India Today – October 08, 2018

12 INDIA TODAY OCTOBER 8, 2018

T

he noted British newspaper,
The Guardian,hasacquiredan
early version of a book,Full Dis-
closure,writtenbythepornfilm
star, Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Clif-
ford), about her life and alleged affair
with President Donald Trump. Apart
from highlighting the president’s quirky
personal characteristics, it is also rich in
salacious detail about the putative affair.
Once published, it will probably comple-
ment what two other books, including
Michael Wolff ’sFire and Fury: Inside
the Trump White Houseand Omarosa
Manigault’s Unhinged:AnInsider’sAc-
count of The Trump White House,have
revealed both about the tribulations of
the campaign trial and the subsequent
chaotic workings of the White House
under the Trump presidency.
Bob Woodward’s book,Fear: Trump
in the White House,isalsorepletewith
details pertaining to the turbulence that
has marked decision-making within
the White House since Trump assumed
office. Woodward, a journalist with an
extraordinary pedigree harking back to
the days when he and Carl Bernstein of
The Washington Postbroke the story on
the Watergate burglary, does not, unlike
the other tell-all accounts published
thus far, writeinbreathlessprose.
However, he provides detailed, telling
and troubling accounts about how the
president reached a series of critical de-
cisions laden with much import for both
the United States and the world.
Tr ump’s choices on a ser ies of mat-
ters dealing with South Asian politics
will be of particular interest to the
readers of this magazine. Among other
matters, Woodwarddevotesafairbit
of a chapter to Trump’s views about
Afghanistan. He reminds readers
that during the campaign, Trump had
repeatedly and sharply criticised the

US involvement in Afghanistan and

had threatened to withdraw American

forces from the country if elected.

Once in office, he hewed to his

original position even as his aides, most

notably the then National Security

Adviser General H.R. McMaster, sought

to devise a new strategy for ending the

war. Trump, sceptical of any plan that

involved adding more troops, had little

use for the new strategy and categori-

callytoldMcMasterasmuchinrather

colourful language. More to the point he

even countered McMaster stating that

his friend, Prime Minister Narendra

Modi of India, had informed him that

theUShadnotbenefittedfromitslong

involvementinAfghanistan.Worse

still, Trump insisted that the People’s

Republic of China (PRC) was busy

extracting Afghanistan’s substantial

mineral wealth.

Simultaneously, he made clear to

his aides that the payments to Pakistan

would have to end unless it was willing

to cooperate. On the questions of Paki-

stan and Afghanistan, Trump proved

to be unyielding. However, the hawkish

Senator from South Carolina, Lindsay

Graham, eventually persuaded him to

augment American forces in Afghani-

stan arguing that a failure to stabilise

the country would inevitably damage

his presidency.

Ironically, despite Trump’s stated

fondness for Modi, Woodward also

reports that it was McMaster who

had to make a spirited but ultimately

unsuccessful case for inviting Modi to

Camp David. Despite McMaster’s ad-

vocacy, Trump decided to simply host

Modi at the White House. This curious

unwillingness to invite Modi to Camp

David notwithstanding, Woodward

shows that Trump genuinely believes in

the power of personal diplomacy. This

is evident from the discussions that

Woodward recounts about Trump’s

dealings with Chinese president Xi

Jinping. When the PRC signed off on a

raft of new sanctions on North Korea,

Trump attributed them to his personal

chemistry with Xi. Yet, true to his

mercurial self, he had no compunctions

about imposing significant tariffs on

the PRC when it suited his perceived

electoral needs. As he completes nearly

two years in office, Woodward’s book

provides a fascinating aperture into the

tumultuous White House. ■

Sumit Ganguly is a Distinguished

Professor of Political Science, Indiana

University, Bloomington

INSIDE THE TUMULTUOUS

TRUMP WHITE HOUSE

BOOKS

UPFRONT

By Sumit Ganguly

FEAR: TRUMP IN THE

WHITE HOUSE

Bob Woodward

Simon & Schuster

420 pages; `467 (UK price)

Despite Trump’s stated

fondness for Modi,

McMaster was unable

to convince Trump to

invite Modi to Camp

David. Trump decided

to simply host him at

the White House