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Donald Trump #4
All or Nothing : How Trump Recaptured America
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The author of Fire and Fury delivers a breathtaking insider account of the 2024 Trump campaign—undoubtedly the wildest, most unpredictable campaign in U.S. history, including multiple criminal trials, two assassination attempts, and a sudden switch of opponents.
All or Nothing takes readers on a journey accompanying Donald Trump on his return to power as only Michael Wolff, the foremost chronicler of the Trump era, can do it. As Trump cruelly and swiftly dispatches his opponents, heaps fire and fury on the prosecutors and judges who are pursuing him, and mocks and belittles anyone in his way, including the president of the United States, this becomes not just another election but perhaps, both sides say, the last election. The stakes could not be Either the establishment destroys Donald Trump, or he destroys the establishment.
What soon emerges is a split-screen On one side, a picture that could not be worse for an inescapable, perhaps mortal legal quagmire; on the other side, an entirely positive political overwhelming support within his party, ever-rising polling numbers, and lackluster opposition. Through personal access to Trump’s inner circle, Wolff details a behind-the-scenes, revealing landscape of Trumpworld and its unlikely cast of primary players as well as the candidate himself, the most successful figure in American politics since, arguably, Roosevelt, but who might easily seem to be raving mad.
Threading a needle between tragedy and farce, the fate of the nation, the liberal ideal, and democracy itself, All or Nothing paints a gobsmacking portrait of a man whose behavior is so unimaginable, so uncontrolled, so unmindful of cause and effect, that it defeats all the structures and logic of civic life. And yet here in one of the most remarkable comebacks in American political history, Trump is victorious. This is not just a story about It is a vivid exposé of the demons, discord, and anarchy—the fire, fury, and future—of American life under Trump.
All or Nothing takes readers on a journey accompanying Donald Trump on his return to power as only Michael Wolff, the foremost chronicler of the Trump era, can do it. As Trump cruelly and swiftly dispatches his opponents, heaps fire and fury on the prosecutors and judges who are pursuing him, and mocks and belittles anyone in his way, including the president of the United States, this becomes not just another election but perhaps, both sides say, the last election. The stakes could not be Either the establishment destroys Donald Trump, or he destroys the establishment.
What soon emerges is a split-screen On one side, a picture that could not be worse for an inescapable, perhaps mortal legal quagmire; on the other side, an entirely positive political overwhelming support within his party, ever-rising polling numbers, and lackluster opposition. Through personal access to Trump’s inner circle, Wolff details a behind-the-scenes, revealing landscape of Trumpworld and its unlikely cast of primary players as well as the candidate himself, the most successful figure in American politics since, arguably, Roosevelt, but who might easily seem to be raving mad.
Threading a needle between tragedy and farce, the fate of the nation, the liberal ideal, and democracy itself, All or Nothing paints a gobsmacking portrait of a man whose behavior is so unimaginable, so uncontrolled, so unmindful of cause and effect, that it defeats all the structures and logic of civic life. And yet here in one of the most remarkable comebacks in American political history, Trump is victorious. This is not just a story about It is a vivid exposé of the demons, discord, and anarchy—the fire, fury, and future—of American life under Trump.
400 pages, Paperback
First published February 25, 2025
589 people are currently reading
1159 people want to read
About the author
Michael Wolff
31 books612 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Michael Wolff is an American author, essayist, and journalist, and a regular columnist and contributor to USA Today, The Hollywood Reporter, and the UK edition of GQ. He has received two National Magazine Awards, a Mirror Award, and has authored seven books, including Burn Rate (1998) about his own dot-com company, and The Man Who Owns the News (2008), a biography of Rupert Murdoch. He co-founded the news aggregation website Newser and is a former editor of Adweek.
In January 2018, Wolff's book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House was published, containing unflattering descriptions of behavior by U.S. President Donald Trump, chaotic interactions among the White House senior staff, and derogatory comments about the Trump family by former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon.
Michael Wolff is an American author, essayist, and journalist, and a regular columnist and contributor to USA Today, The Hollywood Reporter, and the UK edition of GQ. He has received two National Magazine Awards, a Mirror Award, and has authored seven books, including Burn Rate (1998) about his own dot-com company, and The Man Who Owns the News (2008), a biography of Rupert Murdoch. He co-founded the news aggregation website Newser and is a former editor of Adweek.
In January 2018, Wolff's book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House was published, containing unflattering descriptions of behavior by U.S. President Donald Trump, chaotic interactions among the White House senior staff, and derogatory comments about the Trump family by former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
October 24, 2025
I’ve read more than half a dozen books about Trump, from the rather frivolous (Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump), to serious insights penned by award winning investigative reporter Bob Woodward (The Trump Tapes & Fear: Trump in the White House). Perhaps they’ve not been the most balanced group as they’ve all pretty much slaughtered the current US President. This one is along the same lines, focussing as it does on his 2024 campaign.
I’d seen Michael Wolf on a panel of talking heads on British television programme – I can't recall which channel, but possibly the BBC – and he sounded interesting. He was outspoken and articulate in his, clearly anti-Trump, views. The audio version of this book is just under fifteen hours in length and is based, we’re told, on numerous interviews with ‘insiders’, none of whom are named.
Trump is definitely the ultimate marmite man, you really do either love him or hate him. I’m writing this review the day after he’s announced to the world the details of his plan to slap tariffs on just about every country that exports anything to the US. Those missing from his list are countries that already have tariffs imposed. Whether you think this is a great idea (all MAGA acolyte’s, no doubt) or those that don’t (practically everyone I know), you have to say that the man is watchable. Although, as one commentator I listened to suggested, he took an hour to deliver a one minute speech.
His run-up to re-election was, of course, punctuated by numerous court cases. Trump’s view was that his media strategy was his legal strategy and vice versa. He loved being in front of the camera, and if that wasn’t possible, then the second best outcome was that the news was all about him. He’s portrayed as lazy, inattentive, rude, and a bully - and with a mind that’s “unbound by logic, sequence or sense”. To a large extent, his reported behaviours and outbursts are those of a narcissistic blowhard.
Perhaps history will judge him as a man who really did make America great again, or maybe it’ll record the fact that he made enemies of those who were previously friends and allies, and actually caused a significant downturn in his country’s fortunes.
I really learned nothing new here, but it did reinforce my view of the man. I’m not a fan.
I’d seen Michael Wolf on a panel of talking heads on British television programme – I can't recall which channel, but possibly the BBC – and he sounded interesting. He was outspoken and articulate in his, clearly anti-Trump, views. The audio version of this book is just under fifteen hours in length and is based, we’re told, on numerous interviews with ‘insiders’, none of whom are named.
Trump is definitely the ultimate marmite man, you really do either love him or hate him. I’m writing this review the day after he’s announced to the world the details of his plan to slap tariffs on just about every country that exports anything to the US. Those missing from his list are countries that already have tariffs imposed. Whether you think this is a great idea (all MAGA acolyte’s, no doubt) or those that don’t (practically everyone I know), you have to say that the man is watchable. Although, as one commentator I listened to suggested, he took an hour to deliver a one minute speech.
His run-up to re-election was, of course, punctuated by numerous court cases. Trump’s view was that his media strategy was his legal strategy and vice versa. He loved being in front of the camera, and if that wasn’t possible, then the second best outcome was that the news was all about him. He’s portrayed as lazy, inattentive, rude, and a bully - and with a mind that’s “unbound by logic, sequence or sense”. To a large extent, his reported behaviours and outbursts are those of a narcissistic blowhard.
Perhaps history will judge him as a man who really did make America great again, or maybe it’ll record the fact that he made enemies of those who were previously friends and allies, and actually caused a significant downturn in his country’s fortunes.
I really learned nothing new here, but it did reinforce my view of the man. I’m not a fan.
March 18, 2025
Great journalism, but honestly, I couldn't finish this. It's no longer worth my time to try to get into such an unstable man's head and try to understand his greedy motivations.
March 2, 2025
Admittedly this book was a surprise. I typically watch a lot of news and have heard some of this already. I have never been a Trump fan and am even less so now. I’m reading this book approximately 1 month after Trump returned to office. A lot of what he said he was going to do he has started doing. I don’t think there is anyone I detest more than I do Trump. Hearing this from Michael Wolff’s perspective just made me dislike Trump and his minions more (if that is possible).
It's a long book, but I found it interesting. If you want to know how a republican party and the Trump minions think and operate, read it. If not, don’t. The book did answer the question, Make America Great Again. This book verified what I believed when I first heard the tag line – It means WHITE ONLY.
RECOMMENDATION: READ IT
November 4, 2025
Should I have spent time reading yet another book about Donald Trump? Probably not. I think the man is repulsive and contemptible—and I've felt that way about him for decades, going back to his shady dealings in New York City. His political career just made his dishonesty and lack of character more consequential.
Wolff's book didn't really give me any new insights into Trump. If anything, it just reinforced my opinion of him, which, I'm sure, is not good for my health.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed getting Wolff's inside perspective on the 2024 Trump campaign and the myriad Trump trials and legal problems that threatened to derail it but never succeeded. I would have enjoyed it more, of course, had the outcome been different.
