The Method to the Madness: Donald Trump’s Ascent as Told by Those Who Were Hired, Fired, Inspired, and Inaugurated

In this entertaining oral history, reporters Salkin and Short ask readers to accept an unconventional conclusion: that Donald Trump’s rise to the presidency was “diligently” planned. A fixture on TV and in New York gossip columns, Trump had often floated the idea of running for president—but few ever took him seriously. In fact, the authors argue, Trump spent decades “puzzling out” politics, and waiting for the right “window of opportunity.” In 1999, Trump nearly challenged Pat Buchanan for the 2000 Reform Party nomination, an aborted effort that they say first showcased Trump’s raw political instincts (he branded Buchanan a “Hitler lover”). He also weighed a run for governor in New York in 2014. Trump’s window of opportunity finally opened with the 2016 election. Buoyed by his TV celebrity (“The Apprentice recast him for the masses”); the rise of alt-right media outlets (“misinformation spread more quickly”); plummeting trust in government; and, of course, Trump’s unique prowess on Twitter (“there’s nothing wishy-washy about Donald Trump”), the stars had finally aligned for Trump and his brand of tribal politics. Stitching together extracts from more than 100 sources, this is a rollicking, insightful look at the political crucible in which the Trump presidency was forged. (July)