Politics & Government
The instant #1 New York Times bestseller.“This is the book Trump fears
most.” – Axios“Will be a primary source about the most vexing president in
American history for years to come.” – Joe Klein, The New York Times”A
uniquely illuminating portrait.” – Sean Wilentz, The Washington Post“[A]
monumental look at Donald Trump and his presidency.” — David Shribman, Los
Angeles TimesFrom the Pulitzer-Prize-winning New York Times reporter who
has defined Donald J. Trump’s presidency like no other journalist,
Confidence Man is a magnificent and disturbing reckoning that chronicles
his life and its meaning from his rise in New York City to his tortured
post-presidency. Few journalists working today have covered Donald Trump
more extensively than Maggie Haberman. And few understand him and his
motivations better. Now, demonstrating her majestic command of this story,
Haberman reveals in full the depth of her understanding of the 45th
president himself, and of what the Trump phenomenon means. Interviews with
hundreds of sources and numerous interviews over the years with Trump
himself portray a complicated and often contradictory historical figure.
Capable of kindness but relying on casual cruelty as it suits his
purposes. Pugnacious. Insecure. Lonely. Vindictive. Menacing. Smarter than
his critics contend and colder and more calculating than his allies
believe. A man who embedded himself in popular culture, galvanizing support
for a run for high office that he began preliminary spadework for 30 years
ago, to ultimately become a president who pushed American democracy to the
brink. The through-line of Trump’s life and his presidency is the enduring
question of what is in it for him or what he needs to say to survive short
increments of time in the pursuit of his own interests. Confidence Man
is also, inevitably, about the world thatproduced such a singular
character, giving rise to his career and becoming his first stage. It is
also about a series of relentlessly transactional relationships. The ones
that shaped him most were with girlfriends and wives, with Roy Cohn, with
George Steinbrenner, with Mike Tyson and Don King and Roger Stone, with
city and state politicians like Robert Morgenthau and Rudy Giuliani, with
business partners, with prosecutors, with the media, and with the employees
who toiled inside what they commonly called amongst themselves the “Trump
Disorganization.” That world informed the one that Trump tried to
recreate while in the White House. All of Trump’s behavior as President had
echoes in what came before. In this revelatory and newsmaking book,
Haberman brings together the events of his life into a single mesmerizing
work. It is the definitive account of one of the most norms-shattering and
consequential eras in American political history. Read more