All Or Nothing: How Trump Captured America

Donald Trump doubled down on belligerence and bombast in clawing back the presidency, according to this raucous campaign narrative. Journalist Wolff (Landslide) gives a fly-on-the-wall account of Trump’s 2024 election run, anchored by a Technicolor portrait of the candidate’s egotism, wild mood swings, and steadfast rejection of reality. (Informed that a Rasmussen poll had him up by three points, he replied, “Have them fix that; it’s ten points.”) Much of the book covers Trump’s trials for sexual abuse, real estate fraud, and hush money payments; Trump’s aggressiveness in these proceedings, Wolff contends, brought him an avalanche of endorsements and campaign donations. Wolff also draws vivid sketches of Trump’s flatterers and sacrificial lambs, from communications aide Natalie Harp, who stoked him with conspiracy theories and love notes—“I never want to bring you anything but joy”—to the hapless lawyers subjected to his rants. Drawing on insights from members of Trump’s circle who have spent years analyzing him, Wolff offers rich interpretations of his psyche: “Trump is... a raw nerve,” his “personal grievances” expressed at “any moment” as “public performances.” Wolff’s focus on personality, however, gives short shrift to politics—describing a meeting with Teamsters during which Trump won them over, for instance, he fixates on the odd color of Trump’s hands. Still, this is a singular and penetrating diagnosis of the president’s character and managerial style. (Feb.)