Wolff's book didn't really give me any new insights into Trump. If anything, it just reinforced my opinion of him, which, I'm sure, is not good for my health.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed getting Wolff's inside perspective on the 2024 Trump campaign and the myriad Trump trials and legal problems that threatened to derail it but never succeeded. I would have enjoyed it more, of course, had the outcome been different.
March 5, 2025
This is actually a well-written book. However, it deals with a group of people who are just depressing to consider as leaders of this country. One constantly wonders when karma will take hold and the other shoe will drop.
August 8, 2025
The biggest problem with this story is we know how it ends - with a serial rapist, multiple bankrupt, convicted felon, pathological liar and the closest thing America has produced to Hitler recapturing the US Presidency.
A tiger for punishment, author Michael Wolff has now written four books on Trump. The previous three covered his chaotic first term; this one is about the lead-up to the second.
Of course, Trump is now back in the White House, seeking to put up walls around the US economy, selling out allies, undermining coordinated action on climate change and appointing clowns and incompetents to what are globally strategic roles.
But for all the titbits of craziness fed to Wolff by frustrated and alarmed insiders, nothing ever changes. For all the revelations of corruption and criminality, the American public - or the 77 million who voted for Trump - remain under his spell to the point that nothing now seems truer than his once startling claim that he could shoot someone point blank on Fifth Avenue and his ‘people’ would still vote for him.
For now, the cognitive dissonance is such that many of us in the civilised world outside America have long given up feeling compelled to follow the day-to-day accounts of Trump’s theatrical cruelty, ignorance and offensive, obscene ravings. We know he’s crazy. We know that the chaos is a feature, not a bug of his regime. We just want him gone and for America to come to its senses.
Woolff’s latest book, unfortunately, sheds no light on the mystery of his success. The account is entirely focused on the daily happenings in the Trump entourage in the manic two years leading up to his victory over Kamala Harris, who was drafted in at the last moment when Joe Biden’s senescence became too hard to ignore.
This is essentially a diarised account of the backroom circus around Trump during the many court cases he fought over those two years to become once again the unassailable Republican candidate. The feeling was (and I shared that view) that he could never escape the stink of the cases against him or his ugly fomenting of a violent insurrection to overthrow the 2020 election result or his criminal mishandling of the pandemic. But, of course, he did escape - helped by his team of third-rate mob lawyers, armies of bimbo blonde ‘assistants’ and a cynical right-wing media monetising outrage and division.
To be honest, I skimmed through much of this detailed account of the day-to-day insanity of the courtroom battles. The endless stories of Trump spitting the dummy on Truth Social or lapping up the craziest of conspiracy theories from the wackiest reaches of the internet just became repetitive and really rather academic. In the end, none of that mattered to the outcome.
And that’s the key failing of this account. It really doesn’t live up to its sub-title - ‘How Trump Recaptured America’. Or rather it fails to pose the more interesting question of WHY Trump recaptured America. You see, I’m of the school that thinks Trump is a symptom of a broken system and a failed state. If it weren’t him, it would be some other demagogue.
The American people, quite understandably, are frustrated at a system in which they work ever harder and longer for little reward, while the top 1% make out like bandits. And they’re justifiably angry with the Democratic Party, supposedly the centre-left party, for being the handmaiden to the process of neoliberal globalisation that has created the obscene inequality they live with now.
The great irony, of course, is the man they have chosen to repair the injustice is only going to make it worse - as can be seen by the fact he is tearing down what is left of social benefits, extending unfunded tax cuts to the rich and destroying the natural environment. It’s like putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank.
The truth is Trump is not there to ‘fix’ anything. He’s there to destroy the remaining institutions of US democracy, pick apart the remnant fabric of the post WWII New Deal and throw all the toys out of the cot. He is the front man for a coalition of fossil fuel interests, end-times fundamentalists, Zionists, white ‘christian’ nationalists and extreme libertarians who want to privatise what is left of the state and wreak vengeance on the ‘liberals’ they blame for the country’s plight. In this, he is surrounded by the actual fascists of Project 2025 - calculating, cool-blooded students of authoritarianism.
In the meantime, for his devoted followers, he serves as a bright orange manifestation of America’s deeply damaged id. He cynically channels the resentment and despair of the lower middle classes - mainly poorly educated people - at the hollowing out of their country by the ideology of neoliberalism, the vacuous posing of identity politics and the atomisation wrought by ‘market forces’ over four decades. For many of these folks, Trump numbs their pain and frustration by allowing them to believe the blame lies with China or Mexico or immigrants or anyone who is even worse off than them. He gives the huddled masses a licence to kick down and make themselves feel better, if even for a moment.
Of course, this mirrors how Hitler gained and held power in the 1930s - in that case by redirecting the justifiable anger among Germans over the humiliating ruin delivered to their country by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler blamed the Jews. Trump blames the Chinese or the Mexicans or the Canadians or the educated ‘liberal’ elites. It’s a very old far right playbook.
The upshot is that America is broken and captured by evil forces exploiting and extending its chronic dysfunction. We can all see it. The country that was a shining light of democratic liberalism for the world in the dark depths of World War II and the 30 years afterwards is finished. The leaders of a once enlightened democracy that helped defeat fascism now give Nazi salutes and send militarised police into the streets to arrest and deport people at will. The country that set the highest standards for tertiary education and research now celebrates ignorance and brutality.
The real story is not Trump’s already well-documented insanity but how America itself lost its mind…and its soul. That’s the book that needs to be written.
A tiger for punishment, author Michael Wolff has now written four books on Trump. The previous three covered his chaotic first term; this one is about the lead-up to the second.
Of course, Trump is now back in the White House, seeking to put up walls around the US economy, selling out allies, undermining coordinated action on climate change and appointing clowns and incompetents to what are globally strategic roles.
But for all the titbits of craziness fed to Wolff by frustrated and alarmed insiders, nothing ever changes. For all the revelations of corruption and criminality, the American public - or the 77 million who voted for Trump - remain under his spell to the point that nothing now seems truer than his once startling claim that he could shoot someone point blank on Fifth Avenue and his ‘people’ would still vote for him.
For now, the cognitive dissonance is such that many of us in the civilised world outside America have long given up feeling compelled to follow the day-to-day accounts of Trump’s theatrical cruelty, ignorance and offensive, obscene ravings. We know he’s crazy. We know that the chaos is a feature, not a bug of his regime. We just want him gone and for America to come to its senses.
Woolff’s latest book, unfortunately, sheds no light on the mystery of his success. The account is entirely focused on the daily happenings in the Trump entourage in the manic two years leading up to his victory over Kamala Harris, who was drafted in at the last moment when Joe Biden’s senescence became too hard to ignore.
This is essentially a diarised account of the backroom circus around Trump during the many court cases he fought over those two years to become once again the unassailable Republican candidate. The feeling was (and I shared that view) that he could never escape the stink of the cases against him or his ugly fomenting of a violent insurrection to overthrow the 2020 election result or his criminal mishandling of the pandemic. But, of course, he did escape - helped by his team of third-rate mob lawyers, armies of bimbo blonde ‘assistants’ and a cynical right-wing media monetising outrage and division.
To be honest, I skimmed through much of this detailed account of the day-to-day insanity of the courtroom battles. The endless stories of Trump spitting the dummy on Truth Social or lapping up the craziest of conspiracy theories from the wackiest reaches of the internet just became repetitive and really rather academic. In the end, none of that mattered to the outcome.
And that’s the key failing of this account. It really doesn’t live up to its sub-title - ‘How Trump Recaptured America’. Or rather it fails to pose the more interesting question of WHY Trump recaptured America. You see, I’m of the school that thinks Trump is a symptom of a broken system and a failed state. If it weren’t him, it would be some other demagogue.
The American people, quite understandably, are frustrated at a system in which they work ever harder and longer for little reward, while the top 1% make out like bandits. And they’re justifiably angry with the Democratic Party, supposedly the centre-left party, for being the handmaiden to the process of neoliberal globalisation that has created the obscene inequality they live with now.
The great irony, of course, is the man they have chosen to repair the injustice is only going to make it worse - as can be seen by the fact he is tearing down what is left of social benefits, extending unfunded tax cuts to the rich and destroying the natural environment. It’s like putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank.
The truth is Trump is not there to ‘fix’ anything. He’s there to destroy the remaining institutions of US democracy, pick apart the remnant fabric of the post WWII New Deal and throw all the toys out of the cot. He is the front man for a coalition of fossil fuel interests, end-times fundamentalists, Zionists, white ‘christian’ nationalists and extreme libertarians who want to privatise what is left of the state and wreak vengeance on the ‘liberals’ they blame for the country’s plight. In this, he is surrounded by the actual fascists of Project 2025 - calculating, cool-blooded students of authoritarianism.
