Bill Barr says a 2024 Trump White House bid would be 'dismaying,' wants the GOP to 'look forward': book

• Bill Barr wrote in his forthcoming book that a Trump White House bid in 2024 would be "dismaying."

• The former attorney general says the GOP should look to a fresh slate of presidential candidates.

• In the book, Barr describes Trump's relationships as rooted in transactional value.

Former US Attorney General Bill Barr in a forthcoming book wrote that the possibility of former President Donald Trump running for the White House again was "dismaying" and encouraged the Republican Party to "look forward" in search of new candidates, according to excerpts published Sunday by The Washington Post.

In the book, "One Damn Thing After Another," Barr stated that Trump's "constant bellicosity diminishes him and the office," while revealing that he started to feel that the then-president only cared about himself during the waning months of the administration.

Barr served as attorney general from February 2019 to December 2020.

"Country and principle took second place," he remarked in the book, recalling his personal revelations about Trump while navigating the last few months in his role.

He added: "We need leaders not only capable of fighting and 'punching,' but also persuading and attracting — leaders who can frame, and advocate for, an uplifting vision of what it means to share in American citizenship. Donald Trump has shown he has neither the temperament nor persuasive powers to provide the kind of positive leadership that is needed."

The former attorney general, who received criticism during his tenure by some who felt that the Justice Department was overly deferential to Trump, reportedly frames himself in the book as an individual who rejected any sort of pressure campaigns from the then-president.

The former attorney general recalled the disappointment that Trump displayed when he declined to prosecute former FBI director James Comey for his handling of bureau memos in 2019.

"I'm shocked, Bill. I'm disgusted. I'm not happy about this, Bill," the then-president told Barr, The Post reported.

"People are worthwhile to Trump only as means to his ends — as utensils. When they don't help him get what he wants, they are useless. In my case, Trump's disenchantment started — as it was bound to — when he saw I was not willing to bend the law to do his bidding," Barr wrote.

Barr also wrote that he and other White House attorneys met on Mondays for lunch, coming together to "inventory the legally problematic ideas floating around the administration," including Trump's desire to end birthright citizenship.

Barr — who previously served in the role under then-President George H.W. Bush from November 1991 to January 1993 — succeeded Jeff Sessions, who also had a tumultuous tenure in the administration after recusing himself from the Russia investigation and drawing the lasting ire of Trump.

The book is set to be released on March 8.

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