Who is telling the truth, Jim Mattis or Bob Woodward's sources?

Well, having put Jim Mattis firmly on the map yesterday in my Times piece and blog on the rift beteeen the US defence secretary and Donald Trump, up comes the first excerpts of Bob Woodward's latest book detailing extraordinary remarks attributed to Mattis in denigrating his commander-in-chief. Woodward in his book "Fear: Trump in the White House", says his sources told him Mattis described Trump as having "the understanding of a fifth or sixth grader", following a conversation he had with the president explaining why it was necessary to keep troops in South Korea. It's also claimed Trump ordered Mattis to go and kill Syrian leader Bashar Assad (in four-letter terms) after the regime's chemical strike against rebels last year. Mattis said ok, then told aides he would do no such thing and came up with a limited cruise missile strike instead which Trump approved. The latter allegation I can well believe because Mattis has had to play this game ever since he took over ss defence secretary. Keep the president happy by looking as if he is going to carry out his intemperate orders and then produce a more modest option which Trump is persuaded to accept. But the allegation that he called Trump a fifth or sixth grader doesn't sound like Mattis to me. He is the most tightlipped person in Washington. He doesn't do insults, especially against his commander-in-chief. It would be pretty stupid and Mattis is not stupid. Rex Tillerson is alleged to have called Trump a moron when he was secretary of state, and, despite his denial, I'm pretty confident he did just that. His job was on the line for ever afterwards and, sure enough, he was sacked. Mattis's denial was immediate and convincing. Here is what he said in a rushed-out statement while he was en route to India: "The contemptuous words about the President attributed to me in Woodward's book were never uttered by me or in my presence. While I generally enjoy reading fiction, this is a uniquely Washington brand of literature, and his anonymous sources do not lend credibility. While responsible policy making in the real world is inherently messy, it is also essential that we challenge every assumption to find the best option. I embrace such debate and the open competition of ideas. In just over a year, these robust discussions and deliberations have yielded significant results, including the near annihilation of the Isis caliphate, unprecedented burden sharing by our Nato allies, the repatriation of US service member remains from North Korea, and the improved readiness of our armed forces. Our defense policies have also enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress. In serving in this administration, the idea that I would show contempt for the elected Commander-in-Chief, President Trump, or tolerate disrespect to the office of the President from within our Department of Defense, is a product of someone's rich imagination." I kind of believe him. Someone has done the dirty on him, some closeish aide may have heard him mutter something under his breath and embellished it, or perhaps made it up for his or her own satisfaction, knowing that Woodward would seize on it for his juicy new book. Or perhaps it was a rumour going round that Mattis may have said something and, Chinese whispers, it suddenly becomes a full-throated insulting quote. If Mattis did say it, it would be totally alien to his normal very very careful posture on all things political. He must be looking around at all his officials and wondering who the hell just put the skids under his job. Will Mattis survive? Possibly. But it's going to be an uncomfortable time over the next few months. As for General John Kelly, White House chief of staff, allegedly calling Trump an idiot, he must have thought it on numerous occasions but did he actually say it in the presence of others? He denies it. Perhaps he mouthed it and someone lip-read!