Bob Woodward's new book Fear: Trump in the White House (Simon & Schuster, $30) paints a somber portrait of a senior staff obliged to work around the president in order to run the country."A central theme of the book is the stealthy machinations used by those in Trump’s inner sanctum to try to control his impulses and prevent disasters, both for the president personally and for the nation he was elected to lead," Philip Rucker and Robert Costa report for The Washington Post. "Woodward describes 'an administrative coup d'etat' and a 'nervous breakdown' of the executive branch, with senior aides conspiring to pluck official papers from the president’s desk so he couldn’t see or sign them."
According to Woodward's interviews with staffers, former top economic advisor Gary Cohn stole a letter from President Trump's desk that, when signed, would formally withdraw the U.S. from a trade agreement with South Korea. Trump did not notice it was missing, Rucker and Costa report. The U.S. remained in negotiations with South Korea until a deal was struck in March 2018.
Cohn did the same thing in spring of 2017 after President Trump ordered a letter written to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Association. The letter was drawn up and placed on his desk, but Cohn and other advisors worried about its impact on the nation's economy and foreign relations. Cohn told the staff secretary he would simply take the letter off Trump's desk, Rucker and Costa report. The article doesn't say whether Trump noticed the NAFTA letter was missing, but the U.S. did not withdraw from the trade agreement.
from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2MQ9dfK U.S. stayed in NAFTA because staffer stole withdrawal letter from Trump's desk, Bob Woodward writes in new book - Entrepreneur Generations
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