President Donald Trump wanted to have Syrian President Bashar al-Assad assassinated last year but his defense secretary ignored the request, according to a new book that depicts top Trump aides sometimes sidestepping instructions to limit what they see as his damaging and dangerous behaviour.
Excerpts from the book, entitled Fear and written by famed Watergate reporter Bob Woodward, were published by the Washington Post on Tuesday. The book, which has not yet been released, is the latest to detail tensions within the White House under Trump’s 20-month-old presidency.
The book portrays Trump as prone to profane outbursts and impulsive decision-making, painting a picture of chaos that Woodward says amounts to an “administrative coup d’etat” and a “nervous breakdown” of the executive branch.
According to the book, Trump told Defense Secretary Jim Mattis that he wanted to have Assad assassinated after the Syrian president launched a chemical attack on civilians in April 2017.
Mattis told Trump he would “get right on it,” but instead developed a plan for a limited air strike that did not threaten Assad personally.
Mattis told associates after a separate incident that Trump acted like…
