The U.S. and North Korea were so close to nuclear war, Mattis frequently prayed in church, Woodward says

James Mattis prays
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

During the first stage of President Trump's complicated love-hate relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — the "Little Rocket Man" period — Trump's national security team was concerned that the two countries came close to nuclear war, journalist Bob Woodward writes in his forthcoming book, Rage. "We never knew whether it was real," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, then CIA director, is reported to have said, "or whether it was a bluff." Defense Secretary James Mattis took the threat seriously enough to sleep in his clothes and frequent Washington National Cathedral, CNN recaps:

Trump and Kim ended up exchanging 27 "love letters," and while North Korea has evidently expanded its nuclear arsenal, there were no nuclear strikes. Coats, fired by Trump while on one of Trump's golf courses, "examined the intelligence as carefully as possible" and "continued to harbor the secret belief, one that had grown rather than lessened, although unsupported by intelligence proof, that [Russia's Vladimir] Putin had something on Trump," Woodward reports.

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Unlike previous presidents who cooperated with Woodard's books, Trump "looks to have just held riffing sessions" with him "while the Washington Post legend burrowed his way into his senior staff with much of the White House none the wiser," Politico reports. "The result is a White House that was almost completely blindsided by Wednesday's revelations."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.