Confidence Man

The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America

De: Maggie Haberman

Narrado por: Maggie Haberman

The #1 New York Times bestseller • Updated with new reporting through the 2024 election

“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

From the Pulitzer-Prize-winning New York Times reporter who has defined Donald J. Trump's presidency like no other journalist, Confidence Man 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.

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 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.

I finally understand Donald Trump

If Donald Trump's behavior as President is perplexing to you read this book. I'm certainly not a fan of Trump but I am obsessed because he was and is so destructive to America. From collusion with Russia to January 6th I struggled to understand why he's never held accountable for his actions and behavior. Now I understand why Trump is obsessed with being the center of attention (even the negative kind) and how it helps him avoid accountability. I hope someone with authority reads this book and it helps them to see behind the Wizard of Oz"s curtain.

A Winner

Haberman delivers her characteristic no nonsense style as she relates the facts of her investigation of trump, revealing the conflicting aspects of hie personality and his unrelenting position that he is always right. This is not a gossipy book; it is a clear presentation of the former president’s actions and thoughts leading to his years in the Oval Office and beyond.

A brilliant expose into the devil

Maggie Haberman is simply a brilliant writer and she puts forth a factual and compelling narrative of a truly sick person….Donald J Trump. The story gives us all a truly awful glimpse of a man who is unfit to ever set foot in the White House ever again. It would almost be a comedy if it wasn’t so frightening in truth.

Great Journalism but Not Great Performance

Haberman is an outstanding reporter. She is not a good reader of audio books.

“By the grace of God”

We do not know how close America skated by a corrupt authoritarian disaster. This is a detailed and ominous description of we nearly lost our freedom and country to a near fascist kleptocracy which is little different from today’s Russia. You may think it can’t happen in the United States, but it can. Well written, fast paced and detailed story . I could not put it down!