President Donald Trump blasted “liar” journalist Bob Woodward Monday after the Washington Post associate editor was “caught cold” in an awkward interview with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, who pressed him on his frequent use of anonymous sources criticizing the chief executive.

“‘It is mostly anonymous sources in here, why should anyone trust you? General Mattis, General Kelly said it’s not true.’ @SavannahGuthrie @TODAYshow Bob Woodward is a liar who is like a Dem operative prior to the Midterms. He was caught cold, even by NBC,” Trump tweeted.

Earlier Monday morning, Guthrie confronted Woodward — one of the two metro desk reporters at The Washington Post who first exposed the Watergate burglary in 1972 — about sources used in his forthcoming book, “Fear: Trump in the White House.”

Woodward portrays Trump’s White House as chaotic, unpredictable, and full of staffers who disrespect the president and talk behind his back in “Fear” of being overheard.

“Let’s talk about your process a little bit because we live in an era where the president talks about fake news. He’s called this ‘fraudulent,'” Guthrie said to Woodward. “It is mostly anonymous sources in here. Why should people trust you?”

Woodward claimed that “the incidents are not anonymous” even if the sources were because he provided dates, times and “who participates — most often the president himself, and what he says.”

“Let me drill down, because there’s a couple things that, I mean — they leap off the page,” Guthrie pressed further, pointing to statements attributed to White House chief of staff John Kelly and Secretary of Defense James Mattis.

Woodward wrote that Kelly called Trump “an idiot.” An excerpt of the book obtained by The Washington Post showed Kelly’s allegedly saying, “It’s pointless to try to convince [Trump] of anything. He’s gone off the rails. We’re in Crazytown. I don’t even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I’ve ever had.”

Woodward also claimed Mattis said that Trump’s intelligence was that of “a fifth- or sixth-grader.” Both Kelly and Mattis have denied making any such remarks.

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“Are they lying?” Guthrie asked Woodward.

Woodward avoided using the word “lying,” saying instead. “They are not telling the truth.”

“That’s lying,” Guthrie pointed out.

Woodward replied that these “political statements,” denying the quotes in the book, were designed “to protect their jobs.”

Related: Amazing! No Woodward Sources Claim Trump-Russia Collusion

When Guthrie asked if some of the “Fear” sources lied on the record about true comments they made, Woodward replied, “I’m not going to — you’re going to use the lie word. What I want to focus on is — here’s the problem. This has not been treated seriously enough. And the things, some of the things Trump did and does [sic] jeopardize the real national security.”

Later on during the interview, Woodward put Guthrie on the spot, when she questioned him about specific portions of his book.

“Does this ring true?” Woodward said when asked about situations involving former Trump lawyer John Dowd.

“Well, I am the one doing — asking the questions,” Guthrie said.

Woodward insisted, “No, not at this moment. Can I ask that question? Does it ring true?”

After some pushback, Guthrie admitted that “there is a lot in there that does ring true.”

Trump and several high-profile White House staffers have hit back hard against Woodward’s book, quotes attributed to administration officials, and the reliance on anonymous sourcing.

“The Woodward book is a Joke — just another assault against me, in a barrage of assaults, using now disproven unnamed and anonymous sources. Many have already come forward to say the quotes by them, like the book, are fiction. Dems can’t stand losing. I’ll write the real book!” Trump tweeted Monday prior to the Woodward interview.

Controversy on his credibility is not a new issue for Woodward. In his 1987 book “Veiled” about the CIA, Woodward attributed quotes he claimed to have gotten from former CIA Director William Casey.

At the time, however, Casey was in a coma and near death. Woodward claimed to have snuck into Casey’s hospital room and done the interview. Casey’s wife, medical personnel caring for Casey, and security guards all denied that Woodward was able to talk to Casey.