MEDIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A Bob Woodward expose book has been a rite of passage for presidential administrations since the storied investigative reporter first made a name for himself by breaking Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal. Now it’s Donald Trump’s turn under the microscope. The picture revealed – of an administration having a ‘nervous breakdown of executive power’ – is unflattering in the extreme. Donald Trump’s supporters will say, not without cause, that Woodward epitomises the Washington establishment their man is fighting against. It’s also true, however, that the reporter has unrivalled access to the corridors of power, and the general Washington consensus is that it’s better to talk to him than not, since your colleagues – and enemies – are certainly giving him their side of the story. While the accounts in Fear: Trump in the White House are provided on ‘deep background’ – i.e. without attribution – the episodes Woodward recounts and the quotes he uses come from those in the room – and often, in fact, from the people who were doing the speaking. The White House, and the president himself, have since responded to the book, calling it ‘fabricated stories’ by ‘former disgruntled employees.'”
–Anthony Zurcher, “Bob Woodward’s book on Trump: The most explosive quotes,” BBC.com, September 4, 2018