In the meantime, for his devoted followers, he serves as a bright orange manifestation of America’s deeply damaged id. He cynically channels the resentment and despair of the lower middle classes - mainly poorly educated people - at the hollowing out of their country by the ideology of neoliberalism, the vacuous posing of identity politics and the atomisation wrought by ‘market forces’ over four decades. For many of these folks, Trump numbs their pain and frustration by allowing them to believe the blame lies with China or Mexico or immigrants or anyone who is even worse off than them. He gives the huddled masses a licence to kick down and make themselves feel better, if even for a moment.
Of course, this mirrors how Hitler gained and held power in the 1930s - in that case by redirecting the justifiable anger among Germans over the humiliating ruin delivered to their country by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler blamed the Jews. Trump blames the Chinese or the Mexicans or the Canadians or the educated ‘liberal’ elites. It’s a very old far right playbook.
The upshot is that America is broken and captured by evil forces exploiting and extending its chronic dysfunction. We can all see it. The country that was a shining light of democratic liberalism for the world in the dark depths of World War II and the 30 years afterwards is finished. The leaders of a once enlightened democracy that helped defeat fascism now give Nazi salutes and send militarised police into the streets to arrest and deport people at will. The country that set the highest standards for tertiary education and research now celebrates ignorance and brutality.
The real story is not Trump’s already well-documented insanity but how America itself lost its mind…and its soul. That’s the book that needs to be written.
March 11, 2025
This is a nasty book, and not that informative, other than after reading it, I have more of a window on how people who hate Trump think: without reason and with implacable venom and bile. Full of gossip and rumormongering.
March 12, 2025
Basically, knowing too much about Trump (the Felon) already, this book just reinforced my opinion that this criminal is unhinged and dumb as a rock! The outcome of the election that made him President once again is the fact that his supporters are about as dumb as he is! Unfortunately, there were too many of them that didn't fact check him and they will be the ones to suffer the effects of his 4 more years in office. Along with Elon Musk and his billions, they will destroy our democracy. The people of America must fight back against this wannabe dictator and his lackeys in Congress. Now, before it's too late!
March 30, 2025
3.5 stars. Well, I do read all of these Wolff books, but they suffer when compared to Bob Woodward's similar books documenting the history of this time.
June 11, 2025
Fairly engaging narrative. Best part was Trump's delusional ideas about potential VP candidates 😂
March 14, 2025
A painful and boring read
March 17, 2025
I read this book so you don’t have to. Total garbage! Let’s hope Bob Woodward has been keeping himself busy.
March 17, 2025
The rap is that much of his books are made up. I don’t have the knowledge to know if that is true, but it’s a compelling read. Proceed with a healthy amount of skepticism and you will enjoy the ride.
April 24, 2025
The definitive insight into the mechanics of the most destructive force since The Flood. Toxic and unmissable.
September 5, 2025
Summary
The structure and intent of this book are a bit unclear to me—starting with its imprecise position as a historical account. Part of my disconnect might stem from the fact that the events it covers are still so recent. I didn’t come away with any particularly profound insights, and the narrative didn’t seem to offer much that I didn’t already know. Yet ironically, if I were to read this book years from now, I’d likely need a fair amount of outside context—historical perspective, additional reporting, and a broader timeline—to make sense of it all.
This creates a strange dynamic: the book feels both too early and too late. As a result, I think the average reader may struggle to fully grasp the story of Trump’s post-presidency and reelection campaign, which is unfortunate because Michael Wolff does have access to some fascinating, behind-the-scenes perspectives on the paradox that is Donald Trump.
Adding to that, Wolff’s writing style just isn’t my cup of tea. The best way I can describe it is like a “Mean Girls” approach to political commentary— Trump is already such a bombastic and absurd figure; he hardly needs additional commentary on this
Reading Notes
Truth Social & Trump’s Crypto Grift
Trump’s social media venture, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), merged with Digital World Acquisition Corp just in time to provide him with a much-needed financial lifeline for various legal penalties. Convenient timing. On September 5, 2025, TMTG struck a deal with Crypto.com to acquire 684.4 million Cronos (CRO) tokens—valued at about $105 million.
This, from a man who once dismissed crypto as a scam. Since reentering the political spotlight, Trump has enthusiastically embraced crypto schemes of his own. His family reportedly holds the majority stake in World Liberty Financial ($WLFI), valued at roughly $20 billion, and he’s also tied to the $TRUMP meme coin—both of which have been linked to shady crypto operators and scam networks.
Trump’s Psychology
Page 365 offers a telling glimpse into Trump’s mindset. He sees himself as a uniquely chosen figure—perhaps even divinely appointed—destined for greatness, whether or not he actually understands or defines what that greatness looks like.
He lacks a clear ideology or set of guiding principles. What drives him is the pursuit of personal credit, attention, and the feeling of being center stage. That’s the throughline of his career.
“He was given the same speech that had reliably worked before. But why wasn’t there a new speech? Why weren’t there new ideas here? New proposals? Why was it always the same old, same old?”
This moment captures a deeper irony. Trump is frustrated by the lack of fresh ideas in his campaign—but never seems to recognize that it’s his responsibility to offer them. He’s the candidate. He’s the leader. Yet he approaches the process as if someone else should be generating the vision, while he simply performs it. That disconnect says a lot about how Trump views power, leadership, and the role of politics itself.
The structure and intent of this book are a bit unclear to me—starting with its imprecise position as a historical account. Part of my disconnect might stem from the fact that the events it covers are still so recent. I didn’t come away with any particularly profound insights, and the narrative didn’t seem to offer much that I didn’t already know. Yet ironically, if I were to read this book years from now, I’d likely need a fair amount of outside context—historical perspective, additional reporting, and a broader timeline—to make sense of it all.
This creates a strange dynamic: the book feels both too early and too late. As a result, I think the average reader may struggle to fully grasp the story of Trump’s post-presidency and reelection campaign, which is unfortunate because Michael Wolff does have access to some fascinating, behind-the-scenes perspectives on the paradox that is Donald Trump.
Adding to that, Wolff’s writing style just isn’t my cup of tea. The best way I can describe it is like a “Mean Girls” approach to political commentary— Trump is already such a bombastic and absurd figure; he hardly needs additional commentary on this
Reading Notes
Truth Social & Trump’s Crypto Grift
Trump’s social media venture, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), merged with Digital World Acquisition Corp just in time to provide him with a much-needed financial lifeline for various legal penalties. Convenient timing. On September 5, 2025, TMTG struck a deal with Crypto.com to acquire 684.4 million Cronos (CRO) tokens—valued at about $105 million.
This, from a man who once dismissed crypto as a scam. Since reentering the political spotlight, Trump has enthusiastically embraced crypto schemes of his own. His family reportedly holds the majority stake in World Liberty Financial ($WLFI), valued at roughly $20 billion, and he’s also tied to the $TRUMP meme coin—both of which have been linked to shady crypto operators and scam networks.
Trump’s Psychology
Page 365 offers a telling glimpse into Trump’s mindset. He sees himself as a uniquely chosen figure—perhaps even divinely appointed—destined for greatness, whether or not he actually understands or defines what that greatness looks like.
He lacks a clear ideology or set of guiding principles. What drives him is the pursuit of personal credit, attention, and the feeling of being center stage. That’s the throughline of his career.
“He was given the same speech that had reliably worked before. But why wasn’t there a new speech? Why weren’t there new ideas here? New proposals? Why was it always the same old, same old?”
This moment captures a deeper irony. Trump is frustrated by the lack of fresh ideas in his campaign—but never seems to recognize that it’s his responsibility to offer them. He’s the candidate. He’s the leader. Yet he approaches the process as if someone else should be generating the vision, while he simply performs it. That disconnect says a lot about how Trump views power, leadership, and the role of politics itself.
September 27, 2025
Seeing other reviews, it appears some people struggle with Michael Wolff's blaśe characterisations of all the different behind-the-scenes happening and actors within Donald Trump's coterie, and his eventually successful bid for re-election as President. But this is where I thoroughly enjoy Wolff's unserious characterising as Donald Trump and his insiders (Lewandowski, Wiles, LaCavita, Miller, Epshteyn etc) as a group of old bitchy queens - because they are not secretly benevolent, broad-minded or introspective people, these are unserious, chaotic, self-serving and cathartic people gravitated together into Donald Trump's atmosphere. And they are no better thought of than a bitchy old girls group. I especially enjoyed Michael Wolff's specific focus on Boris Epshteyn's gradual inaugeration into Trump's Roy Cohn 2.0. But just when Wolff has disarmed you with his wit and charming writing style, there is always a dramatic gut-punch that makes you realise how frightening the situation entirely is.
March 20, 2025
This is my 30th book about Trump’s presidency, though it’s really about the time between the 2020 and 2024 elections. I’ve avoided Wolff’s books because I detested Fire and Fury. Why? Because the bias was so clear and caustic that I didn’t find it helpful to understanding the president, his actions, or policies. This book - his 4th I think - was much less acidic though still biased. And that’s ok - that’s why I’ve read so many books on this President, to cut through and guide around bias. I thought it was interesting and thorough. Though again, far from balanced or fair. It did expose me to a new cast of characters and a lot more information that the other books haven’t cut to yet. So, a worthwhile book I suppose, as long as it is coupled with less biased books as well (see my list below).
