New reports out of the White House say that President Donald Trump is extremely angry about Bob Woodward’s book, and he is taking it out on his White House communications office.
The newest member of the communications staff is Bill Shine, who is reportedly catching the brunt of the president’s anger and frustration. Shine is the current White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications, and he spent most of his career as a producer and executive at Fox News before being asked to work for Trump.
Trump is blaming his own people for the way Bob Woodward’s book, appropriately named “Fear,†is being covered in the press. The book is based on many interviews and reveals secrets about the inner workings of the Trump White House. It has not been flattering to the president, to say the least.
Reportedly Trump is upset that there has been a continual stream of excerpts from Woodward’s book appearing in the media for the past week. Although Trump has tweeted about the book, his own employees have not been as aggressive in denying what the book says.
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A few days ago the president wrote on Twitter:
“The Woodward book is a scam. I don’t talk the way I am quoted. If I did I would not have been elected President. These quotes were made up. The author uses every trick in the book to demean and belittle. I wish the people could see the real facts – and our country is doing GREAT!â€
The Woodward book is a scam. I don’t talk the way I am quoted. If I did I would not have been elected President. These quotes were made up. The author uses every trick in the book to demean and belittle. I wish the people could see the real facts – and our country is doing GREAT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2018
According to CNN host Victor Blackwell Trump is not happy because he thinks that Shine has not been as effective as former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks.
https://twitter.com/ZaibatsuNews/status/1038769229816680450
Blackwell had commentator Brian Stelter on his show who said:
“In Woodward’s tape recordings from the president last month, Trump basically calls up saying, ‘I wished we could have talked, why didn’t you call him?’ Woodward catches him in a couple of contradictions saying, ‘I tried six different ways to go ahold of you and I was turned down, I was buffed.’ It might have been in the White House’s best interests to give him an interview and it sounds like Trump regretted not having a chance to talk to him.â€
Then Blackwell responded by saying:
“The reporting is President Trump is disappointed with Bill Shine and the way the White House has responded to this new book. A source tells us the president shouted out ‘Bring back Hope Hicks!’ Apparently, he preferred her response to “Fire and Fury†author Michael Wolfe.â€
But Stelter quickly responded by saying that Trump’s response to a Woodward book would have to be different than his response to Michael Wolfe’s book.
“The way you respond to Michael Wolfe is not the same way to respond to Bob Woodward, who I think has written books about nine presidents now,†Stelter said. “He has an enormous amount of credibility. When the president calls him an idiot and suggests he made up sources, that actually says more about the president than Woodward.â€
Clearly Woodward has gotten under Trump’s skin. His bluster about bringing back Hope Hicks is just a way for him to bully his new employees who are facing an impossible task. No matter what comes out of the White House communications office there is no way they can change either the truth or the perception that the Donald Trump presidency is in a shambles and is falling apart before our very eyes.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
