Trump Just Babbled on at Another World Leader About Hating Bob Woodward's New Book

As is usually the case, President Donald Trump made a big dumb fool of himself while meeting with a foreign leader. But on Wednesday afternoon in particular, he spent at least part of his time at the White House with the Emir of Kuwait spewing his complaints about veteran journalist Bob Woodward’s explosive new book about the administration.

According to reporters who were in the Oval Office meeting, Trump called Woodward’s book—which details the “nervous breakdown” taking place in the West Wing, much of which stems from the president’s own personal instability—a work of “total fiction” and accused Woodward of lying in his writing about other presidents.

According to the White House pool report, Trump said: “I heard somewhere where they said the assassination of President Assad by the United States—never even discussed.”

He continued, per the pool:

“The book is total fiction, just like he wrote in the past about other presidents. You look at what he said about President Bush, what he said about President Obama, big scandalous things. It lasts for about a day. No. That was never even contemplated, nor would it be contemplated and should not have been written about in the book. It’s just more fiction. The book is total fiction.”

He did not respond to a question about whether he’d sue Woodward.

For his part, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the emir, spoke “soft and low,” according to the pool, about topics like the ongoing crisis in Yemen and the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

This much is clear: Trump’s projection that this upheaval will last for “about a day” is wishful thinking, particularly when it comes to his own inability to just be quiet.