Renowned investigative journalist Bob Woodward, who along with Carl Bernstein exposed the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, has called Donald Trump the "most isolated" president he has written about since Richard Nixon.
Trump struggled to secure funding from the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives for his southern border wall, causing a partial federal government shutdown in an attempt to force the hand of the Democrats. He now faces hostility from Republicans toward his plan to bypass Congress and declare a national emergency to secure the funds.
On the foreign-policy front, Trump is also experiencing a backlash from Republican senators, who oppose his plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Syria, which they believe could aid terrorists in the region and allow Russia or Iran to fill the vacuum.
And in the latest leak from his administration, much to Trump's frustration, Axios published the president's daily schedule, which he has followed since the midterms. The report said Trump had large chunks of his day dedicated to "executive time" in the Oval office, but insiders said he was often in the White House residence at this time, watching TV, reading newspapers and reacting to the news by phoning aides, members of Congress, friends, administration officials and informal advisers.
"What is the saddest part of this is when you look at what the job of the president is—to figure out what the next stage of good is for a majority of people in the country—it never comes up in the internal debates," Woodward, whose book Fear is an insider's account of the chaotic Trump administration, said during a panel discussion on Tuesday's Morning Joe.
"It's the ideas he has, and the behavior, and I think in this moment, it's worth asking: Why is he like this? Why does he do this? Why is he immune from other ideas and pressures?
"And I think it's because there's a self-validation when you get to the presidency for anyone. But for someone like him, with a big ego; for someone like him, who never held elected office, 'Hey, I got here, I did it, I'm the man, my ideas are not just important but are going to dominate.' So we get somebody who I think may be, certainly of the nine presidents I've written about, he's the most isolated."
Woodward, whose early journalism career involved covering the Nixon administration, which his Watergate investigation alongside Bernstein helped to bring down, called Trump "the nation's talk show host. Not just publicly but privately within the White House."
The journalist also said the president "does not know what his self-interest is," often refusing to heed the counsel of his close advisers trying to steer him through issues, crises and scandals. "He's not listening," Woodward said.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Shane Croucher is a Senior Editor based in London, UK. He oversees the My Turn team. He has previously overseen ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
