Bob Woodward - The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodwards Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump

The New York Times Audiobook Bestseller The Trump Tapes The Historical Record Bob Woodwards Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump Bob Woodward Including all 27 Letters Between President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Claire McMullen, 28, a lawyer and writer from Australia, was my full collaborator on this project. She poured over the Trump tapes for countless hours this past year, pushing me to reflect and explain my reporting methods and Trumps presidency for listeners and readers. Her brilliant insights on American politics, the presidency and Trump were invaluable to me. This historical recordthe transcript of more than eight hours of interviews with President Trump and my 227 new commentariesis a testament to her hard work. I will always cherish her friendship and commitment. Karen Pearlman, producer and director of The Trump Tapes, was also an extraordinary behind-the-scenes force on this project.

This is the first time in 50 years of reporting that I have released full audio and transcripts of my work. Karens attention to detail and to the sound production quality was instrumental to the audiobook. Her energy and candor in the studio for days as I read the new commentary into the microphone made an unnatural process for me feel comfortable. Thank you to the great Jonathan Karp, CEO of Simon & Schuster, for his counsel and unflagging support. My profound gratitude to Chris Lynch, president and publisher of Simon & Schuster Audio, for his advice at every step of the audiobook process. Chris understood immediately the value of these interviews.

His full engagement in this project was a steady guide through new, uncharted territory for me. Many thanks to Elisa Shokoff, vice-president and executive producer, for her management; Robert B. Barnett, my lawyer and confidant, for being at my side for too many years to count; and Aileen Boyle, my publicist, for helping this project reach listeners and readers around the world. Finally, my eternal thanks to my wife, Elsa Walsh, who has worked on 19 of my 21 books in the 41 years we have been together. She played an extraordinarily pronounced role in my book Rage that was based on these interviews. As you see in the transcripts, Elsa lived these interviews with me.

Trump would call our home at any time, and I had the rare opportunity to be able to call him. Elsa jokes there were three people in our marriage. She is a brilliant and clear-eyed editor, always identifying the intrigue and the essential follow-up questions. I will never be able to thank her enough for her contributions to my work and our life together.

OPERATOR: Mr. TRUMP: Hi, Bob TRUMP: My whole life has been deals. TRUMP: Hi, Bob TRUMP: My whole life has been deals.

Ive done great. Far greater than people understand. TRUMP: I respect Putin. I think Putin likes me. I think I like him. BW: Why dont you give me your taxes. BW: Why dont you give me your taxes.

No, seriously. TRUMP: I said to the king, King, youve got to pay us for protection. If it werent for us TRUMP: We had a very good chemistry together. We talked a lot. We couldve talked TRUMP: I will consider this one of my greatest achievements: getting the scum out of government. BW: Sir, youre going to be judged by how you handle the virus. TRUMP: I have done a tremendous amount for the Black community and honestly Im not feeling any love, because TRUMP: Nothing scares me. TRUMP: I have done a tremendous amount for the Black community and honestly Im not feeling any love, because TRUMP: Nothing scares me.

If I were scared I wouldnt be doing an interview with you today. Id be under a table with my thumb in my mouth. Okay? TRUMP: I hope you treat me better than Bush, because you made him look like a stupid moron, which he was.

Im Bob Woodward. Im doing something here that Ive never done before, presenting the lengthy, raw interviews of my work. In the fall of 2019 through August 2020, I interviewed President Trump 19 times for my second book on his presidency, Rage.

I had also interviewed him in 2016 when he was a presidential candidate. I decided to take this unusual step of releasing these recordings after relistening in full to all 20 interviews earlier this year. Information from these tapes was used in Rage, but as I listened to them again I was stunned by their relevance to understanding Trump. Hearing Trump speak is a completely different experience to reading the transcripts or listening to snatches of interviews on television or the internet. You will hear Trump as I did. Raw, profane.

Divisive and deceptive. His language is often retaliatory. He pledges to even the score with his detractors and enemies. He is angry, feels abused and completely misunderstood. Yet, you will also hear him engaging and entertaining, laughing, ever the host. He is trying to win me over, sell his presidency to me.

The full-time salesman. I hope that you will feel you are in the Oval Office with me as Trump slams the Resolute Desk, or at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, as he plays concierge to his guests, including me. Or experience my surprise when Trump calls me at home out of the blue. Trumps voice is a concussive instrument. It is fast and loud. He hits hard or will lower his voice to underscore for effect.

He is staggeringly incautious. And at times staggeringly repetitive, as if saying something often and loud enough will make something true. During these interviews, I question and at times fact-check the president. But you will also hear me listen without interrupting even when I know what he says is wrong or unsupported. This is because I wanted to hear everything he had to say. Having an argument would not have achieved that purpose.

In my book Rage, I only used information I was able to verify and in other cases I pointed out when he was inaccurate. Here in this audiobook, I at times break frame from the interviews to add commentary to provide essential context or clarification. But for the most part the interviews proceed uninterrupted. When you hear Trump in his own words, in his own voice, it is an up-close, unvarnished self-portrait of him and his presidency. I wanted to put as much of Trumps voice, his own words, out there for the historical record and so people could hear and judge and make their own assessments. All interviews were recorded with his permission.

To improve clarity, we have edited out excessive repetition, irrelevant material, background noise, and unintelligible audio. Our interviews took place during one of the most consequential years in American history. Trump was impeached, the COVID-19 pandemic erupted, and the murder of George Floyd sparked the largest racial justice protests in the United States since the civil rights movement. I pressed Trump on these topics as well as foreign policy and the economy. At times our discussions were heated. I often expected each interview to be our last.

But the president kept calling and he continued to answer my calls. On re-listening to the tapes, I discovered something surprising to me, which I had not realized at the time. I had become entangled in the disorder of Trumps presidency. Knowing that he could call at any time and knowing that I could call him and inquire about anythingincluding the events of that daywas a once in a lifetime opportunity, but it was also unnerving. Trump became the primary focus of my life for nine months. After my book