Trump’s end game: new books paint ‘terrifying picture’ of a president ‘consumed by personal hatred’
A slew of recent releases claim Trump prepared to desecrate the constitution to stay in power
“Donald Trump’s final days in office were even worse than we thought,” said Chris Cillizza on CNN.com. A slew of newly released books paint “a terrifying picture” of a president “consumed by personal hatred” and prepared to desecrate the constitution to stay in power.
In Frankly, We Did Win This Election by Michael C. Bender, we learn that, during the Black Lives Matter protests last summer, Trump called for the army to “just shoot” demonstrators; he retreated to the White House bunker in panic, and when news of that was leaked, wanted to charge whoever was responsible with treason.
“They should be executed,” he yelled. Staff were deeply worried about his authoritarian impulses, said Ben Jacobs on NYMag.com.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In I Alone Can Fix It, Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker report that the Pentagon’s top general, Mark Milley, feared Trump would invoke the Insurrection Act to hold on to power, and drew comparisons to Nazi Germany. Milley is an “honourable man”, said Gerard Baker in The Wall Street Journal, but it’s wrong for a general to criticise a recently departed US president in this way.
Milley’s “florid” claim seems to be that he saved the US from disaster in the days before Joe Biden’s inauguration. “They may try to stage a coup,” the general told his subordinates, “but they are not going to f***ing succeed.”
It’s also claimed that Milley stopped Trump from starting a war with Iran – which the president was contriving to keep him in office after losing the election. But all that happened is that Trump held meetings to discuss military options against Iran; in the end, no action was taken. And whatever Trump’s flaws, describing his supporters as “brownshirts”, as Milley did, will add to their sense that Washington regards their grievances as illegitimate.
Another new Trump book, Michael Wolff’s Landslide, makes it clear Milley’s fears were overblown, said Laura Miller on Slate. Trump reacted to his defeat not by calling out the army but by ranting about voter fraud and dispatching the “ghoulish, snivelling” figure of Rudy Giuliani to mount doomed legal challenges.
Wolff says most of Trump’s aides thought he was “off his rocker” and put on a show of appeasing him while ignoring his demands. Yes, Trump had tyrannical impulses, but he was so disorganised and delusional that Wolff concludes that “American democracy was never in real danger”.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
5 high-caliber cartoons about Kristi Noem shooting her puppy
Cartoons Artists take on the rainbow bridge, a farm upstate, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why is the world running low on blood?
Podcast Scientists believe universal donor blood is within reach – plus, the row over an immersive D-Day simulation, and an Ozempic faux pas
By The Week Staff Published
-
Rishi Sunak's asylum spat with Ireland explained
In Depth Irish government plans to override court ruling that the UK is unsafe for asylum seekers
By The Week UK Published
-
Properties of the week: houses with enchanting gardens
The Week Recommends Featuring pretty homes in Hampshire, Devon and West Sussex
By The Week UK Published
-
Venice Biennale 2024: from the good to the bad to the downright 'bizarre'
The Week Recommends Central exhibition features the work of some 330 artists
By The Week UK Published
-
Sunset Song: gripping theatre that's 'close to magic'
The Week Recommends Morna Young's 'first-class adaptation' of Lewis Grassic Gibbon's classic novel
By The Week UK Published
-
Challengers: 'the most purely pleasurable film of the year so far'
The Week Recommends Zendaya plays a former tennis player turned coach in this 'almost ridiculously' sexy drama
By The Week UK Published
-
Baby Reindeer: a 'compelling and unforgettable' series
The Week Recommends Comedian Richard Gadd's disturbing Netflix drama about stalking
By The Week UK Published
-
Daniel Wallace's 5 favorite books that should not be forgotten
Feature The author recommends works by Italo Calvino, Evan S. Connell, and more
By The Week US Published
-
6 picturesque homes in Arizona
Feature Featuring a glass elevator in Sedona and a grotto waterfall in Paradise Valley
By The Week Staff Published
-
Baffin Island: looking for narwhal in Arctic Canada
The Week Recommends An exploration of this island between mainland Canada and Greenland is ideal for the adventurous at heart
By The Week UK Published