US President Donald Trump has been described in a new book as unread, vain and quick-tempered.
In a report titled Trump disclosure book: “A long-term and immediate danger to the country” published on SPIEGEL website, it was said that as entertaining as the described anecdotes about Trump are – the balance is worrying, the Washington Post reports.
The Washington Post authors Phil Rucker and Carol Leonnig have already won the Pulitzer Prize for their Trump reports.
The 528-page book in the German translation, which is available to SPIEGEL, is teeming with hair-raising descriptions.
According to the book, Trump is not only described as “dangerously uninformed”, “self-centered” and “thoughtless”, but also as “long-term and immediate danger to the country”, said a top employee from the national security apparatus.
Donald Trump: “You grind your teeth, your neck hair resists,” ex-employees are quoted as saying.
The “USS Arizona Memorial” in Hawaii is one of the most important pilgrimage sites for US presidents. The memorial commemorates Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged the United States into World War II in 1941. More than 2400 Americans died, and most soldiers were never recovered from the wreck.
Donald Trump visited the Honolulu memorial in November 2017 – but apparently he didn’t know the importance of it.
“Hey, John, what’s this about?” Trump is said to have asked his then chief of staff, John Kelly. “What are we visiting?” Kelly, a retired general who had served in the Iraq war, among other things, was “speechless”.
The previously unknown anecdote can be found in “Trump Against Democracy”, a new book of revelations that will appear in the US and Germany next week, the report says.
The US original title – in the German version of the subtitles – reads: “A Very Stable Genius.” This refers to an expression by Trump himself, with which he boasted his own intelligence in 2018.
The Washington Post authors Phil Rucker and Carol Leonnig have already won the Pulitzer Prize for their Trump reports. The 528-page book in the German translation, which is available to SPIEGEL, is teeming with hair-raising descriptions. Trump is not only described as “dangerously uninformed”, “self-centered” and “thoughtless” – but as “long-term and immediate danger to the country”, said a top employee from the national security apparatus.
“What’s this about?”: Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the Pearl Harbor Memorial
Grinding of teeth in the White House
For many Americans, the presidency has always had “something magical,” it says – “until Trump came.” “He destroyed this spell,” said an ex-employee. “With his contempt, which he shows for the foundations of our country and its principles. With his disregard for right and wrong. You clench your fists. You grind your teeth. The hair on your neck bristles.” Trump’s lies, in particular, shocked insiders: “He’s lying as if he were printed,” his short-term communications director Anthony Scaramucci told the authors. “He’s lying all the time.” He asked Trump if he only played a role. The answer: “Of course I play a role.”
Favorite friend Putin
After his election victory, Trump could hardly have expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. “When can I meet with Putin?” He urged again and again before he took office. His advisors had told him that it was inappropriate and that a new US president would first have to meet with NATO allies. When he finally met Putin at the Hamburg G20 summit in 2017, he immediately declared himself a Putin expert. “I talked to Putin for two hours,” he said Foreign Minister Rex Tillerson, a recognized expert on Russia. “I don’t need to know more … I can assess the matter well now. I have it under control.”
“I have it under control”: Trump and Putin in Hamburg
Where is India?
Trump wanted to inform Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – whom he likes to imitate internally “with a false Indian accent” – about India’s geopolitical situation. When Modi complained about China’s aggressive behavior at a meeting, Trump actually revealed his own geographical “ignorance”: “It’s not like China is right at your border,” he said. Modi “almost got his eyes out of surprise”. After the meeting, the Indians “took a step back” and diplomatic relations with the US had cooled.
Corruption is good
Like most ex-employees mentioned in the book, Rex Tillerson has been fired long ago. He now seems to be the source of many quotes. Trump once told him to “abolish” the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a 1977 law that forbids Americans and US companies to bribe foreign officials. “It is simply unfair that American companies are not allowed to pay bribes to get international orders,” Trump said to a group of employees. “We will change that.”
“You are all losers”: ex-ministers Mattis and Tillerson
Wimps and babies
Because Trump’s top advisors were “concerned about the president’s gaping historical knowledge gaps”, they wanted to give him a “tutoring session on the state of global politics and the foreign policy interests of the United States” in 2017. But the “gentle lesson on America’s power”, in which the then ministers Tillerson and Mattis (defense) had also taken part, went completely wrong: “Trump was not only annoyed to be trained like this, but also reacted allergically to the rush of information . ” Finally, he freaked out: “You are all losers,” he shouted. “You are nothing but a bunch of wimps and babies.” The tirade gave rise to Tillerson’s later comment that Trump was a “complete idiot”. None of the consultants in the room work for Trump anymore.
Mercenaries to the front
At a meeting with the military, Trump had asked that other states be billed for the deployment and deployment of US soldiers. “We have to earn something from it,” he said. “It could be very profitable for us.” The then chief of staff, Joseph Dunford, tried to “kindly explain” that this was prohibited. “But it just didn’t work,” an ex-advisor recalled. “Nothing got through to him.” Tillerson’s collar burst: “I never wore a uniform, but I know one thing,” he said, outraged. “Anyone who agrees to wear a uniform, and this includes the people in the room, doesn’t do that because he wants to earn money from it.” Less than three months later, Tillerson was off his job.
“It is so small”: Ex-Minister of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.
Are such small hands
Trump had particularly badly battered the then US Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, whom he personally blamed for the alleged crisis on the US southern border. He was “verbally and emotionally outrageous” towards her, harassed her with angry calls at night and made fun of her height – Nielsen is 1.62 meters tall. “It is so small,” he blasphemed. Chief of Staff John Kelly comforted Nielsen, with whom he was friends: “But you have really mean little fists”.
I am the best
Trump often gets upset when other people receive awards. So he tried unsuccessfully to get the Nobel Peace Prize: “He was constantly on the phone to get important people to propose him for the award.” Trump’s own message: “It’s time. Obama got it even though he didn’t do anything. I brought peace to North Korea.” Even if someone is recognized by a well-known think tank, they often complain that they deserve much more. He once even suggested that he award himself the Medal of Freedom, one of the highest civilian US awards.
Running against the fridge
When Trump’s secretary of staff, Rob Porter, had to leave because his ex-wife Colbie Holderness accused him of domestic violence, Trump – whom even countless women are accused of assault and sexual harassment – took him under protection. He complained that many women invent things about men in order to gain an advantage. Perhaps, Trump is said to have said, Holderness ran into the fridge on purpose, “to get the bruises and squeeze money out of Porter.” Trump urged Kelly to trumpet this “injustice” as loudly as possible.
Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig: “Trump against Democracy – ‘A Very Stable Genius’. From the American by Martin Bayer, Karlheinz Dürr, Hans-Peter Remmler, Werner Roller, Karin Schüler, Violeta Topalova. S. Fischer Verlag