Other books I have read in this space, BOTH pro and anti-Trump. The purpose is to get as many perspectives and “puzzle pieces” as I can, in order to put together a complete picture.
The Chief’s Chief, Meadows
Enough, Hutchinson
War, Woodward
Apprentice in Wonderland, Setoodeh
At War with Ourselves, McMaster
I’ll Take Your Questions Now, Grisham
Thank You For Your Servitude, Leibovich
Betrayal, Karl
Frankly We Did Win This Election, Bender
Landslide, Wolff
I Alone Can Fix It, Leonig
A Very Stable Genius, Rucker
Hoax, Stelter
The Room Where it Happened, Bolton
Front Row at the Trump Show, Karl
The Art of Her Deal, Jordan
The Grifter’s Club, Blaskey
Trump and His Generals, Bergen
Holding the Line, Snodgrass
United States of Trump, O’Reilly
Team of Vipers, Sims
Commander in Cheat, Reilly
The Russian Hoax, Jarrett
Has Anyone Seen the President?, Lewis
A Higher Loyalty, Comey
Fire and Fury, Wolff
Art of the Deal, Trump
Hacks, Brazile
Other books I have read in this space, BOTH pro and anti-Trump. The purpose is to get as many perspectives and “puzzle pieces” as I can, in order to put together a complete picture.
The Chief’s Chief, Meadows
Enough, Hutchinson
War, Woodward
Apprentice in Wonderland, Setoodeh
At War with Ourselves, McMaster
I’ll Take Your Questions Now, Grisham
Thank You For Your Servitude, Leibovich
Betrayal, Karl
Frankly We Did Win This Election, Bender
Landslide, Wolff
I Alone Can Fix It, Leonig
A Very Stable Genius, Rucker
Hoax, Stelter
The Room Where it Happened, Bolton
Front Row at the Trump Show, Karl
The Art of Her Deal, Jordan
The Grifter’s Club, Blaskey
Trump and His Generals, Bergen
Holding the Line, Snodgrass
United States of Trump, O’Reilly
Team of Vipers, Sims
Commander in Cheat, Reilly
The Russian Hoax, Jarrett
Has Anyone Seen the President?, Lewis
A Higher Loyalty, Comey
Fire and Fury, Wolff
Art of the Deal, Trump
Hacks, Brazile
May 6, 2025
This book was very interesting and insightful.
At some points I couldn’t believe my own ears about what has been said or done however without revealing anything I can tell I found the book well penned and filled with information I had not stumbled across before.
At some points I couldn’t believe my own ears about what has been said or done however without revealing anything I can tell I found the book well penned and filled with information I had not stumbled across before.
March 31, 2025
Kinda what you’d expect. Some anecdotes sprinkled in that will make you laugh for sort of disturbing reasons. Entertaining enough to read but more of an extended report than anything imo.
April 5, 2025
No less confused on how he won finishing the book but it was an interesting read.
Well written.
Well written.
November 1, 2025
Not a balanced book. Insightful nonetheless. Well written but a bit long
March 17, 2025
A good read that reiterates and exposes the madness of what the US already experienced—if you have the stomach to go through it again.
May 21, 2025
Like Wolff's other books on Trump, this work ultimately is a triumph that becomes pathetic tragedy. It is a tragedy not because of its story, but because of Wolff's approach. Wolff's triumph is that he has gained insight into the real inside story of Trump, the man, and his campaign like few other writers have. The tragedy is that Wolff hates Trump so much it turns the work into a farce.
Wolff literally cannot go a paragraph in this book without belittling or putting down Donald Trump. It's not insightful or analytical, but disgusting. What makes the book all the more frustrating is that Wolff somehow gained the trust and insight of many around Trump to provide an accurate insider's view of the man and the campaign that few other writers have accomplished. But instead of letting the information stand for itself, Wolff hates on Trump almost every other paragraph and it gets old quickly whether you are a Trump supporter or hater.
What Wolff and other writers simply cannot accept is that Donald Trump changed American politics. His approach, unique to his personality, was completely at odds with what the conventional media understood. And what Wolff can't come to accept is that at every single challenge, Trump and his unconventional approach won.
As a former life-long Democrat and indeed a former Democrat elected official, who came to vote 3 times for Mr. Trump and in fact changed party registration last year after 32 years, let me clue Mr. Wolff in. None of us think Mr. Trump is like us or understands us. None of us believe Trump or his policies will help us. What we do believe with all our hearts is we are being taxed to death to support a permanent welfare state who takes the welfare benefits for granted, and when any of us are down on our luck, somehow even after paying into the system for so long, we can't access the help that the lifelong welfare beneficiaries take for granted. Most of us believe the laws should be enforced. Most of us firmly oppose illegal immigration, let alone supporting illegal immigrants with tax dollars. Most of us oppose discrimination, which is why we hate DEI which is forced reverse discrimination. Most of us recoil in disgust and horror at the acceptance of strange pretend sexuality and attempting to indoctrinate children into pretending to be a sex they are not with drugs and operations. We happen to be proud of our history and country, and even if America hasn't gotten everything right, we don't hate our nation. And we believe that Donald Trump is wealthy and independent enough to stand up for these beliefs. Most of all we believe Donald Trump, for all his faults and occasional ridiculousness, presents as genuinely himself at a time when almost all politicians pretend to be what they are not.
Despite having some real insight, Wolff's book falls short every time Trump triumphs. He glosses over the Butler assassination attempt, and completely fails to relate Melania's obviously self written, heartfelt message to America after the shooting. In fact throughout the book he tries to drive a wedge between the Trumps. Whatever the truth of their marriage, the couple has been together 20 years, raised a fine child, and seem to flirt and delight in each other when they are together, just the opposite of what Wolff portrays.
Wolff downs Trump's amazing 2024 Republican National Convention speech talking about the assassination attempt in a personal way he never had before in a way that captivated the nation, by focusing on tired stressed convention delegates. That speech wasn't for the delegates--it was for the voters, and it scored despite what Wolff said.
We all know Mr. Trump delights in tall, thin adoring young women, who he surrounds himself with. Throughout the book Wolff tries to portray this as something new and sinister but its already well known. He fails, as other media have also, to explain how Trump could possibly have been interested in the short unattractive woman who sued him (funded and supported by woke liberals) literally decades after an alleged incident. Maybe looking more into that might have made a better book.
We all know a major part of Trump's personality is exaggerating, thinking out loud, preferring video to written, preferring chaos so no competitors can gain a footing. Whether you agree or disagree with the style, for decades now it has worked for Trump and made him one of the best known and powerful persons in the world. Instead of putting it down, perhaps Wolff might have better considered why it worked--and works--for Trump.
Wolff focuses on Trump's criminal and civil trials, without accepting the fact that every one of them was later discredited. The Georgia county attorney it turned out was sexually involved with her lead prosecutor who was loaning her money and wining and dining her from the overtime he earned on the Trump trial. In New York, the State Attorney General who went after Trump was just today as I write this, put under investigation for real estate mortgage fraud. The Federal Special Counsel Jack Smith ended his investigation and ran off in terror after Trump won. The FBI was censured for the unprecedented raid on Trump's personal residence especially after similar classified documents were found in Joe Biden's garage. A special counsel released a report that essentially said much of the prior FBI case about Russian support for Trump's 2016 victory was based on lies.
In truth, Joe Biden in fact turned out to be even more physically and mentally unwell than Trump said, no matter how gracelessly Trump said it. Trump became the first presidential candidate in history to force out his opponent, an incumbent president, after the primary elections. Then the Democratic Party disenfranchised all of its voters by allowing out of touch elite woke liberals to hand pick a replacement candidate, who had never won a single primary election. Then Kamala Harris failed to win more votes than Biden in even one county in all of America, lost every single swing state, and the popular vote by a large margin. Harris and the Democrats lost votes among Blacks, Hispanics and Union members. Trump became only the second man in American history to win 2 nonconsecutive terms, not even mentioned by Wolff. Trump's victory, while not a landslide, was solid and convincing, and completely at odds with the media's predictions and polls were wrong yet again. Yet Wolff glosses over the victory in just a few pages. The one predictable thing about all of Wolff's books are when the story reaches the point there is no way to put down a Trump triumph, Wolff's in-depth reporting suddenly glosses over it in just a few pages.
Once elected, Trump began to do exactly what he said he would do during the campaign--holding those accountable who had misused the government against him for political purposes--pardoning January 6th offenders who had been zealously hunted and punished by Biden's Administration-- appointing controversial disrupters to head government agencies long captured by status quo bureaucrats--cutting the government staff and cutting spending--raising tariffs--cancelling DEI--a record of actually doing what he said he would do few other politicians ever reach.
