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Betrayed: America Didn't Vote for This
A sweeping indictment of President Donald Trump’s catastrophic second term.
In his first Inaugural address in 2017, President Donald Trump warned darkly of “American carnage.” Today, “American carnage” is less a warning than a threat fulfilled. Inflation is untamed, the country is at war, and the foundations of American democracy are at risk.
Americans did not vote for this.
Authored by a broad coalition of prominent experts and former government officials, Betrayed is a fact-based critique of the damage wreaked by the Trump administration in its second term—from the weakening of our defenses, to the sabotage of our economy, the loss of our freedoms, and the corrosive impact of unparalleled corruption.
Betrayed leads to an inescapable that the abuses of power of this administration must be stopped, and that Trump and his loyalists must be held accountable.
***
The COMMON SENSE COALITION is a bipartisan and non-partisan group of experts, former government officials, former military officers, academics, and scholars. Visit commonsensecoalition.net.
ABOUT THE
IRA SHAPIRO is a lawyer, a long-time senior Senate staffer, and a former U.S. trade official. He is the author of a trilogy of narrative histories about the Senate, starting with The Last Great Courage and Statesmanship in Times of Crisis (2012), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
ANNE KIM is a journalist and lawyer. She is the author of Poverty for How Corporations Get Rich Off America’s Poor (The New Press, 2024) and America’s Lost Youth and the Crisis of Disconnection (The New Press, 2020), winner of the 2020 Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice.
In his first Inaugural address in 2017, President Donald Trump warned darkly of “American carnage.” Today, “American carnage” is less a warning than a threat fulfilled. Inflation is untamed, the country is at war, and the foundations of American democracy are at risk.
Americans did not vote for this.
Authored by a broad coalition of prominent experts and former government officials, Betrayed is a fact-based critique of the damage wreaked by the Trump administration in its second term—from the weakening of our defenses, to the sabotage of our economy, the loss of our freedoms, and the corrosive impact of unparalleled corruption.
Betrayed leads to an inescapable that the abuses of power of this administration must be stopped, and that Trump and his loyalists must be held accountable.
***
The COMMON SENSE COALITION is a bipartisan and non-partisan group of experts, former government officials, former military officers, academics, and scholars. Visit commonsensecoalition.net.
ABOUT THE
IRA SHAPIRO is a lawyer, a long-time senior Senate staffer, and a former U.S. trade official. He is the author of a trilogy of narrative histories about the Senate, starting with The Last Great Courage and Statesmanship in Times of Crisis (2012), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
ANNE KIM is a journalist and lawyer. She is the author of Poverty for How Corporations Get Rich Off America’s Poor (The New Press, 2024) and America’s Lost Youth and the Crisis of Disconnection (The New Press, 2020), winner of the 2020 Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice.
- GenresNonfiction
178 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 27, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 12, 2026
★★★★★ A Rallying Cry We Cannot Ignore
Soon, the midterms will be upon us, and I am feeling a sense of urgency. I am expecting my ballot within the first twelve days of October—and, hopefully, it will arrive. I am watching the ongoing legal battle over the Trump administration’s efforts to impose new restrictions on mail-in voting through the United States Postal Service, and I can’t help but wonder whether these changes and the continuing court challenges will interfere with my ability to receive my ballot.
Perhaps that is why this book landed in my hands at exactly the right moment – especially with the midterms approaching. It felt like something I needed to read right now.
Pairing this book with Brian Tyler Cohen’s book, “The Day After: How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World” shows just how vital both reads are for current voters. If interested, review link is below.
“Inaction will be interpreted as consent for the abuse to continue.”
Inaction is not neutrality. Inaction is permission.
The quote above stopped me.
Because this book is not simply a political critique. It is a reckoning—a carefully researched, thoroughly documented accounting of what is happening to America during Trump’s second term.
It is also a warning about what happens when we become too exhausted, distracted, or complacent to fight back.
Those of us who didn’t vote for Trump originally already knew who he was. We had watched the corruption, the dishonesty, the attacks on democratic institutions, the cruelty, and the complete disregard for the rule of law. Project 2025 gave us a roadmap of what could come next.
And the warning signs about Trump were already glaring: a convicted felon on 34 counts of falsifying business records; civilly liable for sexual abuse and rape; an election subverter; an insurrectionist.
Yet, he was returned to the White House.
This book documents the consequences of his return.
