Seth Meyers Tells Trump: Forget Woodward, Write Your Own Book With Your 'Stubby Meat Paws'

Following President Donald Trump's concerted criticism of investigative journalist Bob Woodward's new book Fear: Trump in the White House, Seth Meyers has challenged the commander in chief to write a book himself—without a ghostwriter.

The late-night host was responding to Trump's latest attack on Woodward's new tome, which paints a raucous picture of the Trump administration based on lengthy interviews with insiders. On Monday, Trump took to Twitter to call it a "joke" and a "fiction" and add, somewhat cryptically, "Dems can't stand losing. I'll write the real book!"

"Please do that," Meyers said. "I would love to see you try to write a book by yourself without a ghostwriter. And I mean a real book, not one of your airport books because I'm pretty sure those books have exactly one word on each page. I'm talking about an actual book with chapters and an appendix. Of course, if you tell Trump that you need an appendix, he'd probably say, 'Fine, take Eric's.'"

"I gotta say I love imagining Trump sitting at a typewriter and punching away at the keys with his stubby meat paws," Meyers added. "He either types one finger grandpa-style or with palms open as if he's playing Whack-a-Mole."

Trump boasts a sizable catalog of works, including memoirs, business guides and political books. But while he claims credit for them, critics frequently point out that he has not written any of the publications himself.

In July, the debate took center stage when Trump and his social media team sought to ridicule the media for highlighting spelling mistakes in the president's Twitter feed.

"After having written many best selling books, and somewhat priding myself on my ability to write," Trump tweeted on July 4, "it should be noted that the Fake News constantly likes to pour [sic] over my tweets looking for a mistake. I capitalize certain words only for emphasis, not b/c they should be capitalized!"

Trump's biographer, Tim O'Brien, was quick to respond. "Another one of those tweets that sure seem staff-written," he wrote. "Regardless: President Trump didn't write any of his books. Ghostwriters on all of them."

For now, however, the president's priority is not what he has or has not written but what is being written about him. Woodward's book Fear is only the latest addition to a long line of literature that depicts chaos in the White House. Dismissing these leaks as baseless has become one of the primary functions of Trump's staff.

Meyers is not convinced the president's strategy is working. "Trump has spent the last week fixated on the anonymous leaks from inside his own White House warning the country that he is erratic and unstable," he said. "So he's responding by going on national TV and acting erratic and unstable."