Yet to read Wolff's book, Trump is the crazy one, with hollow fake accomplishments. It's a shame because Wolff clearly got access to an inside view of the strange, unconventional style of Donald Trump. And Wolff isn't afraid to say where he thinks Trump's approaches and actions are wrong. But the book, as his others, will never be able to be viewed as the important historical contribution it could have been because Wolff is not analytical but hateful and ultimately, unable to comprehend that Trump's approaches repeatedly led him to astounding political success as well as overcoming his adversaries who misused the legal system at both the state and federal levels against him.
Wolff literally cannot go a paragraph in this book without belittling or putting down Donald Trump. It's not insightful or analytical, but disgusting. What makes the book all the more frustrating is that Wolff somehow gained the trust and insight of many around Trump to provide an accurate insider's view of the man and the campaign that few other writers have accomplished. But instead of letting the information stand for itself, Wolff hates on Trump almost every other paragraph and it gets old quickly whether you are a Trump supporter or hater.
What Wolff and other writers simply cannot accept is that Donald Trump changed American politics. His approach, unique to his personality, was completely at odds with what the conventional media understood. And what Wolff can't come to accept is that at every single challenge, Trump and his unconventional approach won.
As a former life-long Democrat and indeed a former Democrat elected official, who came to vote 3 times for Mr. Trump and in fact changed party registration last year after 32 years, let me clue Mr. Wolff in. None of us think Mr. Trump is like us or understands us. None of us believe Trump or his policies will help us. What we do believe with all our hearts is we are being taxed to death to support a permanent welfare state who takes the welfare benefits for granted, and when any of us are down on our luck, somehow even after paying into the system for so long, we can't access the help that the lifelong welfare beneficiaries take for granted. Most of us believe the laws should be enforced. Most of us firmly oppose illegal immigration, let alone supporting illegal immigrants with tax dollars. Most of us oppose discrimination, which is why we hate DEI which is forced reverse discrimination. Most of us recoil in disgust and horror at the acceptance of strange pretend sexuality and attempting to indoctrinate children into pretending to be a sex they are not with drugs and operations. We happen to be proud of our history and country, and even if America hasn't gotten everything right, we don't hate our nation. And we believe that Donald Trump is wealthy and independent enough to stand up for these beliefs. Most of all we believe Donald Trump, for all his faults and occasional ridiculousness, presents as genuinely himself at a time when almost all politicians pretend to be what they are not.
Despite having some real insight, Wolff's book falls short every time Trump triumphs. He glosses over the Butler assassination attempt, and completely fails to relate Melania's obviously self written, heartfelt message to America after the shooting. In fact throughout the book he tries to drive a wedge between the Trumps. Whatever the truth of their marriage, the couple has been together 20 years, raised a fine child, and seem to flirt and delight in each other when they are together, just the opposite of what Wolff portrays.
Wolff downs Trump's amazing 2024 Republican National Convention speech talking about the assassination attempt in a personal way he never had before in a way that captivated the nation, by focusing on tired stressed convention delegates. That speech wasn't for the delegates--it was for the voters, and it scored despite what Wolff said.
We all know Mr. Trump delights in tall, thin adoring young women, who he surrounds himself with. Throughout the book Wolff tries to portray this as something new and sinister but its already well known. He fails, as other media have also, to explain how Trump could possibly have been interested in the short unattractive woman who sued him (funded and supported by woke liberals) literally decades after an alleged incident. Maybe looking more into that might have made a better book.
We all know a major part of Trump's personality is exaggerating, thinking out loud, preferring video to written, preferring chaos so no competitors can gain a footing. Whether you agree or disagree with the style, for decades now it has worked for Trump and made him one of the best known and powerful persons in the world. Instead of putting it down, perhaps Wolff might have better considered why it worked--and works--for Trump.
Wolff focuses on Trump's criminal and civil trials, without accepting the fact that every one of them was later discredited. The Georgia county attorney it turned out was sexually involved with her lead prosecutor who was loaning her money and wining and dining her from the overtime he earned on the Trump trial. In New York, the State Attorney General who went after Trump was just today as I write this, put under investigation for real estate mortgage fraud. The Federal Special Counsel Jack Smith ended his investigation and ran off in terror after Trump won. The FBI was censured for the unprecedented raid on Trump's personal residence especially after similar classified documents were found in Joe Biden's garage. A special counsel released a report that essentially said much of the prior FBI case about Russian support for Trump's 2016 victory was based on lies.
In truth, Joe Biden in fact turned out to be even more physically and mentally unwell than Trump said, no matter how gracelessly Trump said it. Trump became the first presidential candidate in history to force out his opponent, an incumbent president, after the primary elections. Then the Democratic Party disenfranchised all of its voters by allowing out of touch elite woke liberals to hand pick a replacement candidate, who had never won a single primary election. Then Kamala Harris failed to win more votes than Biden in even one county in all of America, lost every single swing state, and the popular vote by a large margin. Harris and the Democrats lost votes among Blacks, Hispanics and Union members. Trump became only the second man in American history to win 2 nonconsecutive terms, not even mentioned by Wolff. Trump's victory, while not a landslide, was solid and convincing, and completely at odds with the media's predictions and polls were wrong yet again. Yet Wolff glosses over the victory in just a few pages. The one predictable thing about all of Wolff's books are when the story reaches the point there is no way to put down a Trump triumph, Wolff's in-depth reporting suddenly glosses over it in just a few pages.
Once elected, Trump began to do exactly what he said he would do during the campaign--holding those accountable who had misused the government against him for political purposes--pardoning January 6th offenders who had been zealously hunted and punished by Biden's Administration-- appointing controversial disrupters to head government agencies long captured by status quo bureaucrats--cutting the government staff and cutting spending--raising tariffs--cancelling DEI--a record of actually doing what he said he would do few other politicians ever reach.
Yet to read Wolff's book, Trump is the crazy one, with hollow fake accomplishments. It's a shame because Wolff clearly got access to an inside view of the strange, unconventional style of Donald Trump. And Wolff isn't afraid to say where he thinks Trump's approaches and actions are wrong. But the book, as his others, will never be able to be viewed as the important historical contribution it could have been because Wolff is not analytical but hateful and ultimately, unable to comprehend that Trump's approaches repeatedly led him to astounding political success as well as overcoming his adversaries who misused the legal system at both the state and federal levels against him.
June 3, 2025
Quotes I liked
───────────────
▪ That was what success got you: everybody fighting for a piece of it.
▪ Most of us live our lives in a low furrow, if not a rut, of uneven or even miserable luck. If your luck breaks for you fifty-fifty, you’ve certainly done well; chances are it will yield far less than that. Donald Trump, for his part, might seem to have among the highest luck percentages ever recorded, fate, good fortune, or the stars rescuing him from so many nadirs.
▪ Later, called onstage, with no one having any idea what he might say, Musk bounds up and, suddenly—in Mick Jagger style, prancing and jumping—becomes the headline, his T-shirt rising far above his midriff.
“What the fuck is wrong with this guy?” says a bewildered Trump. “And why doesn’t his shirt fit?”
▪ Has victory robbed him of his reason for being?
Because this is Donald Trump, a train heading for the wall, there has always been, even among those loyally by his side, the understanding that this could end, perhaps even inevitably would—and by any standards of reasonable risk management, probably should—in a fiery wreck. And perhaps that, in some sense, has still been the expectation—even what everyone has truly been waiting for.
The fact that he will take every swing state; that in his third try he will easily win the popular vote; that he will significantly reconfigure many safe assumptions about an otherwise predictable electorate; that somehow, at this moment, he might seem to be the most successful figure in American politics since Franklin Roosevelt is a new and bewildering reality even for those who were a part of it. Even for him, perhaps most of all.
What new fire must he now set?
▪ And what of the big man, or, in the most secret of monikers inside the campaign, “the old man,” himself?
He had achieved everything he had sought. His comeback arguably dwarfed all others in modern political history. He had bet it all and won. In his life of pressing for the next rung of fame, recognition, attention, there was really nowhere else to go. He would exit office at 82—no one ever older. There was nothing else.
───────────────
▪ That was what success got you: everybody fighting for a piece of it.
▪ Most of us live our lives in a low furrow, if not a rut, of uneven or even miserable luck. If your luck breaks for you fifty-fifty, you’ve certainly done well; chances are it will yield far less than that. Donald Trump, for his part, might seem to have among the highest luck percentages ever recorded, fate, good fortune, or the stars rescuing him from so many nadirs.
▪ Later, called onstage, with no one having any idea what he might say, Musk bounds up and, suddenly—in Mick Jagger style, prancing and jumping—becomes the headline, his T-shirt rising far above his midriff.
“What the fuck is wrong with this guy?” says a bewildered Trump. “And why doesn’t his shirt fit?”
▪ Has victory robbed him of his reason for being?
Because this is Donald Trump, a train heading for the wall, there has always been, even among those loyally by his side, the understanding that this could end, perhaps even inevitably would—and by any standards of reasonable risk management, probably should—in a fiery wreck. And perhaps that, in some sense, has still been the expectation—even what everyone has truly been waiting for.
