Getty Images President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with the Emir of Kuwait Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday.
President Donald Trump called himself “tough as hell on people” as he attacked Bob Woodward’s new book, and blasted Nike Inc. NKE, +0.40% over its controversial ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick. He also didn’t rule out a government shutdown over border security.
‘TOUGH AS HELL’
Trump again ripped Woodward’s book “Fear: Trump in the White House,” suggesting libel laws should be changed. But he appeared to support at least one of the book’s themes: that he’s harsh and sometimes insulting to those who work for him.
“I’m tough as hell on people & if I weren’t, nothing would get done. Also, I question everybody & everything-which is why I got elected!” he said on Twitter. Trump has denied specific parts of the book, such as his calling Attorney General Jeff Sessions “mentally retarded.” “Don’t know why Washington politicians don’t change libel laws?” he asked.
He told reporters he thought the book was released to interfere with the hearings for his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, which he said he’d watched for a while Wednesday. “The book means nothing. It’s a work of fiction,” Trump said while in the Oval Office with the emir of Kuwait.
See: Kavanaugh won’t answer ‘hypothetical’ presidential self-pardon question.
Also read: White House dismisses Woodward’s book as ‘fabricated stories.’
SHUTDOWN NOT OFF TABLE
Hosting Republican leaders at the White House, Trump said a government shutdown wasn’t off the table, just hours after telling the Daily Caller he didn’t see a shutdown before the midterms.
“If it happens, it happens,” Trump said about a shutdown at the end of this month. “If it’s about border security, I’m willing to do anything. We have to protect our borders.” Trump has pressed Congress for money for his proposed border wall. If the government isn’t funded by Sept. 30, the government would partially shut down on Oct. 1.
See: Trump raises prospect of government shutdown — should investors worry?
CANADA COMMENTS
As U.S. and Canadian negotiators met to discuss a trade deal, Trump said, “we have to make a fair deal with Canada.”
“We’ll see how it works out. If it doesn’t work out it that’s going to be fine for the country, for our country,” Trump said, echoing similar threats he has made in the past about reworking the North American Free Trade Agreement. “Over the next day or two we’ll see what happens.”
See: Nafta talks restart under pressure from Trump.
