A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America

by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig

THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER

'It’s all here in this stunning first draft of the history of the presidency of Donald Trump' Sydney Morning Herald

‘An icy, Iago-like glimpse of the emotional and moral nullity that may be the source of Trump’s power’ Observer

‘A damning, well-reported, well-sourced and clearly written haymaker’ Sunday Times

Drawing on nearly three years of reporting, hundreds of hours of interviews and more than two hundred sources, including some of the most senior members of the administration, friends and first-hand witnesses who have never spoken before, Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig take us inside some of the most controversial moments of Trump’s presidency. They peer deeply into Trump’s White House – at the aides pressured to lie to the public, the lawyers scrambling to clear up norm-breaking disasters, and the staffers whose careers have been reduced to ashes – to paint an unparalleled group portrait of an administration driven by self-preservation and paranoia.

Rucker and Leonnig reveal Trump at his most unvarnished, showing the unhinged decision-making and incompetence that has floored officials and stunned foreign leaders. They portray unscripted calls with Vladimir Putin, steak dinners with Kim Jong-un, and calls with Theresa May so hostile that they left her aides shaken. They also take a hard look at Robert Mueller, Trump’s greatest antagonist to date, and how his investigation slowly unravelled an administration whose universal value is loyalty – not to country, but to the president himself.

Grippingly told, A Very Stable Genius is a behind-the-scenes account of Trump’s vainglorious pursuit of power in his first term.

• ISBN10: 152660907X
• ISBN13: 9781526609076
• Publish Date: 21 January 2020
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 4 February 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 480
• Language: English

Reviews

[Beth C.]

The Trump administration is a Carousel of Chaos. Trump tweets a thing, the news orgs pick it up, his staff scrambles to control it, or spin it, or lie about it - whatever the case may be. It's exhausting and frustrating and more than a little bit nuts. Trying to keep track of the last 3 years of this is wearying - which is why I'm glad Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig did all the hard work for us. And did it well.

The book is extremely readable, and lays everything out on the table. And they do it in true journalistic style - I was honestly surprised to find that a few times I felt sympathy that surprised me. It is obvious that they spoke to A LOT of people, because the accounts given are as complete as one could get without having actually been in the room. This is one of those books where we know the basic story, but filling in the blanks is more surprising, infuriating, and helpful than we could have guessed.

The scene at the Pentagon made me grit my teeth in anger (I'm former military, and my husband retired from the service. However, anyone who "supports the troops" should find it unacceptable. The whole thing about the Kurds made my physically ill. But the overall theme here is the casual carelessness with which Trump runs his administration. The ignorance of why there are processes, and the disdain with which he views everyone around him. It's not unknown, but seeing it here so starkly written, with conversations and pieces that were previously still hidden, is eye-opening and - frankly - terrifying.

This is a book that is required reading. It will be an important piece of the historical puzzle about this administration, and we should *all* understand where we stand as a country.