Washington Post releases audio of Trump talking to Woodward about his ‘bad book’

The Washington Post on Tuesday released an audio recording of President Trump talking to veteran journalist Bob Woodward about his “bad book,” dismissing the forthcoming exposé as one of the many negative books about his White House.

“So I have another bad book coming out,” Trump told Woodward during a phone call, a transcript of which was also released by the newspaper. “Big deal.”

Woodward during the call described his upcoming book, “Fear: Trump in the White House,” as “a tough look at the world and your administration and you.” 

“I assume that means it’s going to be a negative book,” Trump replied. “But you know, I’m some — I’m sort of 50 percent used to that … That’s all right.”

{mosads}”Some are good and some are bad,” Trump added, referring to books about his administration. “Sounds like this is going to be a bad one.” 

Woodward told the president that he contacted six or seven people from the White House about a sit-down interview with Trump but never heard back. 

“I never got a call,” Trump said, though later in the conversation he acknowledged that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) mentioned it to him in passing. “I never got a message.”

“It’s really too bad, because nobody told me about it, and I would’ve loved to have spoken to you,” Trump said. “You know I’m very open to you. I think you’ve always been fair. We’ll see what happens.” 

Woodward’s book, which is set to hit shelves next week, reportedly describes Trump and his staff as being in the midst of a “nervous breakdown.”

Previously unreported anecdotes portray chaos and a fracturing of the president’s inner sanctum, with Trump aides insulting him behind his back and hiding documents from their boss out of fear that he would sign them, according to a Washington Post article published Tuesday.

Multiple tell-all books about the Trump White House have been published since he took office, including “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” by journalist Michael Wolff and “Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House” by former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman. Several of the books have offered shocking details about the president and his staff, and the White House has pushed back on many claims in the books.