Bob Woodward says Trump called his book 'a fake' on Twitter 90 minutes after he warned the president it would be 'tough'

• The journalist Bob Woodward said that less than two hours after he told President Donald Trump that his new book would be "tough," Trump tweeted that the book would "be a FAKE."
• Woodward told CBS News' "60 Minutes" that he told Trump last month that "Rage" would include some things he might not like and that Trump joked that he might be able to charm him for a future book.
• Trump was interviewed for the book 18 times, even though his aides urged him not to do it.
• Among the book's revelations is that Trump deliberately downplayed the threat of the coronavirus early in the outbreak.
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Bob Woodward said President Donald Trump tweeted that his book would be "a FAKE" after he told the president that it would be "tough" on him.

Woodward, who has written books about the Trump, Obama, and Bush administrations, told CBS News' "60 Minutes" in an interview that aired on Sunday that Trump publicly dismissed the book, "Rage," after Woodward's warning on August 14.

Woodward said Trump had called to ask whether Woodward could write about the normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates that he had announced.

Woodward said he told Trump it was too late, because his book had already been sent to be published. Woodward said he added: "It's a tough book. There are going to be things that you are not going to like, judgments that I made."

Woodward paraphrased Trump's response: "Well, I didn't get you on this book. Maybe I'll get you on the next one."

Woodward said that "an hour and a half later," Trump tweeted: "The Bob Woodward book will be a FAKE, as always, just as many of the others have been. But, believe it or not, lately I've been getting lots of GREAT books!"

The president had said in a previous tweet that "everybody does phony books on Donald Trump and Republicans."

It's not clear whether Trump had read any parts of the book or knew more details about what it would include before he tweeted.

Trump was, however, interviewed by Woodward 18 times over nine hours for the book. Trump did those interviews despite his aides advising him against it — he believed he could "charm" Woodward, multiple reports said.

Among the book's revelations are that Trump deliberately downplayed the threat of the coronavirus early in the outbreak and that he ordered the military strike that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani despite top advisers urging him not to do it.

Woodward and the Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein in the 1970s uncovered the Nixon administration's role in attempting to bug the Democratic National Committee headquarters. Their reporting led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

Woodward's new book on Trump, "Rage," is due to be released on Tuesday.

Woodward also told "60 Minutes" that Trump "was ridiculing me" for asking in an interview whether the president was able to "understand the anger and the pain particularly Black people feel in this country."

Trump retweeted a tweet on Monday that said that Woodward "deserved to be ridiculed."