Famed Watergate reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s 1989 interview with former President Donald Trump ― which Woodward has described as displaying the “origin of Trumpism in the words of Trump himself” — has seen the sunshine of day once more.
Woodward discovered the tape and transcript of the sit-down in Trump Tower in a storage facility final yr. He detailed what he described as “the lost interview” in his new ebook, “War.” The Washington Put up shared among the audio and an excerpt from the ebook on its web site Thursday.
“It’s a portrait of Trump at age 42, focused on his real estate deals, making money and his celebrity status,” wrote Woodward.
“I was intrigued by Trump, a hustler entrepreneur, and his unique, carefully nurtured persona, designed even then to manipulate others with precision and a touch of ruthlessness,” he recalled of accepting Trump’s provide to speak some 25 years in the past.
Within the interview, present GOP nominee Trump chatted about his public persona, utilizing his intuition to attain offers, how one can cope with unions and the mafia and the potential for getting into public workplace.
At one level, Trump advised the journalists: “You’ve got to know your audience, and by the way, for some people, be a killer, for some people, be all candy. For some people, different. For some people, both.”
“Killer, candy or both. That’s Donald Trump,” wrote Woodward within the ebook. “What a remarkable time capsule, a full psychological study of a man, then a 42-year-old Manhattan real estate king.”
“I never expected Trump to become president or a defining political figure of our time,” he admitted. “The same instincts I reported on during his presidency were just as much a trademark of his character back in 1989. Here, in this interview 35 years ago, we see the origin of Trumpism in the words of Trump himself.”
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