woodward’s book, which will be published on Sept. 11.

“Let’s fucking kill him!”

After Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was accused of carrying out a chemical attack against civilians last April, Trump told Defense Secretary James Mattis that he wanted to invade Syria and assassinate Assad, Woodward writes.

“Let’s fucking kill him! Let’s go in. Let’s kill the fucking lot of them,” Trump reportedly told Mattis in a phone call.

According to Woodward’s account—which he says is based on hundreds of hours of interviews with top White House officials—Mattis told Trump he would get right on it, but then hung up the phone and told a senior aide, “We’re not going to do any of that.”

“You don’t need a strategy to kill people.”

During a meeting last July, Trump’s national security advisers attempted to “educate” the president on foreign policy.