DEMS/GOP/JAMES MATTIS/MEDIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump has hurled numerous insults at Democrats, the news media and even those in his own party. But the president has also been on the receiving end, including from people who work in his administration. ‘Fear: Trump in the White House,’ by Bob Woodward, is the latest book to detail chaos in the president’s immediate orbit. Excerpts were published Tuesday and immediately brought to mind several disparaging comments that Trump’s staff is reported to have made about the commander in chief: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Trump had the understanding of ‘a fifth- or sixth-grader,’ according to accounts of Woodward’s book that were published by The Washington Post. The comments came after a National Security Council meeting on Jan. 19 in which Trump questioned why the government was using resources to maintain a U.S. military presence on the Korean Peninsula. Mattis told Trump that presence was necessary ‘in order to prevent World War III.’”
–Rebecca Morin, “‘Idiot,’ ‘Dope,’ ‘Moron’: How Trump’s aides have insulted the boss,” Politico, September 4, 2018 6:33 pm