'Great peril': Bob Woodward reveals what Americans 'should worry about' most if Trump wins

26 October 2024

In 10 days, Americans will decide whether to keep Vice President Kamala Harris in the White House, or to send former President Donald Trump back for a second term. And legendary journalist Bob Woodward is giving voters a stark warning.

CNN host Christiane Amanpour invited Woodward onto her Saturday program to talk about his new book, "War." The longtime Washington Post reporter spoke specifically about how the former president approaches national security situations, and makes decisions almost exclusively based on his own judgment rather than on the collective input of those around him.

"This is a moment of great peril for the country, and we should not kid ourselves," Woodward said of how Trump would potentially handle a nuclear crisis.

Woodward's book, which hit shelves earlier this month, contained multiple revelations about how Trump engaged with foreign leaders. He reported that Trump had as many as seven private conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin after he left office, and even reportedly sent him multiple Covid-19 tests during the height of the pandemic while there was a nationwide test shortage.

In describing what makes the former president so dangerous, Woodward — who broke the news of the bombshell Watergate scandal with his Post colleague Carl Bernstein – pointed to Trump's mercurial and unpredictable nature. Amanpour acknowledged the portion of his book in which former Joint Chief of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, who Trump appointed to head the U.S. military in 2019, told Woodward that his former boss was a "fascist to the core."

"Are you concerned that this kind of character, who has written and spoken about admiring people like Putin, people like Xi [Jinping], others, Orbán in Hungary, are you worried about what they might do in office?" Amanpour asked.

"Here is what Trump doesn't do. He doesn't plan. He just says, 'oh, I'm going to pick that off the shelf. That idea, I'm gonna save this.' There's no planning system," he continued. "In a national security environment, you're not running a roulette wheel where random numbers come up. You need to plan."

"And in the case of Trump, there's no team! He just decides," he added. "The absence of a team — the absence of a plan — is what everyone should weigh and worry about."

Watch Woodward's interview with Amanpour below, or by clicking this link.

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