Trump Praises Bob Woodward, Explains Why He Agreed to Interviews: ‘I Thought it Would be Interesting to Talk’
President Donald Trump on Thursday called The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward someone he “respects,” and explained his decision to grant Woodward 18 interviews for his upcoming book on the Trump administration.
“Bob Woodward is somebody that I respect just from hearing the name for many, many years,” Trump said at an afternoon press conference. “Not knowing too much about his work, not caring about his work. I thought it would be interesting to talk to him for a period of calls. So we did that.”
Woodward’s forthcoming book on Trump’s presidency, Rage, is set for publication on September 15. Excerpts released this week revealed Trump told Woodward in February that he wanted to “play down” the lethality of the coronavirus to avoid instigating “panic.” Despite suggestions that Woodward exposed Trump for “lying” about the pandemic, Trump said he had yet to render judgement on Woodward’s work, telling reporters, “I don’t even know if the book is good or bad.”
He added that Woodward should have published his comments earlier if he believed they posed a problem. “If Bob Woodward thought what I said was bad, then he should have immediately right after I said it gone out to the authorities so they can prepare and let him know. But he didn’t think it was bad. He said he didn’t think it was bad. He actually said he didn’t think it was bad. The only one that said it was bad, or thinks it was bad, was the fake news media, because they take it and they try to put it a certain way.”
The president said he spoke to Woodward — who has authored 20 books since breaking the Watergate scandal in 1972 — out of “curiosity,” and suggested he did have some doubts about his writing talents.
“It was a series of taped interviews mostly by telephone,” Trump said. “Quick ones, not long ones. I did it out of curiosity. I wonder whether or not somebody like that can write good. I don’t think he can, but let’s see what happens.”
Watch above via Fox News.
