Trump "does not understand the basics," says fear author Bob Woodward.

Bob Woodward:

What happened at this meeting, Gary Cohn, the Chief Economic Advisor at the White House, and Defense Secretary Mattis formed an alliance. This has not been reported before.

And they said, God, we have to take the president out of the White House, where he does not watch television, where he is not a prisoner of incoming calls.

So they brought him to the Pentagon, the Tank, which is the secret meeting room of the Joint Chiefs. There is no window. There are no distractions. And Defense Secretary Mattis has put on the screen a list and maps showing this triad of support for US trade agreements, secret partnerships, and very importantly, security alliances, such as that with the South. Korea, like NATO.

And Mattis literally said that the great gift of the greatest generation, the past, is this rules-based international order.

Secretary of State Tillerson said that has kept the peace for 70 years.

And Trump broke out, said, this is B.S., and argues in all these problems. At the end of this meeting, Mattis, according to those present, is simply deflated because the president does not understand the basics.