The Big Answer

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The Amazon blurb says that The instant #1 New York Times bestseller.

“This is the book Trump fears most.” - Axios

“Will be a primary source about the most vexing president in American history for years to come.” - Joe Klein, The New York Times

"A uniquely illuminating portrait." - Sean Wilentz, The Washington Post

“[A] monumental look at Donald Trump and his presidency.” — David Shribman, Los Angeles Times

Pulitzer Prizes

From the Pulitzer-Prize-winning New York Times reporter who has defined Donald J. Trump's presidency like no other journalist, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America is a magnificent and disturbing reckoning that chronicles his life and its meaning from his rise in New York City to his tortured post-presidency.

Few journalists working today have covered Donald Trump more extensively than Maggie Haberman. And few understand him and his motivations better. Now, demonstrating her majestic command of this story, Haberman reveals in full the depth of her understanding of the 45th president himself, and of what the Trump phenomenon means.

Interviews with hundreds of sources and numerous interviews over the years with Trump himself portray a complicated and often contradictory historical figure. Capable of kindness but relying on casual cruelty as it suits his purposes. Pugnacious. Insecure. Lonely. Vindictive. Menacing. Smarter than his critics contend and colder and more calculating than his allies believe. A man who embedded himself in popular culture, galvanizing support for a run for high office that he began preliminary spadework for 30 years ago, to ultimately become a president who pushed American democracy to the brink.

Trump is obviously a narcissist who craves attention. The whole world already knows this, so a hit piece in the form of a 600-page tome is hardly required to restate the obvious

The through-line of Trump’s life and his presidency is the enduring question of what is in it for him or what he needs to say to survive short increments of time in the pursuit of his own interests.

Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America is also, inevitably, about the world that produced such a singular character, giving rise to his career and becoming his first stage. It is also about a series of relentlessly transactional relationships. The ones that shaped him most were with girlfriends and wives, with Roy Cohn, with George Steinbrenner, with Mike Tyson and Don King and Roger Stone, with city and state politicians like Robert Morgenthau and Rudy Giuliani, with business partners, with prosecutors, with the media, and with the employees who toiled inside what they commonly called amongst themselves the “Trump Disorganization.”

That world informed the one that Trump tried to recreate while in the White House. All of Trump’s behavior as President had echoes in what came before. In this revelatory and newsmaking book, Haberman brings together the events of his life into a single mesmerizing work. It is the definitive account of one of the most norms-shattering and consequential eras in American political history.

The world that shaped Trump most was him with girlfriends and wives, the media, and guys who had power and fame; this world informed the one that Trump tried to recreate while in the White House

The very liberal Maggie Lindsy Haberman (born October 30, 1973) is an American journalist, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, and a political analyst for CNN. She previously worked as a political reporter for the New York Post, the New York Daily News, and Politico. She wrote about Donald Trump for those publications and rose to prominence covering his campaign, presidency, and post-presidency for the Times. In 2022, she published the best-selling book Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America.

One wonders why Haberman obsessed about Trump's weaknesses but gave extremely short shrift to his many accomplishments. When she had no more words to put him down with, she degenerated to psychobabble—even though she totally lacked relevant credentials upon which to base such nonsense. A balanced report about Trump would have much more positive content.

All presidents are part snake oil salesmen—it's part of politics; however, compare Biden's and Trump's accomplishments—the latter had lots of them while most all of Biden's were snake oil in disguise

Why does her reporting get awards, including the Pulitzer, when much better—and more honest—reporting by people at Fox News and Newsmax gets none? Because The New York Times and Pulitzer and the rest of the fake news media are toeing the liberal media line, which is woke, racist, politically correct, and reliant on rewritten hiistory. If you don't buy the liberal horse puckey that is the liberal's propaganda and instead buy the conservative line, you'll be harassed, canceled, oppressed and insulted. Mainstream media toes the liberal media line and Haberman and the NY Times all have to at least pretend to buy the liberal media line of leftist nonsense. When they disagree with leftist idiocy, they lie and pretend to agree with it to avoid being canceled. So you can see why liberals are necessarily hypocrites and liars and seem to rarely show any integrity. They are afraid, victims of extortion and blackmail, and obsessive conformists. They go along to get along.

