Without precedent: Books that shed light on America under Trump
The top-selling book of 2020 so far, according to, is 鈥淭oo Much and Never Enough:聽How My Family Created the World鈥檚 Most Dangerous Man,鈥� Mary L. Trump鈥檚 exploration of how her uncle, President Donald Trump, became the person he is.
鈥淭oo Much and Never Enough.鈥� A reader might use that phrase to describe the overall flood of Trump-related books that has emanated from publishing houses in the United States over the last four years.聽
Beginning with journalist Michael Wolff鈥檚 鈥淔ire and Fury:聽Inside the Trump White House鈥� and continuing through a string of tell-all revelations from former staffers (ex-National Security Adviser John Bolton鈥檚 鈥淭he Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir鈥�) and pro-Trump defenses (Donald Trump Jr.鈥檚 鈥淭riggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us鈥�), they鈥檝e poured forth like water over a spillway of the Grand Coulee Dam.
Why We Wrote This
Amid the flood of books about President Trump, three thoughtful ones stand out. They go beneath the surface to examine the president鈥檚 actions and character, but also the currents of thought that first brought him to power.
With Election Day looming, it鈥檚 important to understand the Trump presidency, the character of the 45th president, and the nature of the country that he has governed. For students of American history and readers simply looking for more context about this tumultuous period, which are the most important books about President Trump?
Here are three substantive analyses by a veteran Washington reporter, a noted linguist, and a book critic who digested a range of other accounts of this presidency.
They are a good start on understanding just what it is that鈥檚 been going on in U.S. politics these past four years.
White House access聽聽聽
There鈥檚 a scene in Bob Woodward鈥檚 book 鈥淩age鈥� that I can鈥檛 get out of my head. It鈥檚 not the one that鈥檚 been widely publicized at this point, where the president says he鈥檚 purposely played down the dangers of the coronavirus because 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to create panic.鈥�
No, it鈥檚 much later in the book, when Woodward prepares to interview the president on April 5, 2020, Palm Sunday. The coronavirus was again the subject. Woodward had a list of 14 critical areas where sources had told him major action was needed.
鈥淢y goal was to cover all 14 in our interview and find out what Trump thought and might have planned,鈥� Woodward writes.
It didn鈥檛 go well. Trump ignored some of the questions and redirected the conversation after others.聽
That鈥檚 鈥淩age鈥� in brief: a collision between a famous, dogged reporter who is a justifiably renowned symbol of traditional Washington, and a president who is not detail-oriented. Both seem to struggle to understand the other.
Still, it鈥檚 an excellent book. Woodward鈥檚 m茅tier is the accretion of facts, not analysis. His 14-point thoroughness is astounding, from his unveiling letters that passed between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (Kim wrote that their historic first meeting was 鈥渞eminiscent of a scene from a fantasy film鈥�) to his obtaining Jared Kushner鈥檚 tips for understanding his president father-in-law (compare him to the Cheshire Cat in 鈥淎lice in Wonderland鈥� was one).
In the category of books-that-document-the-inner-turmoil-of-the-Trump White House, this might be the one to read if you鈥檙e reading only one. As to Woodward鈥檚 final reading on the president, it鈥檚 not positive. Early on Trump tells the reporter that when you鈥檙e the president there is 鈥渄ynamite behind every door鈥� 鈥� an unexpected explosion that could change everything. By the end, Woodward decides that the real dynamite behind the door is in plain sight.聽
鈥淚t was Trump himself,鈥� Woodward writes.
Rhetorical devices
As to a deeper analysis of Trump鈥檚 political behavior, and how it got him where he is, the book that鈥檚 struck me the most in recent months is 鈥淒emagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump鈥� by Jennifer Mercieca, a political communications expert at Texas A&M University.
Mercieca has produced a field guide to how Trump speaks, and how it helps him. She identifies many of his favorite strategies as tools of classic rhetoric.聽
For instance, where he says something like 鈥淚鈥檓 not saying, I鈥檓 just ... saying, this is what I鈥檝e heard ...鈥� He used it in August, when he repeated the false claim that Sen. Kamala Harris can鈥檛 run for vice president because her parents are immigrants.
鈥淚 heard today she doesn鈥檛 meet the requirements,鈥� Trump said.
鈥淚 have no idea if that鈥檚 right,鈥� he added.
Scholars call this 鈥減aralipsis.鈥� It鈥檚 a classical way of introducing rumors or false information into rhetoric. The speaker can stand alongside his own words without taking responsibility, and gauge how the audience reacts.
Then there鈥檚 the president鈥檚 use of 鈥渁d baculum,鈥� threats of force or intimidation. 鈥淚鈥檇 like to punch him in the face,鈥� candidate Trump said about a protestor at a 2016 rally.聽
Calling reporters 鈥渧ery dishonest,鈥� their stories 鈥減robably libelous,鈥� and their whole industry 鈥渇ake news鈥� carries with it an implicit air of retribution.
Mercieca skillfully explains Trump鈥檚 use of other argumentative tools such as ad hominem attacks (using personal attacks to sidestep the substance of an argument) and 鈥渁d populum鈥� rhetoric (appealing to the wisdom of the crowd, using popularity as the measure).
All leaders are demagogues, she writes 鈥� some good, some bad. But the former reality show star is a new kind.聽
鈥淗e is a demagogue of the spectacle 鈥� part entertainer, part authoritarian,鈥� she writes.
Explaining America聽聽
As to the meaning of President Trump in American society 鈥� the trends he personifies, the groups he represents, the nature of his opponents 鈥� a new book by Washington Post book critic Carlos Lozada, 鈥淲hat Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era,鈥� is a unique and valuable resource.聽
To write his book, Lozada set out to read some 150 other books about Trump and his presidency,聽dissecting and organizing them into a kind of group review, or a literary spreadsheet, covering the last four years of U.S. life.
He devotes a chapter (titled 鈥淗eartlandia鈥�) to books that try to explain the rural white working class, the bedrock of the president鈥檚 support. There鈥檚 a chapter on resistance books, one on immigration books, one on identity politics, and one titled 鈥淐haos Chronicles,鈥� which is just what it sounds like.
One of Lozada鈥檚 main conclusions is that many, many of these books aren鈥檛 very good. They rehash the same White House scenes and try to top each other with chyron-ready anecdotes. They contain the same blind spots and failures of imagination as Trump himself.
鈥淚ndividually, these books try to show a way forward. Collectively, they reveal how we鈥檙e stuck,鈥� Lozada writes.
His other interesting insight is that some of the best Trump books aren鈥檛 really about Trump at all. It turns out that, just maybe, the best way to explain the man is to explain America itself, in all its faults and strengths.
So the 12 best Trump books that Lozada picks in his epilogue include 鈥淭he Fifth Risk鈥� by Michael Lewis, a short examination of the dangers of hollowing out the federal bureaucracy; 鈥淥ne Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy鈥� by Carol Anderson, on the history of vote suppression in the U.S.; and 鈥淲e鈥檙e Still Here: Pain and Politics in the Heart of America鈥� by Jennifer M. Silva, which examines the cultural and economic forces of working-class life.
Lozada鈥檚 book is a kind of 鈥淣orton鈥檚 Anthology of Trump Literature,鈥� a scholarly guide that weighs and compares so you don鈥檛 have to read all 150 of those books yourself. The odds are good that, like the Norton Anthology, there will be a Vol. 2. Trump books will be rolling off the presses for years, even if he loses his bid for reelection. He has been a singular figure at such an extraordinary time in American history that readers will still be waiting eagerly in 50 years for the last volume of a definitive Trump biography by whoever has become the Robert Caro of the time.
