The two most overlooked, inexplicable stories from Bob Woodward's Trump book

[Roland99]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/05/most-overlooked-inexplicable-stories-bob-woodwards-trump-book/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8b5a29931fa9

The first is Trump's apparent confusion about South Korea's importance as an ally. According to Woodward, Trump at one point asked his military leaders why the United States couldn't just withdraw from the Korean Peninsula. They explained to him that it would mean we wouldn't know about North Korean missile launches for 15 minutes rather than learning about them almost instantly, within seven seconds. This is the flap that led Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to reportedly suggest Trump was intellectually and temperamentally akin to “a fifth- or sixth-grader."

What The Washington Post's story Tuesday didn't detail, though, is that this exchange didn't happen early in Trump's presidency; it came on Jan. 19, 2018 — almost exactly one full year into it. It came months after North Korea had threatened an attack on Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean. It also came a couple months after North Korea said it had developed a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could reach the continental United States.

...

The other anecdote is Trump's comments about Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who passed away a week and a half ago. In Woodward's telling, Trump was at a dinner with military leaders, including Mattis and Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, when he suggested McCain had been given an early release as a prisoner of war in Vietnam because of his father's military rank, a four-star admiral.

This is quite the opposite of the actual events: McCain turned down early release. And in fact, that may be the single biggest reason he is viewed as an American hero, because it meant he served for more than five years as a POW. Mattis had to correct Trump, according to Woodward, by saying, “No, Mr. President. I think you've got it reversed.” Trump responded: “Oh, okay."

[ProfessorPlum]

1. holy christ

to make that error about McCain in front of a bunch military leaders . . . . it's one thing to falsely slander people in front of MAGAts, who don't know better, but jesus talk about shitting on the most honorable thing McCain did in his whole life - especially to military guys.

[watoos]

2. Yeah but,

the military loves Trump, hated Obama and Hillary.

[Nitram]

9. No, the military does NOT love Trump. He was a draft dodger, he has insulted the command, he has

been all over the map with wild contradictory public statements about military matters. They view him as a spoiled, ignorant, neurotic loser.

[jayschool2013]

10. But they love his budgets, I'm guessing

But I'm just guessing. The members of the military in my family sure love them some Trump.

[Nitram]

11. Yes, they will hold their noses and take the money

I'm sure some in the high command like Trump because they are insanely conservative, but I think most of them despise him for his treatment of McCain and vets.

[Luz]

12. A lot of military do. I've been in a lot of govt offices, and one

thing I notice is that they ALL have fox on their televisions. They luv trump.

[LakeSuperiorView]

3. I think the first one goes towards Dumbass not understanding the globe.

He doesn't understand that we can't see Korea from California or Alaska. He doesn't get that it is night time in Japan when he taking his morning tweet dump. I think flat earthers could have an ally in Cheetolini.

[FakeNoose]

4. People don't understand the real reason Cheeto is up at 3 a.m.

Cheeto gets his calls from Pootie at 3 a.m. because it's about 12 or 1 p.m. Moscow time.

[malaise]

5. The McCain lie has not been overlooked

I saw coverage about that

[tanyev]

6. ...And Trump later told the erroneous version to many others, because that's the version he prefers.

I assume.

[7962]

7. I've seen the "Nixon pardoned McCain" meme going around too. Unbelievable.

Stuff like that can be checked out in 2 minutes. They just WANT to believe it.

[Nitram]

8. I have some doubts about the relevance of either event. For the first, I rather doubt the US

does not have the capability to detect a missile launch almost immediately whether or not we have a large military presence in South Korea. We have sources of human and signal intelligence that are capable of detecting such events. The main reason to keep troops in South Korea is to exponentially increase the danger to North Korea if they launch an attack on the South, often called a "tripwire." If our troops are attacked, the US is permitted by international law to launch all-out war on North Korea.

The other is that Trump's knowledge" of the world is a combination of conspiracy theories and garbage he just believes at a gut level. I wouldn't doubt for a moment that he really believed the conspiracy theory that has long been making the rounds that McCain collaborated with the enemy and betrayed his fellow prisoners. An old friend who has gone off the deep end posted that theory on FB a couple of weeks ago. So I neither find it overlooked nor inexplicable that Trump would believe in the "alternate" version of McCain's story. Dump's "Oh, okay" means "Okay, I get it that you believe that."

[GusBob]

13. How in the world did he get the McCain story backwards?

I have never heard that version at all.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

16. You're not spending time on RW Twitter accounts

#JohnMcCain 10 Reasons Not to Mourn Him #SundayMorning #BONUS #BenGarrison #cartoon Do not weep for the #DeepstateSwamp #NoName post at https://grrrgraphics.com/ten-reasons-not-to-mourn-mccain/ …

Link to tweet

The replies are just as supportive of this narrative as the original post. For example:

Yep!

Link to tweet

Please note that when I link to GrrrGraphics, it is not an indication that I support Ben Garrison's politics.

mahatmakanejeeves

[bucolic_frolic]

14. He villifies and fantasizes delusions about anything or anyone who he believes

has said or done something that reflects badly on him

[SayItLoud]

15. What's the latest support numbers of Vets and serving military;

Even after tRUMP was shamed into turning over the $ he had people donate for Vets his support numbers were strong in these groups. Has it changed any?

[Roland99]

17. Found this. Plenty of cognitive dissonance and ignorance

https://www.veteranstoday.com/pollsarchive/

But also this:

The Military Community Might Actually Be Souring on Trump
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-mccain-veterans-716470/