When leftists disagree with leftist idiocy, they lie and pretend to agree with it to avoid being canceled. So you can see why liberals are necessarily hypocrites and liars and seem to rarely show any integrity. They are afraid, victims of extortion and blackmail, and obsessive conformists

The truth is that Trump did a lot for this country (all the while dodging Deep State lies and sabotage), for the economy, for the immigrant crisis, for the covid19 pandemic, for our energy independence, and for national security. Haberman's book acts like it didn't happen. Biden came along and ruined everything Trump had done. Haberman's book acts like it didn't happen. Then Biden ruined the economy, ruined border security, spent money like a drunken sailor, took us from 3% to 9% inflation, ruined the Afghanistan withdrawal, and acted so weak and lame and senile on the world stage that Biden was seen as helpless and weak so Putin invaded Ukraine and Xi prepared to invade Taiwan. Haberman's book acts like none of this happened. Like the fake news NY Times she reports for, the book is more fake news.

The FBI helped sabotage Trump's administration as if they were a hit squad working for Biden's corrupt administration. Haberman should have exposed this corruption instead of colluding with it like the rest of the fake news reporters at the NY Times

Admitedly, Haberman hits the nail on the head about Trump's personality, his obsession about loyalty, his self-centeredness, etc. But Biden's whole family was getting millions of dollars worth of payoffs from the Chinese Communist Party and yet the NY Times and Haberman helped cover this stuff up, prefering instead to spread lies about Russian collusion and Trump corruption when the only provable corruption afoot is that of Biden and his crooked kid. The FBI helped sabotage Trump's administration as if they were a hit squad working for Biden's corrupt administration. Haberman should have exposed this corruption instead of colluding with it like the rest of the fake news reporters at the NY Times.

The FBI helped sabotage Trump's administration as if they were a hit squad working for Biden's corrupt administration. Haberman should have exposed this corruption instead of colluding with it like the rest of the fake news reporters at the NY Times

Even though the fake news media like the NY Times and WaPo heaped predictable praise on Haberman—like they do with all anti-Trump books, The Spectator has a more objective review of Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America: "And speaking of assassination, Haberman’s piece is a somewhat flaccid, faux-confidential exercise in character assassination. Trump is presented as “shrunken,” craving approval and “oblivious” to the world around him. According to Haberman, “Trump was more comfortable looking backward than forward.”

"I finished reading the excerpt and immediately wanted to take a shower. Not because of any scandalous revelations. There were no revelations to be had in that excerpt, not even (as Jack said to Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest) of any kind. No, I find a quick shower wakes me up and I felt positively dozy after reading that tired litany of innuendo and arch knowingness.

Trump

"Two observations. First, I had the opportunity of seeing Trump at Mar-a-Lago myself with some friends in April. He gave a thirty-minute, off-the-cuff talk and was at the top of his game: amusing, informed about the issues and very much looking forward, not backwards.

"Second, you would never know from Maggie Haberman’s portrait of the former president that he remains the single most potent force in American politics. Every poll has him trouncing the GOP competition and most show him winning against a slate of Democratic candidates in 2024 as well. Haberman mentions his endorsement of various congressional and gubernatorial candidates but presents that as evidence of a psychological tic on the former president’s part. In fact, for most of those candidates, Trump’s endorsement is a high-octane shot in the arm. They crave his endorsement because they know that, outside the parochial precincts of NeverTrumpdom, his benediction is political gold. . . . he is the only politician who has stood up to the Deep State apparat that is destroying the country." (Source: Donald Trump is looking forward: Maggie Haberman is mistaken to think he’s lost in the past, Roger Kimball, the Spectator)

This was and is the radical leftist's plan, but it hasn't worked—they just end up looking desperate and pathetic