Donald Trump V. the United States - by Michael S Schmidt (Paperback)

About the Book

"In the early days of the Trump presidency, the people who work in the institutions that make America America saw Trump up close in the Oval Office and became convinced that they had to stand up to an unbound president. These officials faced a situation without parallel in American history: What do you do, and who do you call, if you are the only one standing between the president, his extraordinary powers, and the abyss? Michael S. Schmidt's Donald Trump v. The United States tells the dramatic, high-stakes story of those who felt compelled to confront and try to contain the most powerful man in the world as he shredded norms and sought to expand his power." -- inside front jacket flap.

Book Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - With unparalleled reporting, a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter chronicles the clash between a president and the officials of his own government who tried to stop him.

"A meticulously reported volume that clearly benefits from the author's extraordinary access . . . [a] startling dissection of the Trump presidency."--The New York Times

Donald Trump v. The United States tells the dramatic, high-stakes story of those who felt compelled to confront and try to contain the most powerful man in the world as he shredded norms and sought to expand his power. Michael S. Schmidt takes readers inside the defining events of the presidency, chronicles them up close, and records the clash between an increasingly emboldened president and those around him, who find themselves trying to thwart the president they had pledged to serve, unsure whether he is acting in the interest of the country, his ego, his family business, or Russia. Through their eyes and ears, we observe an epic struggle.

Drawing on secret FBI and White House documents and confidential sources inside federal law enforcement and the West Wing, Donald Trump v. The United States is vital journalism from a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter that records the shocking reality of a presidency like no other. It is a riveting contemporary history and a lasting account of just how fragile and vulnerable the institutions of American democracy really are.

Review Quotes

"[Michael S.] Schmidt chronicles how the professionals around the president tried to bring order to the White House and to keep Trump within the bounds of the law. . . . A powerful accounting of . . . lawlessness and chaos."--The Washington Post

About the Author

Michael S. Schmidt is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington correspondent for The New York Times. Over his fifteen years at the Times, he has covered the investigations of the Trump presidency, the Pentagon, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the war in Iraq. He started his career at The New York Times as a clerk answering the phones on the foreign desk before becoming a sports reporter covering performance-enhancing drugs and legal issues. He is a graduate of Lafayette College.