In just 122 pages, the Editors and Contributors of the Common Sense Coalition—drawing on former government officials, military officers, academics, and experts from diverse political backgrounds—present a remarkably concise but powerful damage assessment of Trump's current term.
The book moves through the issues quickly, but the cumulative effect is anything but quick.
Page by page, the evidence builds: abuse of power, attacks on institutions, governmental chaos, policy fallout, and the erosion of democratic norms.
The authors make an important point that many Americans who voted for Trump may not have anticipated the extent of the institutional damage that has followed.
For me, the book increasingly felt like a prosecutor's legal brief—because it methodically lays out the evidence and asks readers to confront what that evidence means.
And that is where this book becomes more than an assessment.
It becomes a call to action.
It asks readers to:
Educate themselves. Pay attention. Question what we are being told. Hold those in power accountable. And VOTE.
ESPECIALLY IN THE MIDTERMS.
The Appendix, “A Citizens Playbook,” is an important addition because it moves beyond documenting the damage and offers ways for citizens to engage.
The extensive endnotes reinforce the research behind the book and make it clear that these conclusions aren't simply political rhetoric—they are supported by evidence and the expertise of people who understand government, the military, public policy, and democratic institutions.
I finished this book feeling deeply concerned. But I also finished it with something I think we desperately need right now in America and throughout the world:
Resolve.
Because the greatest danger may not be that we don't know what is happening. It may be that we become accustomed to corruption and cruelty being normalized, to the abuse of presidential power, and to attacks on the institutions that protect democracy.
Through this presidential term, we have been witnessing that democracy doesn't defend itself.
We do.
If we want a different direction for this country, we have to vote for it.
Because this isn't simply about one election.
It's about what kind of America we are willing to leave behind.
In doing so, this book becomes an important statement for our times.
Our silence has consequences. So does our vote.
“The Day After…” by Brian Cohen Tyler Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Soon, the midterms will be upon us, and I am feeling a sense of urgency. I am expecting my ballot within the first twelve days of October—and, hopefully, it will arrive. I am watching the ongoing legal battle over the Trump administration’s efforts to impose new restrictions on mail-in voting through the United States Postal Service, and I can’t help but wonder whether these changes and the continuing court challenges will interfere with my ability to receive my ballot.
Perhaps that is why this book landed in my hands at exactly the right moment – especially with the midterms approaching. It felt like something I needed to read right now.
Pairing this book with Brian Tyler Cohen’s book, “The Day After: How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World” shows just how vital both reads are for current voters. If interested, review link is below.
“Inaction will be interpreted as consent for the abuse to continue.”
Inaction is not neutrality. Inaction is permission.
The quote above stopped me.
Because this book is not simply a political critique. It is a reckoning—a carefully researched, thoroughly documented accounting of what is happening to America during Trump’s second term.
It is also a warning about what happens when we become too exhausted, distracted, or complacent to fight back.
Those of us who didn’t vote for Trump originally already knew who he was. We had watched the corruption, the dishonesty, the attacks on democratic institutions, the cruelty, and the complete disregard for the rule of law. Project 2025 gave us a roadmap of what could come next.
And the warning signs about Trump were already glaring: a convicted felon on 34 counts of falsifying business records; civilly liable for sexual abuse and rape; an election subverter; an insurrectionist.
Yet, he was returned to the White House.
This book documents the consequences of his return.
In just 122 pages, the Editors and Contributors of the Common Sense Coalition—drawing on former government officials, military officers, academics, and experts from diverse political backgrounds—present a remarkably concise but powerful damage assessment of Trump's current term.
The book moves through the issues quickly, but the cumulative effect is anything but quick.
Page by page, the evidence builds: abuse of power, attacks on institutions, governmental chaos, policy fallout, and the erosion of democratic norms.
The authors make an important point that many Americans who voted for Trump may not have anticipated the extent of the institutional damage that has followed.
For me, the book increasingly felt like a prosecutor's legal brief—because it methodically lays out the evidence and asks readers to confront what that evidence means.
And that is where this book becomes more than an assessment.
It becomes a call to action.
It asks readers to:
Educate themselves. Pay attention. Question what we are being told. Hold those in power accountable. And VOTE.
ESPECIALLY IN THE MIDTERMS.
The Appendix, “A Citizens Playbook,” is an important addition because it moves beyond documenting the damage and offers ways for citizens to engage.
The extensive endnotes reinforce the research behind the book and make it clear that these conclusions aren't simply political rhetoric—they are supported by evidence and the expertise of people who understand government, the military, public policy, and democratic institutions.