The fact that he will take every swing state; that in his third try he will easily win the popular vote; that he will significantly reconfigure many safe assumptions about an otherwise predictable electorate; that somehow, at this moment, he might seem to be the most successful figure in American politics since Franklin Roosevelt is a new and bewildering reality even for those who were a part of it. Even for him, perhaps most of all.
What new fire must he now set?
▪ And what of the big man, or, in the most secret of monikers inside the campaign, “the old man,” himself?
He had achieved everything he had sought. His comeback arguably dwarfed all others in modern political history. He had bet it all and won. In his life of pressing for the next rung of fame, recognition, attention, there was really nowhere else to go. He would exit office at 82—no one ever older. There was nothing else.
July 31, 2025
Not impressed by “All or Nothing”. I had hoped to find some bit of explanation of what musk is doing there, how he helped win the election and why Trump won. None of these are covered.
The most the book has to say is this “… called onstage, with no one having any idea what he might say, Musk bounds up and, suddenly—in Mick Jagger style, prancing and jumping—becomes the headline, his T-shirt rising far above his midriff.
“What the fuck is wrong with this guy?” says a bewildered Trump. “And why doesn’t his shirt fit?””
My second big problem is the language. It clunky. Long sentences with long inserts, with some spoken language in odd places: For example 26 occurrences of “What’s more”.
On the other hand there are some strong points, mostly quotes from Trump like “his wiggling on abortion. “Don’t talk weeks. Nobody talk weeks. Weeks get you in trouble. No weeks” was his new position.”
He uses way too many abbreviations. As far as I noticed all of them undefined. Some I could look up, but some gave nothing of meaning. Example: “But, even here, noncompliance, even as he complied, was his MO.” What is MO? My dictionary suggest MO is short for moment or in North America for month, or the chemical element molybdenum. None of those make sense. There are many such abbreviations. Some I could figure out. Some I could not. Such a wast of time. It would have taken him a few second to type the full word or words and would have saved me many minutes and annoyances.
The most the book has to say is this “… called onstage, with no one having any idea what he might say, Musk bounds up and, suddenly—in Mick Jagger style, prancing and jumping—becomes the headline, his T-shirt rising far above his midriff.
“What the fuck is wrong with this guy?” says a bewildered Trump. “And why doesn’t his shirt fit?””
My second big problem is the language. It clunky. Long sentences with long inserts, with some spoken language in odd places: For example 26 occurrences of “What’s more”.
On the other hand there are some strong points, mostly quotes from Trump like “his wiggling on abortion. “Don’t talk weeks. Nobody talk weeks. Weeks get you in trouble. No weeks” was his new position.”
He uses way too many abbreviations. As far as I noticed all of them undefined. Some I could look up, but some gave nothing of meaning. Example: “But, even here, noncompliance, even as he complied, was his MO.” What is MO? My dictionary suggest MO is short for moment or in North America for month, or the chemical element molybdenum. None of those make sense. There are many such abbreviations. Some I could figure out. Some I could not. Such a wast of time. It would have taken him a few second to type the full word or words and would have saved me many minutes and annoyances.
June 9, 2025
Michael Wolff must have rubbed his hands in glee on election night 2024 when he realized that Donald Trump's re-election has all but guaranteed him material to feed another 3 or so books on the Trump Presidential saga following the trio he churned out on the first term.
Opening in Mar-a-Lago in the aftermath of his election defeat (or, in his alternate reality, the election that was stolen from him) when he seemed consigned to the dustbin of history and ignominy, we find Trump brooding, bitter, vindictive, malevolent and anything but beaten - he is unwavering and unfaltering in his self-belief, a Shakespearean (or Nixonian) King Lear character, the President-in-exile plotting his revenge and comeback.
Wolff's account is that of one of the most astonishing political Lazarus-jobs of all times. His style in the telling is tabloid, sensationalist and brash, the prose and narrative trashy, disjointed and restless. Mirroring Trump himself and his crazily spinning orbit, he flips disjointedly from present to past tense in his narrative, his style as unfocused and chaotic as his subject persona.
Wolff races us through the unfolding of the campaign against a backdrop of indictments, lawsuits and scandal from the coronation-style primaries through to the general election campaign itself. His chapters on Trump's legal woes and court appearances become drawn out and boring, while he strangely skips over Biden's disastrous debate performance and self-implosion, missing the chance for a hilarious and riveting chapter.
A portrait of Trump's personal and public habits is drawn - he is mercurial, chaotic, volatile and bombastic, strangely unfocused and yet focused at the same time. But this story is more about those spinning in his orbit than the self and media-obsessed Trump, a crew ranging from sycophants, weirdos, toadies and groupies to the more slick professional operatives like Susie Wiles, now White House chief of staff, all of whom have in common the main task of humoring, containing and delivering only good news to their hero. Curiously and inexplicably, scarcely half a page is devoted to the role of Elon Musk in Trump's re-election.
At it's core, Wolff's book is about the HOW rather than the WHY of one of the most astonishing comebacks in US Presidential history. It lacks in analysis of the missteps of the democrats, skips over the disastrous decision of Biden to run despite his age and failing cognitive abilities and the cover-up of that, plus the Dem's decision to pin their pitch on pro-choice ignoring the real hot-button issues of immigration and inflation.
Wolff really doesn't offer any new insights or revelations into the inner workings of Trumpworld or the campaign, rather re-packages what we already know into a loud, bombastic tabloid format. How good are his sources, really ? One suspects that, given his standing and reputation as a writer on Trump's career, there would be no shortage of low and medium level hired-and-fired operatives in the revolving door setting of Trumpworld willing to talk to him off the record, plus peripheral has-been's like Steve Bannon, his original source for Fire and the fury, who would offer good perspective, albeit it from the outside.
Nevertheless, Wolff has firmly established himself as the foremost chronicler of the Trump years, with a few books still in him yet as this crazy juggernaut rolls on.
Opening in Mar-a-Lago in the aftermath of his election defeat (or, in his alternate reality, the election that was stolen from him) when he seemed consigned to the dustbin of history and ignominy, we find Trump brooding, bitter, vindictive, malevolent and anything but beaten - he is unwavering and unfaltering in his self-belief, a Shakespearean (or Nixonian) King Lear character, the President-in-exile plotting his revenge and comeback.
Wolff's account is that of one of the most astonishing political Lazarus-jobs of all times. His style in the telling is tabloid, sensationalist and brash, the prose and narrative trashy, disjointed and restless. Mirroring Trump himself and his crazily spinning orbit, he flips disjointedly from present to past tense in his narrative, his style as unfocused and chaotic as his subject persona.
Wolff races us through the unfolding of the campaign against a backdrop of indictments, lawsuits and scandal from the coronation-style primaries through to the general election campaign itself. His chapters on Trump's legal woes and court appearances become drawn out and boring, while he strangely skips over Biden's disastrous debate performance and self-implosion, missing the chance for a hilarious and riveting chapter.
A portrait of Trump's personal and public habits is drawn - he is mercurial, chaotic, volatile and bombastic, strangely unfocused and yet focused at the same time. But this story is more about those spinning in his orbit than the self and media-obsessed Trump, a crew ranging from sycophants, weirdos, toadies and groupies to the more slick professional operatives like Susie Wiles, now White House chief of staff, all of whom have in common the main task of humoring, containing and delivering only good news to their hero. Curiously and inexplicably, scarcely half a page is devoted to the role of Elon Musk in Trump's re-election.
At it's core, Wolff's book is about the HOW rather than the WHY of one of the most astonishing comebacks in US Presidential history. It lacks in analysis of the missteps of the democrats, skips over the disastrous decision of Biden to run despite his age and failing cognitive abilities and the cover-up of that, plus the Dem's decision to pin their pitch on pro-choice ignoring the real hot-button issues of immigration and inflation.
Wolff really doesn't offer any new insights or revelations into the inner workings of Trumpworld or the campaign, rather re-packages what we already know into a loud, bombastic tabloid format. How good are his sources, really ? One suspects that, given his standing and reputation as a writer on Trump's career, there would be no shortage of low and medium level hired-and-fired operatives in the revolving door setting of Trumpworld willing to talk to him off the record, plus peripheral has-been's like Steve Bannon, his original source for Fire and the fury, who would offer good perspective, albeit it from the outside.
Nevertheless, Wolff has firmly established himself as the foremost chronicler of the Trump years, with a few books still in him yet as this crazy juggernaut rolls on.
March 27, 2025
Willkommen im Trump-Universum
Worum geht’s?
Ein Prozess jagt den nächsten. Dazwischen muss Wahlkampf geführt werden. Fernsehdebatten stehen an. Und um Donald J. Trump herum ist ein ständiger Wechsel an Personal und Vertrauten. Doch wider Erwarten gewinnt er auch diese Wahl.
