Trump gets his own Watergate scandal with shocking Bob Woodward revelations

Of all the labels that Donald Trump might use to define himself – real estate developer, celebrity, TV star, politician – none suit him better than “branding expert”. Trump understands how to market himself and his product (often the same thing), which is why he should appreciate the excellent job that Simon & Schuster has done in stirring up the buzz around Bob Woodward’s new book, Rage, which is to be published next week.

The buzz came in the form of extracts leaked on Wednesday, that quickly became audio recordings of the author in conversation with the President. Network news anchors and pundits were appalled at what they heard: Trump admitting in February that the virus was “deadly”; explaining to “Bob” how it was unlike flu because it spreads through the air; admitting to downplaying the threat to avoid causing panic. Every few moments brought a new BREAKING NEWS banner across cable news.

There was more, including Trump boasting to Bob about Kim Jong-un’s graphic account of how he had his uncle killed. He “tells me everything”, Trump is reported to say. Next come the letters that the North Korean despot had written to Trump. Then came the NSFW revelations. “My fucking generals are a bunch of pussies,” the President says. “They care more about their alliances than they do about trade deals”.

Did the White House know these revelations were coming? If so, it would account for Trump’s low-key appearance in the Diplomatic Reception Room to “deliver remarks on judicial appointments” at 3pm.

Journalists could certainly smell the blood, but it wasn’t coming from the red meat. They openly accused the President of lying to the American people. Trump struggled. Normally he would accuse the reporters of asking “nasty questions” and spreading “fake news”. This time, he quickly quit the podium. Whenever he steps back from a fight, you know that Trump is rattled.

Does it mean he is right to be rattled? As ever, the wisest political advice around this presidency remains the advice to check what Fox News is saying. Whilst CNN and others screamed excitedly about Woodward, Lou Dobbs started his show by proclaiming that “President Trump today had a great day, a day that any president could only dream of”, talking about Trump’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize (betting tip: he won’t win it).

It wasn’t long before Trump himself was back, wrapped in his favourite comfort blanket, calling into the Sean Hannity show. “I don’t think a lot of good comes from talking to Bob Woodward”, Hannity began, before turning the question into one about Biden describing Trump’s January travel ban as “hysterical, xenophobia, and fear-mongering”. (Fact check: Biden never said that. He’d said that Trump himself has a “record of hysteria, xenophobia, and fear-mongering”).

The point is surely made. As the White House Press Secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, proved last night, there are ways to spin what the President said, and those spins will sometimes be effective. Too many scandals have been overblown in the past three years, especially when Trump’s liberal opponents mistakenly believe his base share their moral compass. It’s sometimes difficult to imagine anything that this president could say or do that would harm his standing with Trump Republicans.

What does materially harm Trump, however, is his inability to control the narrative at an important point in the campaign. The President has again proved to be his own worst enemy by agreeing to be interviewed by the experienced and hugely regarded Woodward, for a book to be published just weeks before the election. What makes it worse: there are tapes! As Trump continues to channel the spirit of Richard Nixon, we can be sure that TV ads will appear within hours making huge capital of the recordings.

This means we have yet another week that Trump has lost to self-inflicted damage. Trump continues to find himself playing defence when he needed to be on offence. This past week, he’s had to deny he called dead troops “suckers” and “losers”, whilst also proving ineffective against Biden on law and order. His only constant strategy remains attacking Biden on his age and the “softball” questions the Democratic presidential candidate faces at his press conferences. Ignoring Trump’s preference for OAN’s fawning high lobs, even this strategy feels increasingly misguided.

Biden has had another good week. Democrats looking for reassurance should have watched Biden’s performance five days ago after making his speech on the Coronavirus. It barely made the news, but it does underscore the foolishness of a strategy that increasingly seems to rely on Biden’s mental faculties failing him. About to leave the podium, Biden pauses when a journalist questions him on foreign policy. The question is worth quoting in full if only to underscore the difference between the two men…

“President Trump has just announced an economic normalisation deal between Serbia and Kosovo and part of that deal is Kosovo and Israel having diplomatic normalization. You have stated that you support a two-state solution in the Middle East, would you support more Muslim-majority countries normalizing relations with Israel even though it may mean that the Palestinians will lose leverage in their fight towards a two-state solution?”

We know, by now, what Trump would say. He would riff around the subject without saying much of anything. “I don’t know but we’ll be looking into that very strongly”, he might say. ‘Mike Pompeo will probably address that later today. All I’ll say is that we’re for peace. No more needless wars. We moved our embassy to Jerusalem…”

Biden, however, waded carefully into the detail, affirmed his belief in an independent Kosovo, approved of Muslim nations normalising relations with Israel, whilst hesitating only to imply he didn’t believe that such relations should weaken the Palestinian position. It wasn’t exactly Kissinger-level analysis, but neither was he proving he can tie his own shoelaces. Much as Biden should not underestimate Trump, nor should Trump underestimate Biden. Neither are the caricatures each would make of the other.

Rage is published next Tuesday, meaning that Trump can anticipate six tough days. That doesn’t sound like much but we’re now only 54 days away from the election and six days amounts to nine per cent of the time remaining. Trump needs to move the needle when, thus far, he only seems capable of jabbing it in his own foot.