WASHINGTON – Stung by the latest tell-all book to hit his White House, President Donald Trump renewed his attacks on author Bob Woodward by suggesting Wednesday that the government tighten libel laws.
“Isn’t it a shame that someone can write an article or book, totally make up stories and form a picture of a person that is literally the exact opposite of the fact, and get away with it without retribution or cost,” Trump tweeted. “Don’t know why Washington politicians don’t change libel laws?”
Trump also suggested changing the libel laws back during his presidential campaign – in response to news stories he didn’t like – but has made no specific proposals in that area since moving into the White House in January of 2017. And Supreme Court rulings give speakers wide latitude to criticize and report on public officials.
More: The 5 most explosive claims in new Bob Woodward book
The catalyst this time is Woodward’s new book – Fear: Trump in the White House – in which aides describe the president as an unhinged “liar” who does not seem interested in learning the details of the issues he has to face.
More: Trump calls Woodward’s book ‘a con on the public’; Kelly denies calling president an ‘idiot’
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly reportedly described Trump as an “idiot” who is running “Crazytown,” while Defense Secretary James Mattis is quoted as saying Trump acted like a “fifth- or sixth-grader” at one meeting.
According to the book, aides have colluded to sideline off-the-cuff presidential ideas that ranged from pulling U.S. troops out of South Korea to assassinating Syrian leader Bashar al Assad.
“Members of his staff had joined to purposefully block some of what they believed were the president’s most dangerous impulses,” Woodward writes, according to a leaked excerpt. “It was a nervous breakdown of the executive power of the most powerful country in the world.”
The book is scheduled for public release on Tuesday.
Trump is seeking to undermine Woodward even though he has praised the author in the past, and told him in a phone conversation just last month that he has always been fair.
Back in 2013, as members of the Barack Obama administration criticized a Woodward book about them, Trump tweeted out: ““Only the Obama WH can get away with attacking Bob Woodward.”
As details of the book began to leak out Tuesday, the White House hastily put together a series of responses.
Kelly denied calling Trump an “idiot,” while Mattis denied uttering “the contemptuous words” attributed to him by Woodward.
The White House denials echoed those made about previous critical books, particularly those by journalist Michael Wolff and former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman.
Trump tweeted out the statements by Kelly and Mattis on Tuesday night, while adding some denials of his own.
While Trump has frequently attacked Attorney General Jeff Sessions, he denied Woodward’s reporting that he has called the former Alabama senator “mentally retarded” and “a dumb southerner.”
“I said NEITHER, never used those terms on anyone, including Jeff, and being a southerner is a GREAT thing,” Trump tweeted, claiming that Woodward “made this up to divide!”
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