Trump Threatened Then-WTO Chief With U.S. Withdrawal, Book Says

  • Woodward book reports wide-ranging interviews with president
  • Trump mused about withdrawal from South Korea, Khashoggi death

Donald Trump, left, speaks to Roberto Azevedo during a news conference in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22. 

Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw the U.S. from the World Trade Organization during a contentious phone call with the group’s then-leader, according to a new book by journalist Bob Woodward.

Trump demanded that Roberto Azevedo, who was the WTO’s director-general, designate the U.S. a “developing nation” like China and India in order to get more favorable trading terms, Trump told Woodward in a Jan. 22 interview.