359 Quotes by Bob Woodward

President Trump is a good listener, Mattis said, as long as you don’t hit one of his third rails – immigration and the press are the two big ones. If you hit one, he is liable to go off on a tangent and not come back for a long time. “Secretaries of Defense don’t always get to choose the president they work for.” Everyone laughed.

Trump had no understanding of how government functioned. At times he would just start drafting orders himself or dictating.

Republican senator Bob Corker had told reporters “the president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence” needed to succeed in office.

Porter saw it from up close – perhaps as close as anyone on the staff except Hope Hicks – the Trump election had rekindled the divide in the country. There was a more hostile relationship with the media. The culture wars were reinvigorated. There was a racist tinge. Trump accelerated it.

Priebus realized that the president didn’t care that it was a goal, not an obligation. Trump cared that he could sell it and try to win over public opinion.

To have Trump answer them, of course, would be a catastrophe because Trump could erupt and say absolutely anything.

There were four missions in Afghanistan: train and advise the Afghan Army and police; logistical support; counterterrorism; and the intelligence mission.

Cohn had witnessed this for over a year – denial when needed or useful or more convenient. “He’s a professional liar,” Cohn told an associate.

The tweets were not incidental to his presidency. They were central.