I finished this book feeling deeply concerned. But I also finished it with something I think we desperately need right now in America and throughout the world:
Resolve.
Because the greatest danger may not be that we don't know what is happening. It may be that we become accustomed to corruption and cruelty being normalized, to the abuse of presidential power, and to attacks on the institutions that protect democracy.
Through this presidential term, we have been witnessing that democracy doesn't defend itself.
We do.
If we want a different direction for this country, we have to vote for it.
Because this isn't simply about one election.
It's about what kind of America we are willing to leave behind.
In doing so, this book becomes an important statement for our times.
Our silence has consequences. So does our vote.
“The Day After…” by Brian Cohen Tyler Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
September 7, 2026
If I were asked to give this gem of an essay collection an alternate title, it would be Read It And Weep. That's the only reasonable reaction to the facts marshaled by the experts who compiled this recounting of ways Trump has betrayed our country. That and anger. That and a fire in the belly to save our democracy from his further predations.
American didn't vote for this, as the subtitle reminds us. Even his most ardent supporters didn't vote for a tenth of the things he's done to make America less strong, less reliable, less smart, less strategic, and less kind. Trump has created shit storm of problems that those who follow him will spend decades remediating, and some things will never be made right. How do you bring back Renee Good and Alex Pretti? How do you being back the millions who have died across the planet thanks to his cuts to foreign aid and his predilection for war? Obviously you don't. And what about the saguaro cactus? As the LA Times headlined: "It’s illegal to destroy saguaro cactuses. So why are they being removed for Trump’s border wall?" No bringing back those centuries old cacti. Everything Trump touches dies, and the point of this book is "we mustn't let it. It's up to us. Be informed. Spread the word. Demand accountability. Vote."
The various chapters cover: a relentless assault on the rule of law; a weaker America and an unstable world, an unaffordable economy; a sicker, unhealthier America; an unprecedented attack on education; a gutted and weaponized government; a costly attack on climate; rampant corruption and self-dealing; lawless immigration enforcement; the suppression of free speech; free and fair elections in jeopardy; and a collapse of civil discourse.
Definitely read it and weep.
American didn't vote for this, as the subtitle reminds us. Even his most ardent supporters didn't vote for a tenth of the things he's done to make America less strong, less reliable, less smart, less strategic, and less kind. Trump has created shit storm of problems that those who follow him will spend decades remediating, and some things will never be made right. How do you bring back Renee Good and Alex Pretti? How do you being back the millions who have died across the planet thanks to his cuts to foreign aid and his predilection for war? Obviously you don't. And what about the saguaro cactus? As the LA Times headlined: "It’s illegal to destroy saguaro cactuses. So why are they being removed for Trump’s border wall?" No bringing back those centuries old cacti. Everything Trump touches dies, and the point of this book is "we mustn't let it. It's up to us. Be informed. Spread the word. Demand accountability. Vote."
The various chapters cover: a relentless assault on the rule of law; a weaker America and an unstable world, an unaffordable economy; a sicker, unhealthier America; an unprecedented attack on education; a gutted and weaponized government; a costly attack on climate; rampant corruption and self-dealing; lawless immigration enforcement; the suppression of free speech; free and fair elections in jeopardy; and a collapse of civil discourse.
Definitely read it and weep.
June 15, 2026
Best book ever
July 17, 2026
Depressing book simply because this administration has lied itself into power and is enriching itself at the detriment of the American people. The title sums it up...we did not vote for this.
June 11, 2026
a comprehensive must-read
Comprehensive but succinct. A sweeping indictment from a broad cross-section of our society. A must-read by anyone who fears the worst for America.
Comprehensive but succinct. A sweeping indictment from a broad cross-section of our society. A must-read by anyone who fears the worst for America.
June 28, 2026
This is an incredibly impressive coalition of public policy and government experts who've joined together to assess the damage Trump and his administration have created in the second term. This is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how Trump has not only betrayed his own voters but also the American ideals. I find "Betrayed" to be a vitally important book and resource as we head into the 2026 midterm elections.
August 5, 2026
Just a litany of all the horrible things happening during Trump’s reign - if you’ve paid attention to the press and media coverage, there’s nothing you haven’t already heard. It’s impressive that the various contributors did their research and expressed their conclusions well. Unfortunately, I was looking for insight beyond this recap of the horrors I’ve seen unfold - this wasn’t it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews