Woodward: Economic adviser 'stole a letter off Trump's desk'

Authored by thehill.com and submitted by stupidstupidreddit
image for Woodward: Economic adviser 'stole a letter off Trump's desk'

President Trump Donald John TrumpBrennan defends Kaepernick: He didn't kneel 'to disrespect our flag' Trump warns Syria against attack on rebel stronghold: 'Don't let that happen' Omarosa celebrates second week on bestsellers list despite 'hit-pieces' from Trump allies MORE’s former top economic adviser, Gary Cohn Gary David CohnJuan Williams: Trump weaves web of corruption Italian banking giant stops advertising on Facebook Meet the woman who is Trump's new emissary to Capitol Hill MORE, twice pulled paperwork off of Trump’s desk that the president was intending to sign to withdraw the United States from trade agreements, according to a forthcoming book from veteran journalist Bob Woodward.

The Washington Post, which obtained an advance copy of the book, reported Tuesday that Cohn “stole a letter off Trump’s desk” that would have formally withdrawn the U.S. from a trade agreement with South Korea.

Cohn later told an associate that Trump didn’t notice the letter was missing. Cohn also reportedly said he took the letter from Trump to protect national security.

The then-director of the National Economic Council separately pulled a different letter from Trump’s desk in spring 2017 that would have pulled the U.S. out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), according to the Post.

“Why aren’t we getting this done? Do your job. It’s tap, tap, tap. You’re just tapping me along. I want to do this,” Trump reportedly told then-staff secretary Rob Porter.

Porter then drafted a letter notifying NAFTA officials that the U.S. would withdraw. Concerned that doing so could trigger an economic crisis, he turned to Cohn for consultation.

“I can stop this,” Cohn reportedly said. “I’ll just take the paper off his desk.”

Woodward’s book, "Fear: Trump in the White House,” is set to hit shelves next week. It paints a portrait of a disorganized, paranoia-ridden administration filled with staffers trying to stop what they see as Trump's worst instincts.

lurgi on September 4th, 2018 at 20:53 UTC »

Serious question: Why did anyone with any connection to the White House get within a 100 miles of Bob Woodward?

"Oh yeah, Woodward. The guy who helped bring down Nixon. Yeah, I'll pencil in a couple of hours with him on Thursday and spill my guts. What could go wrong?"

StrangerWithAHat on September 4th, 2018 at 20:25 UTC »

Under orders from the president, Porter drafted a notification letter withdrawing from NAFTA. But he and other advisers worried that it could trigger an economic and foreign relations crisis. So Porter consulted Cohn, who told him, according to Woodward: “I can stop this. I’ll just take the paper off his desk.”

Fucking LOL, this is like a sitcom.

epidemica on September 4th, 2018 at 20:11 UTC »

I'll bet someone could get Trump to sign a resignation letter if the cover page just said "BORDER WALL APPROVAL"

He wouldn't even read the rest of it.