Former President Donald Trump instructed shocked journalist Bob Woodward in one in all their a number of taped interviews that whereas he was president, “every little thing” was “mine.”
Of the ten presidents Woodward has coated as a journalist, he instructed MSNBC host Ari Melber on Thursday, he had by no means earlier than “heard anyone within the presidency …. assume that someway there’s possession on this.”
His presidency ended with Trump believing it was nonetheless his to manage, the Washington Publish journalist famous within the interview about his new audiobook, “The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward’s Twenty Interviews With President Donald Trump.” The interviews had been performed over 9 months in 2020 whereas Trump was within the White Home.
Trump, who hadn’t held a political workplace till he stepped into his Oval Workplace function, made the pronouncement that every little thing was his when Woodward requested him of his function: “Did any individual make it easier to?”
“Yeah, I get individuals, they give you concepts,” Trump instructed Woodward. “However the concepts are mine, Bob. Wish to know one thing? Every little thing’s mine.”
Woodward instructed Melber: “The tragedy in all of this, whenever you undergo all these audiotapes … he didn’t perceive the presidency and the obligations to the individuals. … This isn’t about your self. When he says, ‘Every little thing is mine,’ it form of echoes this concept of the presidency is his. And we now even see him claiming that he gained” the 2020 election, “when there’s no proof to assist that.”
Woodward pointed particularly to a president so enthralled by his personal concepts that he unilaterally determined to “cowl up” the warnings he acquired in January 2020 in regards to the coming COVID-19 pandemic. He instructed Woodward he knew the virus was “lethal stuff,” however he admitted he “downplayed it” as a result of he didn’t need to panic individuals — and didn’t push lifesaving well being tips to assist the American public. The pandemic has killed greater than 1 million individuals within the U.S.
Woodward criticized Trump’s “sweeping disregard” for different individuals and for different concepts. “It’s not simply ‘every little thing is mine,’” he added.
Woodward accused Trump of placing the presidency in “ethical free fall.”
Take a look at Woodward’s full interview beneath. He addresses Trump’s angle about every little thing being his within the presidency starting at 5:44.