Meine Meinung:
Bereits die ersten Bücher, die Michael Wolff über Trump geschrieben hat, habe ich verschlungen. Deshalb musste ich auch unbedingt „Alles oder nichts“ lesen. Und was soll ich sagen? Ich war wieder absolut begeistert!
Der Autor hat mit dem US-Präsidenten aber auch den perfekten Hauptprotagonisten gefunden. Wo andere Biografien langwierig sein können, ist dieser Ausschnitt aus dem Leben Trumps in der Zeit zwischen Prozessen, Wahlkampf und 2. Wahlsieg einfach eine Aneinanderreihung von Auszügen aus seinem Leben und seiner Reden. Ein Leben, das aus dieser Biografie fast schon einen Satire-Roman macht. Traurig, aber wahr!
Ich weiß nicht, wie oft ich beim Lesen den Kopf geschüttelt habe. Über Trump, der so viel Glück im Leben hat, dass er machen kann, was er will und so gut wie immer damit durchkommt. Über die Menschen aus seiner Umgebung, die sich ihm freiwillig anbiedern, nur um einen Job im Weißen Haus zu ergattern. Darüber, wie man Trump Nachrichten überbringt, ohne dabei abgesägt zu werden. Nebenbei bekommen wir einen guten Eindruck von der US-amerikanischen Politik, dem Gerichtswesen, dem Leben der Schönen und Reichen. Wie kann man Fäden ziehen, um Ziele zu erreichen? Wie bekommt man die Medien auf seine Seite? Wie kann es sein, dass die Umfragewerte von Trump immer weiter steigen, obwohl er sich selbst so oft negativ in Szene setzt? Zu diesen und vielen mehr Punkten nimmt der Autor Stellung und es ist absolut herrlich und kurzweilig zu lesen. Trump und seine Anhänger sind einfach eine Welt für sich. Wirklich eine Gruppe von einer anderen Welt, die durch ihr Agieren so viele lustige Situationen – und auch fragwürdige Situationen heraufbeschwört, dass man einfach nicht wegsehen kann. Das Schlimme ist: Es ist real! Man würde zu gerne wegsehen, aber man kann es nicht. Und dann ist da immer die vorsichtig-verzweifelte Frage nicht nur der Menschen in seiner Umgebung: Was macht er als Nächstes? Von mir eine ganz klare Leseempfehlung für dieses unterhaltsame Buch, das mir wundervolle Lesestunden beschert hat!
Fazit:
Michael Wolff hätte keinen besseren Protagonisten für seine Bücher finden können. Auch in „Alles oder nichts“ dürfen wir wieder Trump begleiten. Diesmal durch seine Gerichtsprozesse, seinen Wahlkampf und die Wahl. Das Buch ist beängstigend unterhaltsam. Eine Anekdote reiht sich an die nächste und man kann nur verwundert und fragend den Kopf schütteln, wie jemand wie Trump es schafft, immer wieder zu erreichen, was er möchte. Und wie man es in so einer hohen Position schafft, dennoch in seiner eigenen Welt zu leben.
5 Sterne von mir!
Worum geht’s?
Ein Prozess jagt den nächsten. Dazwischen muss Wahlkampf geführt werden. Fernsehdebatten stehen an. Und um Donald J. Trump herum ist ein ständiger Wechsel an Personal und Vertrauten. Doch wider Erwarten gewinnt er auch diese Wahl.
Meine Meinung:
Bereits die ersten Bücher, die Michael Wolff über Trump geschrieben hat, habe ich verschlungen. Deshalb musste ich auch unbedingt „Alles oder nichts“ lesen. Und was soll ich sagen? Ich war wieder absolut begeistert!
Der Autor hat mit dem US-Präsidenten aber auch den perfekten Hauptprotagonisten gefunden. Wo andere Biografien langwierig sein können, ist dieser Ausschnitt aus dem Leben Trumps in der Zeit zwischen Prozessen, Wahlkampf und 2. Wahlsieg einfach eine Aneinanderreihung von Auszügen aus seinem Leben und seiner Reden. Ein Leben, das aus dieser Biografie fast schon einen Satire-Roman macht. Traurig, aber wahr!
Ich weiß nicht, wie oft ich beim Lesen den Kopf geschüttelt habe. Über Trump, der so viel Glück im Leben hat, dass er machen kann, was er will und so gut wie immer damit durchkommt. Über die Menschen aus seiner Umgebung, die sich ihm freiwillig anbiedern, nur um einen Job im Weißen Haus zu ergattern. Darüber, wie man Trump Nachrichten überbringt, ohne dabei abgesägt zu werden. Nebenbei bekommen wir einen guten Eindruck von der US-amerikanischen Politik, dem Gerichtswesen, dem Leben der Schönen und Reichen. Wie kann man Fäden ziehen, um Ziele zu erreichen? Wie bekommt man die Medien auf seine Seite? Wie kann es sein, dass die Umfragewerte von Trump immer weiter steigen, obwohl er sich selbst so oft negativ in Szene setzt? Zu diesen und vielen mehr Punkten nimmt der Autor Stellung und es ist absolut herrlich und kurzweilig zu lesen. Trump und seine Anhänger sind einfach eine Welt für sich. Wirklich eine Gruppe von einer anderen Welt, die durch ihr Agieren so viele lustige Situationen – und auch fragwürdige Situationen heraufbeschwört, dass man einfach nicht wegsehen kann. Das Schlimme ist: Es ist real! Man würde zu gerne wegsehen, aber man kann es nicht. Und dann ist da immer die vorsichtig-verzweifelte Frage nicht nur der Menschen in seiner Umgebung: Was macht er als Nächstes? Von mir eine ganz klare Leseempfehlung für dieses unterhaltsame Buch, das mir wundervolle Lesestunden beschert hat!
Fazit:
Michael Wolff hätte keinen besseren Protagonisten für seine Bücher finden können. Auch in „Alles oder nichts“ dürfen wir wieder Trump begleiten. Diesmal durch seine Gerichtsprozesse, seinen Wahlkampf und die Wahl. Das Buch ist beängstigend unterhaltsam. Eine Anekdote reiht sich an die nächste und man kann nur verwundert und fragend den Kopf schütteln, wie jemand wie Trump es schafft, immer wieder zu erreichen, was er möchte. Und wie man es in so einer hohen Position schafft, dennoch in seiner eigenen Welt zu leben.
5 Sterne von mir!
April 6, 2025
Innenansichten des TRump-Wahlkampfs
Nicht nur bei den Anhängern der US-Demokraten dürfte der Katzenjammer im vergangenen November groß gewesen sein, als zunächst Prognosen und später Stimmenauszählungen klar machten: Donald Trump kehrt ins Weiße Haus zurück. Wie konnte das möglich sein, angesichts der erratischen ersten Amtszeit, der Unberechenbarkeit des Kandidaten, von seinen zahlreichen juristischen Problemen einmal ganz abgesehen? Wie konnte eine Mehrheit der Amerikaner*innen diesen Mann für wählbar halten?
In seinem Buch "Alles oder nichts" gibt der US-Journalist Michael Wolff Innenansichten in die Trump-Wahlkampagne, in den Kreis der Spender und Mitarbeiter, die internen Intrigen und den Umgang mit den zahlreichen Klagen. Seine Quellen verschleiert er dabei - und nach der Lektüre des Buches ist ziemlich klar, dass kein Informant Wolffs Interesse haben dürfte, als Leak identifizierbar zu sein.
Das ist einerseits die Schwäche dieses gut lesbaren Buches - Behauptungen und Beschreibungen sind nicht verifizierbar, mal abgesehen von den öffentlichen Reden und Gerichtsauftritten Trumps im Wahlkampf. Andererseits dürfte Wolff, der bereits ein Buch über Trumps erste Amtszeit geschrieben hat, nah dran an Trumps Umfeld gewesen sein. Schlüssig klingen seine Beschreibungen des Trump-Lagers allemal, wenn man sie in Zusammenhang mit Trumps öffentlichen Auftritten setzt.
Das Phänomen Trump ist dabei sowohl erschreckend als auch auf gruselige Weise faszinierend. Ein auf Karacho gebürsteter Kandidat ohne echte politische Agenda und Strategie, dem jegliche Empathie oder Analysefähigkeit abgeht, dessen enormes Ego ständig von einem Hofstaat aus Lakaien und Schmeichlern bedient werden muss, dessen Verhältnis zu Frauen ebenso fragwürdig ist wie sein Umgang mit Mitarbeitern.
Wolffs Buch endet mit dem Wahlsieg, manches, was sich seitdem entwickelt hat, etwa die Rolle Elon Musks, zeichnet sich darin noch nicht sonderlich ab. Es zeigt die Rivalitäten sowohl innerhalb der Republikaner und der MAGA-Bewegung, die immer größeren Einfluss gewinnt, die Machtkämpfe innerhalb Trumps Wahlkampf- und Juristenteams. Eines dürfte klar sein: Bis zum Ende von Trumps zweiter Amtszeit dürften Turbulenzen und Konflikte reichlich garantiert sein.
