Description
This book provides a detailed look inside the first three years of Donald Trump’s presidency, based on the reporting of journalists Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker. The authors argue that the administration was defined from the very beginning by the president’s own personality. His 2016 nomination speech, where he famously declared, “I alone can fix it,” set the stage for a presidency powered by one man’s self-regard, leading to a chaotic and unconventional White House.
A central theme was the clash between the president and the experienced officials who came to work for him. Many of these officials, like Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, saw themselves as “the adults in the room,” responsible for guiding an inexperienced president and protecting the country from his worst impulses. This relationship, however, quickly fell apart.
A key event happened in July 2017 in the Pentagon’s secure meeting room, known as “the Tank.” America’s top military leaders, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, tried to explain global strategy to the new president using simple charts and maps. Trump grew angry. He called NATO “worthless,” complained that allies were not paying their bills, and demanded to know why the military was not making a profit from its overseas bases. The meeting ended with the president screaming at the decorated generals, calling them a “bunch of dopes and babies.” This outburst left the military leadership in stunned silence. After Trump left, Rex Tillerson was heard calling the president a “fucking moron.”
This disdain for expert advice was a consistent pattern. Aides learned that the president had an extremely short attention span, giving him the private nickname “the two-minute man.” He refused to read even one-page summaries, preferring to act on his own instincts. This led to moments that shocked his staff. For example, during a meeting with the Prime Minister of India, Trump incorrectly stated that India did not share a border with China. On another occasion, while visiting Hawaii, he had to ask his chief of staff, John Kelly, what the Pearl Harbor memorial was for, seemingly unaware of the event that brought the US into World War II.
For those who tried to give him honest advice, the president was often mocking and abusive. HR McMaster, a respected general and national security adviser, believed it was his duty to tell the president the unvarnished truth. In response, Trump relentlessly mocked him in front of staff. McMaster eventually retired. Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of homeland security, was constantly berated by the president. He demanded she implement impossible and illegal policies, such as shutting down the entire US-Mexico border. When she explained the legal and economic problems with this, he chewed her out so badly that she considered resigning on the spot.
Because the president ignored his advisers, he often made major policy decisions on a whim, blindsiding his entire administration. While his top diplomats were in Mexico trying to smooth over relations, Trump suddenly announced he was sending troops to the border, completely ruining their mission. His staff prepared detailed notes for his phone calls with other leaders, but he would simply ignore them. Before a call with Vladimir Putin, aides gave Trump a card with “DO NOT CONGRATULATE” written in all caps, urging him not to praise the Russian leader for winning a rigged election. Trump did it anyway. In one of the most significant examples, he reversed years of American foreign policy in Syria during a single phone call with the president of Turkey, agreeing to pull out US troops in seconds.
This behavior extended to America’s most important relationships. Trump openly attacked the leaders of allied nations while praising traditional adversaries. He had a particular admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. At a summit in Helsinki, Trump stood next to Putin and publicly sided with the Russian leader’s denial of election interference, contradicting the unanimous conclusion of his own US intelligence agencies. In contrast, he treated allies with contempt. He got into a shouting match with British Prime Minister Theresa May. At a G7 summit, he called the Canadian Prime Minister “very dishonest and weak.” At a NATO meeting, he called European allies “delinquent” and threatened to pull the United States out of the alliance altogether.
This pattern of behavior was also clear during domestic crises. The Mueller Report, a two-year investigation into Russian interference and obstruction of justice, was released in 2019. The 448-page report detailed “sweeping and systematic” Russian interference and multiple instances where President Trump tried to shut down the investigation. However, the report’s author, Robert Mueller, did not make a final legal ruling, stating that he could neither charge the president with a crime nor exonerate him. In a media-driven world, this complex and nuanced conclusion was a communications failure. The president, a master of simple messaging, seized on the ambiguity. He immediately and repeatedly claimed it was a “complete and total exoneration.” In the end, his narrative won.
The book portrays an administration in constant turmoil, led by a president who, true to his word, did things his way. The authors conclude that Trump’s presidency was a one-man show, defined by his own impulsive and self-centered instincts, which consistently overruled the advice of experts, the traditions of the office, and the nation’s long-standing alliances.
