I Alone Can Fix It

Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year

By: Carol Leonnig, Philip Rucker

Narrated by: January LaVoy, Carol Leonnig, Philip Rucker

Length: 19 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

The instant number one New York Times best seller | A Washington Post Notable Book | One of NPR's Best Books of 2021

The definitive behind-the-scenes story of Trump's final year in office, by Phil Rucker and Carol Leonnig, the Pulitzer-Prize winning reporters and authors of A Very Stable Genius.

“Chilling.” (Anderson Cooper)
“Jaw-dropping.” (John Berman)
“Shocking.” (John Heilemann)
“Explosive.” (Hallie Jackson)
“Blockbuster new reporting.” (Nicolle Wallace)
“Bracing new revelations.” (Brian Williams)
“Bombshell reporting.” (David Muir)

The true story of what took place in Donald Trump’s White House during a disastrous 2020 has never before been told in full. What was really going on around the president, as the government failed to contain the coronavirus and over half a million Americans perished? Who was influencing Trump after he refused to concede an election he had clearly lost and spread lies about election fraud? To answer these questions, Phil Rucker and Carol Leonnig reveal a dysfunctional and bumbling presidency’s inner workings in unprecedented, stunning detail.

Focused on Trump and the key players around him - the doctors, generals, senior advisers, and Trump family members - Rucker and Leonnig provide a forensic account of the most devastating year in a presidency like no other. Their sources were in the room as time and time again Trump put his personal gain ahead of the good of the country. These witnesses to history tell the story of him longing to deploy the military to the streets of American cities to crush the protest movement in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, all to bolster his image of strength ahead of the election.

These sources saw firsthand his refusal to take the threat of the coronavirus seriously - even to the point of allowing himself and those around him to be infected. This is a story of a nation sabotaged—economically, medically, and politically - by its own leader, culminating with a groundbreaking, minute-by-minute account of exactly what went on in the Capitol building on January 6, as Trump’s supporters so easily breached the most sacred halls of American democracy, and how the president reacted. With unparalleled access, Rucker and Leonnig explain and expose exactly who enabled - and who foiled - Trump as he sought desperately to cling to power.

A classic and heart-racing work of investigative reporting, this book is destined to be read and studied by citizens and historians alike for decades to come.

©2021 Carol Leonnig, Philip Rucker (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A meticulous history.... An essential read for anyone seriously concerned with the fate of democracy in the United States. The book belongs in every library seeking to record the major forces and personalities shaping the 21st century.” (New York Journal of Books)

“A deeply-reported look at President Donald Trump and his chaotic administration.... Shocking revelations.” (People)

“What [I Alone Can Fix It] argues in a detailed case is that the catastrophe of 2020 was a result of Trump's proclivity to put political optics above all else, including American lives.” (USA Today)

Self-important men at a nursery and a demented patient

The book is more of the same story but well-written and narrated. It’ll make you angry and frustrated, and if there were a God, I’d pray to have him take Donald Trump’s miserable life in exchange for the 600k that died on his watch.

Whatever her name is, Alice gets a crumb from the white man and expects him to keep his word. Typical Uncle Tom behavior.

I’ll never understand the self-important men who would have quit but never did. When I disagreed with my bosses or company policy, I tendered my resignation and left. No one person is that important, and the only reason more sh!t didn’t hit the fan is because even trump is too extreme for trump.

Guilty

We have been lucky to have survived this person’s presidency! We need to change the vetting of all those run for political, they need to show themselves emotional stable. Being president is not for those that have a huge ego, as well as those serving in the house and senate. They must not be allowed to increase there personal wealth as they serve!

Should be a movie

This is written like a political thriller but it is all true. The book is an outstanding summary of Trumps last year and the people , good and bad, who played a role in the drama. The chapter on the insurrection is some of the best non fiction writing I have read and listened . The performance by January Lavoy only adds to the drama. Read this book.

Should be a movie

Narration was great! The story, if you didn’t know to be true, just seems unbelievable that we elected someone who so clearly had no intentions to serve the American people and just feed his own ego and pockets. The story of all the enablers is even more engrossing, though not excusable.

Captivating and infuriating

Most of the things in this book were things we already knew about through media, or tweets, or if you had been paying any attention to politics at all in the last half decade. But even though most of these topics were already known, we only knew surface level details. Carol Leonnig and Phillip Rucker are phenomenal storytellers. They are able to capture your attention and allow you to feel like you are there with them. As wonderful as this book is for telling truth, it was also equally, if not more infuriating to listen, in detail, to the numerous and countless criminal, greedy, selfish and thoughtless dealings this incompetent and corrupt POTUS did and was allowed to get away with from his equally corrupt cronies in the house/senate. It was a breath of fresh air to see truth and facts being used in debunking the multitude of blatant falsehoods that almost cost us our democracy, our country. I couldn’t put it down, it was great.

Alone

I debated purchasing this book when I read a review which said it read like a bunch of newspaper stories strung together. I did not find that the case. I appreciated how they structured the story as there were so much chaos that last tear of the presidency, that it was hard to keep all the stories straight. This book helped me process all that happened.

I particularly enjoyed the first half of the book focusing on the pandemic. As I was, like many Americans, consumed with how to respond to it for my family and for my place of employment I was not following the details as clearly as I did the election and the lead up to January 6. Indeed, I found Wolff‘s book, Landslide, a more riveting read about the election and post election events.

But make no mistake about it, this is an incredibly well researched, well written and important book. I listen to it almost continuously from the time I hit the play button.

If the former president is anything, he really “alone” in this world, and that is how he seems to like it.

Brace yourself

It was even worse than you thought in Trump's White House. This fly-on-wall account is riveting even as it induces nausea.

Wow

Absolutely phenomenal reporting the details of the book provided me with a clearer description of Trump's White House.

The True Trump

Very well written, best book I have read that tells the story,what a jokester.ADIOS DUMMY

Bravo

Interesting to see how Donald Trump actually comes to his decisions. Showing how little he really knows about the decisions being made and the impacts on the world that is the result of his ignorance.