Editor's Note:
Peter Bergen is a CNN National Security Analyst, Vice President of New America, and Professor of Practice at Arizona State University.
He is senior editor of the "Coronavirus Daily Brief" and author of the book "Trump and His Generals: The Cost of Chaos."
The opinions expressed in this comment are yours.
See more opinion at CNNE.com/opinion.
(CNN) -
"Rage" may be Bob Woodward's most important book since "All the President's Men" (or "All the President's Men" in its Spanish edition), in which he and Carl Bernstein expose the history of the Watergate.
It's because of the tapes.
President Donald Trump gave 18 official interviews for "Rage."
Woodward recorded almost all of them.
From what we've heard so far, the president does an excellent job hanging himself with his own rope.
The usual White House playbook for denying and exposing Trump's unflattering stories cannot be used against "Rage," because Trump himself, in his own voice, is the primary source for the book.
Trump's latest phone call to Woodward: "Nothing more could have been done"
Trump told Woodward, for example, in early February that he knew that the coronavirus is spread through the air and is much more deadly than the flu.
Public lies contradicting his private confessions to Woodward, his repeated rejection of the severity of the virus, and his arrogant disdain for face masks have surely contributed to the American carnage the virus has left in its wake, with millions infected and more than 195,000. dead.
Woodward's previous book on the Trump White House, "Fear," was dismissed by Trump and his allies as false, because much of his material came from anonymous sources.
"Rage" is in a different category.
Trump, who had not spoken to Woodward about "Fear," apparently believed that if he could speak to Woodward frequently he could charm and cajole the author into seeing the world as he sees it.
In "Rage," Woodward records a series of Trumpian assertions unattached to reality, such as that he "has done more for the black community than any other president besides Abraham Lincoln."
Woodward pointed out to Trump that it was Lyndon Johnson who pushed for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, it is known, prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of race and ordered the elimination of school segregation.
Trump, who doesn't easily absorb any fact that doesn't fit his own heroic narrative, backed off saying, “I've done a lot for the black community.
And honestly, I don't feel love.
That's totally true: Only 10% of black voters support Trump.
The same arrogance that led Trump to believe that Woodward would surely adopt a Trumpian view of the world if he only spent enough time interviewing the great leader - who, for example, has done so much for blacks that his unemployment rate is now 13 % - also applied it to his delusional relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, whom Trump believed would surely give up his nuclear weapons by dint of his own personal presidential persuasion.
Woodward devotes a considerable number of pages to unpacking this particular fantasy since the White House gave him access to 27 of what Trump has described as "love letters" between Trump and Kim.
Woodward writes that the tone of the letters is similar to that of the "suitors."
As is well known, Trump met Kim three times in Singapore, Hanoi, and in the DMZ between North and South Korea, but like several U.S. presidents before him, Trump has failed to make it happen. North Korea dismantle or even reduce its nuclear program.
"Rage" is interesting for other reasons as well.
Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats spoke extensively with Woodward.
They, too, paint a damning picture of the Trump world.
Coats says of Trump: “For him, a lie is not a lie.
It's just what you think.
He doesn't know the difference between the truth and a lie.
Mattis observes: "I never cared much about what Trump said… I didn't get much guidance from him, in general, other than the occasional tweet."
This is an extraordinary claim for a secretary of defense on the commander in chief.
Tillerson said he found Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner's friendly dealings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "nauseating to watch" and "stomach-churning."
This raises a question: If Coats, Mattis, and Tillerson feel this way, why didn't they ever get together?
Because, according to the account in Woodward's book, everyone has a good relationship and tells the public what they know about working for the president.
Why did they save it all for Woodward?
Woodward reports that Coats and Mattis did have a discussion on this issue during a phone call on May 25, 2019, in which they both agreed that there might come a time when they need to speak publicly.
Mattis pointed out to Coats that Trump was "dangerous" and "inappropriate."
And just over a year later, Mattis issued a tough public condemnation of Trump after peaceful protesters were violently dispersed outside the White House in June.
If ever there was a time for these former high-ranking Trump cabinet officials, and anyone else who was (or still is) inside that chaotic White House, to tell us what we need to know about President Trump, surely now is the moment.
If these officials really believe, as Woodward writes, that "Trump is the wrong man for the job," they should tell us what made them decide that, and why so few of them have spoken publicly before.
Bob woodward