Woodward: “Smug” media on Trump crusade

Bob Woodward told Axios' Mike Allen that the press is covering Trump with a certain smugness, but it's not the media's job to make his presidency an editorial. "You have to have a presumption of good will," said Woodward.

"I think there's so many people treating the Trump presidency as if it's a try-out, as if it's provisional… odds are, he's probably going to be president for a full term, four years, maybe even more… there's hyperventilation, too many people writing things. When's the impeachment coming, how long's he gonna last, will he make it through the summer, and so forth…

"I worry, I worry for the business, for the perception of the business, not just Trump supporters, they see that smugness… I think you can ride both horses, intensive inquiry, investigation, not letting up… at the same time, realize that it's not our job to do an editorial on this."

• How Trump and Obama see power differently: Woodward said Obama saw U.S. power flowing from its "humility and restraint," while Trump sees it coming from "fear."
• Woodward's fear: "We should worry about a leadership vacuum in the world."
• Example of "good power": "The one institution that's led well in the world is the Catholic Church… this guy from Argentina really believes in charity, and is caring and has an openness." So they made him the pope with the hope he would redefine the church. "And this pope has done that."

Editor's note: This post has been corrected to fix a Trump line that was attributed to Woodward. Axios regrets the error.