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- Then President-elect Donald Trump offered the job of Treasury secretary to Gary Cohn during a transition-period meeting at Trump Tower.
- "I hired the wrong guy for treasury secretary," Trump said according to veteran journalist Bob Woodward's new book, "Fear: Trump in the White House."
- Steven Mnuchin, who Trump had already privately tapped to be treasury secretary, was in the meeting.
- The news of Mnuchin's selection leaked while Cohn was still in Trump Tower.
According to veteran journalist Bob Woodward's explosive new book, "Fear: Trump in the White House," Gary Cohn rejected President-elect Donald Trump's suggestions that he become Secretary of Energy or Director of the Office of Management and Budget during a transition meeting at Trump Tower.
So Trump suggested another job.
"You know what?" Trump said. "I hired the wrong guy for Treasury secretary. You should be Treasury secretary. You would be the best Treasury secretary."
There were a couple problems with Trump's suggestion: The president-elect had already tapped Steven Mnuchin to be treasury secretary.
Also, Mnuchin was in the room.
Business Insider obtained a copy of the book, which is being published by Simon & Schuster and is set for release on Tuesday. Woodward wrote that Mnuchin did not say anything or react to Trump's suggestion. But a few minutes after the meeting, news of Mnuchin's selection leaked to the media.
Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law who was still with Cohn in Trump Tower, suggested Mnuchin leaked the news to head off any switch by Trump.
"That's crazy," Kushner said, according to Woodward. "Mnuchin just put that out. You freaked him out so badly in the meeting."
Trump met with Cohn at Trump Tower on November 29, 2016, the same day The New York Times reported Mnuchin would be tapped as Treasury secretary.
Cohn eventually became the director of the National Economic Council, a top economic adviser to the president. Mnuchin is still serving as Treasury secretary, and he has emerged as a key ally in Trump's Cabinet. Cohn departed the White House in March amid disagreements with Trump on trade policy.
Woodward's book details the supposed chaos and dysfunction in the White House, much of which he portrays as being caused by Trump. Another story about Cohn details the then-economic adviser stealing documents off the president's desk to prevent Trump from pulling the US out of major trade deals.
The White House has attacked the contents of "Fear," calling Woodward's book "nothing more than fabricated stories."
The Treasury Department referred requests for comment to the White House. A spokesperson for the White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Here are more revelations from the book so far:
- Trump hits back at bombshell Bob Woodward book, calls it 'just another bad book' and claims Woodward has 'had a lot of credibility problems'
- Woodward's book reportedly spurred Trump to look to replace Mattis - here's who's at the top of that list
- 'It's either that or an orange jumpsuit': Explosive Bob Woodward book reportedly recounts Trump's lawyer's effort to keep him from interviewing with Mueller
- Trump denied calling Jeff Sessions - or anyone - 'mentally retarded,' but old records show he has
- Ivanka Trump and Steve Bannon reportedly clashed over proper White House protocol, and she told him 'I'm not a staffer! ... I'm the first daughter'
- Trump reportedly told Mattis that he wanted to assassinate Bashar al-Assad after his chemical weapons attack on Syrians last year
- Gary Cohn reportedly snatched documents off Trump's desk to prevent him from wrecking 2 massive trade deals
- John Kelly was reportedly enraged with Trump over his handling of Charlottesville, said he would have taken a resignation letter 'and shoved it up his ass 6 different times'
- Trump has reportedly said that his speech after the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville was the 'biggest f---ing mistake' he's made
- 6 alarming passages from Bob Woodward's book show Trump's inability to properly lead the military
- Trump thanks Kim Jong Un for 'unwavering faith' with his own White House in open mutiny
- Trump reportedly went to extraordinary and unusual lengths to console grieving military families