Donald Trump describes Bob Woodward expose as a 'joke' and threatens to write 'real book' about presidency
The Watergate reporter's book, Fear: Trump In The White House, makes some sensational claims about the president's behaviour.
Monday 10 September 2018 20:38, UK
Donald Trump has threatened to write a "real book" about his presidency - hours before the latest "expose" on his administration hits the shops.
Bob Woodward's book, Fear: Trump In The White House, will be available in US bookshops on Tuesday after a week of excerpts, leaks and interviews that portray the president as dangerously erratic and uninformed.
After waking up on Monday, the president tweeted a volley of attacks and denounced the award-winning journalist's reconstruction of scenes in which frustrated aides scramble to contain the president's impulses.
Mr Trump tweeted: "The Woodward book is a Joke - just another assault against me, in a barrage of assaults, using now disproven unnamed and anonymous sources.
"Many have already come forward to say the quotes by them, like the book, are fiction. Dems can't stand losing. I'll write the real book!"
The president is quoted in the book brutally insulting members of his cabinet and refers to attorney general Jeff Sessions as "mentally retarded".
Former chief of staff Reince Priebus is described as "a little rat", according to Woodward's book.
:: Woodward on Trump: Explosive claims in latest book on White House
Defence secretary Jim Mattis is quoted as saying the president has the mental capacity of a "fifth or sixth grader", while chief of staff John Kelly is said to have called Mr Trump "an idiot".
"We are in Crazytown," General Kelly is quoted telling a small group of confidants. "I don't even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I've ever had."
Calling the book a scam, Mr Trump said last week: "I don't talk the way I am quoted.
"If I did I would not have been elected president. These quotes were made up."
Mr Mattis, Mr Kelly and other aides have vehemently denied making the disparaging statements attributed to them in the book.
In a statement, Mr Kelly said: "The idea I ever called the president an idiot is not true, in fact it's exactly the opposite. He and I both know this story is total BS."
Mr Mattis also issued a statement, re-tweeted at least twice by Mr Trump, saying, "The contemptuous words about the president attributed to me in Woodward's book were never uttered by me or in my presence."
He said the book was "the product of someone's rich imagination".
In response, Pulitzer Prize-winning Mr Woodward, who along with Carl Bernstein exposed the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, said Mr Mattis and Mr Kelly "are not telling the truth" when denying they made the remarks and "these are political statements to protect their jobs".