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Trump's Covid-19 tapes to Kim Jong-un letters, here are 5 bombshells revealed in Bob Woodward’s book ‘Rage’

Bob Woodward’s new book ‘Rage’ has come up with some startling revelations about President Donald Trump

Ahead of the United States Presidential election, which is scheduled to take place on November 3, noted journalist Bob Woodward’s new book ‘Rage’ has dropped with startling revelations about President Donald Trump. Woodward in his book revealed some major bombshells, including that Trump deliberately downplayed the threat of the novel coronavirus. Here are the five biggest bombshells from the book:

Trump admitted to playing down Covid-19 threat

Trump admitted that he knew weeks before the first confirmed US coronavirus death that the virus was dangerous, airborne, highly contagious and "more deadly than even your strenuous flus", and that he repeatedly played it down publicly. As per the book which throws light on some shocking revelations, Trump told Woodward on 7 February, “This is deadly stuff.” However, for weeks after that conversation, Trump repeatedly told the citizens that the virus was no worse than the seasonal flu. The president told Woodward on March 19 that he was deliberately "playing down" the risks and threat of the deadly virus. "I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down because I don't want to create a panic,” Trump said in a recorded call. The president also stated that "plenty of young people" were at high risk to the virus, "not just old people". The US has reported more than 6.3 million virus cases and nearly 190,000 fatalities.

Trump's ex-Defence Secretary thinks he is 'dangerous'

According to ‘Rage’, Trump’s former Defense Secretary James Mattis called the President “dangerous” and “unfit” to be commander in chief. He also added that Trump has “no moral compass”. Apart from Mattis, the book also includes brutal assessments of Trump’s presidency from many of his former top national security officials, including former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Mattis resigned from his post in December 2018 after a disagreement with Trump over his decision to withdraw US troops from Syria and Afghanistan. "I was basically directed to do something that I thought went beyond stupid to felony stupid," Mattis said speaking of the withdrawal, as per the book.

Trump's bond with Kim Jong-un through letters

According to the book, Woodward obtained 27 letters that Trump exchanged with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Of those letters, 25 have not been reported publicly. The letters provide a fascinating view of their relationship. Kim compliments Trump by repeatedly calling him "Your Excellency" and mentions in one letter that meeting again would be "reminiscent of a scene from a fantasy film". In another letter, Kim has written that the "deep and special friendship between us will work as a magical force". "I feel pleased to have formed good ties with such a powerful and preeminent statesman as Your Excellency," Kim wrote in another letter. Trump told Woodward that he found Kim "far beyond smart". According to the noted journalist, Trump bragged about how Kim "tells me everything," including a tale of how he managed to get his uncle killed.

Trump spoke about secret nuclear weapon system

In an interview from December 5, 2019, Woodward said that Trump had boasted to him about a new secret weapons system. Woodward stated that other sources confirmed the information about the secret nuclear weapon, without providing further details, but were surprised that Trump disclosed it at all. “I have built a nuclear- a weapons system, that nobody’s ever had in this country before. We have stuff that you haven’t even seen or heard about. We have stuff that Putin and Xi have never heard about before. There’s nobody. What we have is incredible,” Trump told Woodward.

Trump dismissed idea of White privilege, spoke of BLM protests 

 Woodward also spoke to Trump about the Black Lives Matter movement and the national reckoning with racism following the police killing of George Floyd. In one of their interviews, Woodward suggested to the President that people like the two of them "White, privileged" need to understand the anger and pain that Black people feel in the US. "Do you have any sense that that privilege has isolated and put you in a cave to a certain extent, as it put me and I think lots of white privileged people in a cave, and we have to work our way out of it to understand the anger and the pain, particularly Black people feel in this country?" Woodward asked to which Trump responded with a chuckle, "No. You really drank the Kool-Aid, didn't you? Just listen to you."

Following these shocking revelations, social media has been abuzz with criticism and condemnation of Trump. Dr Dena Grayson took to the micro-blogging website to address the shocking revelation of Trump downplaying the threat of Covid-19. “I began warning about this #coronavirus in JANUARY. If, instead of LYING about the threat, Trump had acted decisively in early February with a #lockdown and a consistent message to #WearAMask, social distance and wash hands, MANY THOUSANDS of American lives could have been saved,” she wrote.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took to Twitter and wrote, “#TrumpKnew and kept quiet. In fact, Trump lied. And now, people have died. Pass it on.”

One user tweeted, “Rage"? You bet. Trump has sent 190,000 to their graves. He's been spitting on our military, our veterans. He's sold us out to foreign enemies. Don't agonize. ORGANIZE. Make a plan to VOTE. #BidenCoalition #TrumpKnew #COVID19.”

Another one wrote, “Trump is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize on the same day it's proved that he knew how deadly Covid-19 was (at the outset) and deliberately played it down, causing the USA to have the highest number of deaths in the world. He deserves to be tried for genocide instead.”

Trump has been widely accused of curtailing the threat of the virus to prop up financial markets. Referring to this a user tweeted, “The panic trump didn’t want to create was probably with the stock market. #TrumpKnew #BobWoodwardTapes #rage.”

“When Trump claimed he knew more about the virus than anyone he wasn't kidding! #rage #trumpknew #trumpknewandidnothing #trumpvirus #BobWoodward,” wrote another user.

Another one tweeted, “Only a complete Malignant, Narcissistic, Pathetic ,Criminal, Traitorous Failure could receive a nomination for a Nobel Prize and be exposed on tape as a Genocidal Sociopath all within a matter of hrs. RESIGN #TrumpKnew #TrumpGenocide.”

‘Rage’ will release on Tuesday, September 15.