Report: Trump’s Aide Stole Papers from His Desk So He Wouldn’t Sign Them

Bob Woodward’s new book Fear: Trump in the White House comes out on Sept. 11, and judging by an early copy of the book obtained by CNN, it sounds like some of Trump’s underlings feel that he’s not quite up to the job. That feeling resulted in hijinx suitable only for comedy or America in 2018, with Trump aides swiping papers from the president’s desk for the sake of national security and guiding Donny into more positive solutions in such a way that he still got to feel like a big man.

From CNN:

Chief of staff John Kelly describes Trump as an “idiot” and “unhinged,” Woodward reports. Defense Secretary James Mattis describes Trump as having the understanding of “a fifth or sixth grader.” And Trump’s former personal lawyer John Dowd describes the President as “a fucking liar,” telling Trump he would end up in an “orange jump suit” if he testified to special counsel Robert Mueller.

Woodward’s book should be a huge slap in the face for Trump supporters. It’s proof, supported by primary sources, that Trump is incapable, no better suited for the presidency than three boys in a trench coat, and treated as such by his coworkers. But the fact of the matter is that we’ve seen news like this come and go, each one appearing to be the nail in the coffin and each one rusting within days.

Trump’s most loyal supporters either don’t care or outright don’t believe any information that doesn’t praise his efforts, or lack thereof. Look at last week’s Google fiasco as a perfect example of his and his followers’ ideology; if it’s not nice, it’s not true. It’s corrupt, it’s fake, it’s biased. The more outrageous information that comes out, the more cemented in that they are, telling themselves that the “liberal deep state” will stop at nothing to take Trump down. If connections with treason don’t sway your thoughts, what will?

Find Paste’s take on five of the best excerpts from Woodward’s book here.