Nicht nur bei den Anhängern der US-Demokraten dürfte der Katzenjammer im vergangenen November groß gewesen sein, als zunächst Prognosen und später Stimmenauszählungen klar machten: Donald Trump kehrt ins Weiße Haus zurück. Wie konnte das möglich sein, angesichts der erratischen ersten Amtszeit, der Unberechenbarkeit des Kandidaten, von seinen zahlreichen juristischen Problemen einmal ganz abgesehen? Wie konnte eine Mehrheit der Amerikaner*innen diesen Mann für wählbar halten?
In seinem Buch "Alles oder nichts" gibt der US-Journalist Michael Wolff Innenansichten in die Trump-Wahlkampagne, in den Kreis der Spender und Mitarbeiter, die internen Intrigen und den Umgang mit den zahlreichen Klagen. Seine Quellen verschleiert er dabei - und nach der Lektüre des Buches ist ziemlich klar, dass kein Informant Wolffs Interesse haben dürfte, als Leak identifizierbar zu sein.
Das ist einerseits die Schwäche dieses gut lesbaren Buches - Behauptungen und Beschreibungen sind nicht verifizierbar, mal abgesehen von den öffentlichen Reden und Gerichtsauftritten Trumps im Wahlkampf. Andererseits dürfte Wolff, der bereits ein Buch über Trumps erste Amtszeit geschrieben hat, nah dran an Trumps Umfeld gewesen sein. Schlüssig klingen seine Beschreibungen des Trump-Lagers allemal, wenn man sie in Zusammenhang mit Trumps öffentlichen Auftritten setzt.
Das Phänomen Trump ist dabei sowohl erschreckend als auch auf gruselige Weise faszinierend. Ein auf Karacho gebürsteter Kandidat ohne echte politische Agenda und Strategie, dem jegliche Empathie oder Analysefähigkeit abgeht, dessen enormes Ego ständig von einem Hofstaat aus Lakaien und Schmeichlern bedient werden muss, dessen Verhältnis zu Frauen ebenso fragwürdig ist wie sein Umgang mit Mitarbeitern.
Wolffs Buch endet mit dem Wahlsieg, manches, was sich seitdem entwickelt hat, etwa die Rolle Elon Musks, zeichnet sich darin noch nicht sonderlich ab. Es zeigt die Rivalitäten sowohl innerhalb der Republikaner und der MAGA-Bewegung, die immer größeren Einfluss gewinnt, die Machtkämpfe innerhalb Trumps Wahlkampf- und Juristenteams. Eines dürfte klar sein: Bis zum Ende von Trumps zweiter Amtszeit dürften Turbulenzen und Konflikte reichlich garantiert sein.
March 30, 2025
I Vote Nothing
Michael Wolff, America's top sleaze journalist, has produced his 4th Dracula volume charting the return of the vampire to feast on the blood of the American republic. Once again, Wolff characterises Trump as dumb, stupid, maniacally narcissistic, stumbling from day to day, and yet, phenomenally lucky. He even goes so far to praise Trump as the most consequential president since FDR.
Once again, he discounts intentionality - that is Trump is too stupid to plan anything, so he merely steps in pots of gold while others step in piles of shit. He argued in his previous book Landslide, that Trump was too dumb to plan January 6th, but as the truth emerged since, he was the evil 'genius' behind all events. Trump denied Project 2025, but is implementing as we speak, plus wrecking international relations with allies while courting Putin (gee, I wonder why?) and introduced Musk as his primary wrecking ball. So once again, Wolff, obsessed with tree bark, has missed the massive impact of forest clearance so obvious to any objective observer.
That deep criticism aside, the book is hilarious, full of trenchant observation, revealing characters and a fresh interpretation of events that merit the effort of reading. It fascinates like a huge NASCAR pile-up - you can't take your eyes off it. Wolff actually believes that Trump was wounded in the assassination attempt in July - despite their being NO WOUND. He is entirely dismissive of Biden and fully accepts the idea that Biden was a zombie - despite admitting that his State of the Union in March was solid, even impressive. He acknowledges that Harris was a very impressive candidate despite being dismissed by the media and insiders as inept and wildly disliked.
As American democracy sails into the sunset, we wait for the good citizens to wake up, get out on the street and town halls, and unseat the cowardly Republicans gleefully leading the country into the authoritarian abyss. Unless and until that happens, we can only pray that the Van Helsing character rises up and puts a stake through Dracula's black heart.
Michael Wolff, America's top sleaze journalist, has produced his 4th Dracula volume charting the return of the vampire to feast on the blood of the American republic. Once again, Wolff characterises Trump as dumb, stupid, maniacally narcissistic, stumbling from day to day, and yet, phenomenally lucky. He even goes so far to praise Trump as the most consequential president since FDR.
Once again, he discounts intentionality - that is Trump is too stupid to plan anything, so he merely steps in pots of gold while others step in piles of shit. He argued in his previous book Landslide, that Trump was too dumb to plan January 6th, but as the truth emerged since, he was the evil 'genius' behind all events. Trump denied Project 2025, but is implementing as we speak, plus wrecking international relations with allies while courting Putin (gee, I wonder why?) and introduced Musk as his primary wrecking ball. So once again, Wolff, obsessed with tree bark, has missed the massive impact of forest clearance so obvious to any objective observer.
That deep criticism aside, the book is hilarious, full of trenchant observation, revealing characters and a fresh interpretation of events that merit the effort of reading. It fascinates like a huge NASCAR pile-up - you can't take your eyes off it. Wolff actually believes that Trump was wounded in the assassination attempt in July - despite their being NO WOUND. He is entirely dismissive of Biden and fully accepts the idea that Biden was a zombie - despite admitting that his State of the Union in March was solid, even impressive. He acknowledges that Harris was a very impressive candidate despite being dismissed by the media and insiders as inept and wildly disliked.
As American democracy sails into the sunset, we wait for the good citizens to wake up, get out on the street and town halls, and unseat the cowardly Republicans gleefully leading the country into the authoritarian abyss. Unless and until that happens, we can only pray that the Van Helsing character rises up and puts a stake through Dracula's black heart.
May 9, 2025
2.5
I rarely read books like this and I wish I didn't read this one. I'll admit, the only reason I did was because Trump was trying to dissuade people from reading it and I guess I naively thought something would be revealed that hasn't already been revealed. The author does have an easy style to read, so even though it's long, you can get through it pretty quickly, especially if you've found a section the editor didn't that is a repetition from another page.
A few takes from this read:
* It's not a typical nonfiction book; the reader has no idea how well-researched it was as there are no footnotes (and no index) in the back, no way of knowing where certain quotes or incidents come from.
*It's a long diatribe that manages to compliment Trump for being so immune to all the legitimate attacks on his character and behavior while making those hurling epithets against Trump look silly for pointing out his nature. Trump is lucky for getting out of all of this legal troubles, and the judges and lawyers did not handle well the evidence against him (and perhaps that part is true).
*The author has a strange way of describing women in the book compared to the men. When he introduces a man he talks about experience and talents. When he talks about women it's about how tall they are and the makeup and clothing they wear. In part, this is because Trump likes to surround himself with a certain type of woman, so I get that, but whether Kamila Harris looks her age or not really seems out of place in the book.
*Speaking of, the author's disdain for Kamila Harris was blatant. He tries to make it sound like he's complimenting her for saying how surprised everyone was at her intelligence and well-spokenness. But he really reveals how he feels about her when he compares her to Trump and says they both have negative qualities but she is a "phony" because she pretends to be a good person.
If you read this review, you probably have all you need to know about the book!
I rarely read books like this and I wish I didn't read this one. I'll admit, the only reason I did was because Trump was trying to dissuade people from reading it and I guess I naively thought something would be revealed that hasn't already been revealed. The author does have an easy style to read, so even though it's long, you can get through it pretty quickly, especially if you've found a section the editor didn't that is a repetition from another page.
A few takes from this read:
* It's not a typical nonfiction book; the reader has no idea how well-researched it was as there are no footnotes (and no index) in the back, no way of knowing where certain quotes or incidents come from.
*It's a long diatribe that manages to compliment Trump for being so immune to all the legitimate attacks on his character and behavior while making those hurling epithets against Trump look silly for pointing out his nature. Trump is lucky for getting out of all of this legal troubles, and the judges and lawyers did not handle well the evidence against him (and perhaps that part is true).
*The author has a strange way of describing women in the book compared to the men. When he introduces a man he talks about experience and talents. When he talks about women it's about how tall they are and the makeup and clothing they wear. In part, this is because Trump likes to surround himself with a certain type of woman, so I get that, but whether Kamila Harris looks her age or not really seems out of place in the book.
*Speaking of, the author's disdain for Kamila Harris was blatant. He tries to make it sound like he's complimenting her for saying how surprised everyone was at her intelligence and well-spokenness. But he really reveals how he feels about her when he compares her to Trump and says they both have negative qualities but she is a "phony" because she pretends to be a good person.
If you read this review, you probably have all you need to know about the book!
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