‘Trump Exploded’: 2016 Meltdown Over Russia Interview Questions Revealed In New Book
Donald Trump “exploded” in anger after ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos grilled the then-presidential candidate over Russia and his relationship with Vladimir Putin during an interview before the 2016 election, according to a new book.
“Once the cameras turned off, storm clouds came over Trump’s face,” New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman detailed in “Confidence Man,” an advance copy of which was obtained by CNN this week.
Trump, said Haberman, railed at ABC News producer John Santucci that the Russia and Putin questions were “bullshit.”
“Eight fucking follow-ups — are you fucking kidding me?” Trump reportedly snarled before launching into this analogy about domestic violence:
It’s like asking me if I beat my wife. You ask me once, I say ‘Fuck no,’ and we move on. You don’t then ask if I hit her with a fucking baseball bat or a fucking golf club. That was bullshit and you better fucking fix it in the edit.
“Trump exploded” when Stephanopoulos later “chuckled” and said his team told him “I didn’t ask you enough” about Russia, said Haberman.
The future president reportedly fired back: “Are you fucking kidding me? Eighteen fucking follow-ups — how many different ways do I have to say I don’t know the guy?”
As president, Trump lavished Putin with praise, took his word over that of U.S. intelligence agencies and tried to extort Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into smearing his likely 2020 election rival Joe Biden.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
