President Donald Trump called his Attorney General Jeff Sessions "a traitor," and complained "everybody's trying to get me" after he learned that Robert Mueller had been appointed special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election that sent Trump to the White House, according a new book.
Trump also called Sessions "mentally retarded," and was called "unhinged" and an "idiot" by his chief of staff John Kelly, the book by legendary investigative reporter Bob Woodward says.
And the president once phoned Defense Secretary James Mattis to say "Let's f---ing kill him" after Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad launched a chemical attack on civilians, according to the book.
Highlights of the 448-page book "Fear" were described in an article Tuesday in the Washington Post, where Woodward has long worked.
"He's this dumb Southerner. … He couldn't even be a one-person country lawyer down in Alabama," Trump said of Sessions, the former Alabama senator whom he has long blamed for recusing himself in the Russian investigation, a step that led to Mueller's appointment.
Woodward also writes that that Trump exploded in a rage after being subjected to a practice interview with his own lawyer playing the role of Mueller.
"This thing's a goddamn hoax," Trump fumed, according to the book.
The White House had no immediate comment on the article about the book.
According to the Post's account of the book, Kelly despaired of dealing with Trump.
"He's an idiot. It's pointless to try to convince him of anything. He's gone off the rails," Kelly was quoted in the book as saying.
He added, "We're in Crazytown. I don't even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I've ever had."
from Top News & Analysis https://ift.tt/2wHvwKt
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