Donald J. Trump
The major character is, of course, Donald Trump. Processed into the position of President as a result of fundamentally anti-democratic Electoral College system of choosing the Chief Executive, Trump is presented as comprehensively unfit for the job in every imaginable way. Such is the author’s view of Trump’s inability to rise to the occasion that he breaks with his longstanding tradition of not making editorial commentary about his subjects to close the book with a widely-held assertion: “Trump is the wrong man for the job.”
Dan Coats
Dan Coats was at one time the Director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration. A longtime Republican leader, Coats is widely respected just about everywhere but within the Trump inner circle. Although Coats does go on record at various points in the book, it is assumed by a broad swatch of those familiar with him that he is one of Woodward’s central “deep background” sources. It is perhaps the obviousness that only Coats could have supplied Woodward with some of his unsourced information that he did not become another “Deep Throat” type of completely anonymous source.
Sean Hannity
Much has been made of the revolving door relationship between the Trump administration and Fox News. Many of those who started in the Trump administration have since moved on to become pundits on Fox whereas as many of the people who replaced them started out on Fox before moving into the administration. Some confusion exists as to which is the chicken and which is the egg here, but Woodward’s research does seem to clarify much. Hannity, a Fox News mainstay with whom Trump seems to be in near-constant contact is described as having a Svengali-like hold over him, leading some to question whether Sean Hannity is not really the power behind the throne. The astounding number of decisions in the White House which run directly counter to majority opinion would seem to confirm this perspective.
Kim Jong Un
When Woodward began his second book on the Trump administration, the second leading player was supposed to be North Korea’s dictator leader, Kim Jong Un. The relationship between Trump and the Fearless Leader of North Korean is explored in depth to a certain extent with the revelation of the “love letters” describing their relationship as something from a “fantasy film” being among the most memorable. Something happened between commencement of research and publication, however, and the final results has Kim Jong Un moved notably to the sidelines as the focus of interest.
Dr. Anthony Fauci
By way of contrast, Dr. Anthony Fauci was not even on Woodward’s radar when he began preparations for writing Fear. That “something” which happened to move North Korea’s dictator and fantasy love partner of Trump off to the sidelines was, of course, the arrival of Covid-19. As a result, pages which might otherwise have been dedicated to Kim are now handed over to Anthony Fauci who became the face of common sense and science over fairy tales among the members of the White House response team. Inevitably, Fauci also becomes yet another victim of Trump’s narcissism when his approval ratings began hovering well above those of Trump, he was—not unlike Kim, but for quite different reasons—also shuffled off to the sidelines of a main story by the person writing the narrative.
