The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021

Peter Baker, Susan Glasser

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Sep 20, 2022 - History - 752 pages

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • "The most comprehensive and detailed account of the Trump presidency yet published."—The Washington Post • A Best Book of the Year: The New Yorker and Financial Times • "The book everyone is talking about."—Politico

The inside story of the four years when Donald Trump went to war with Washington, from the chaotic beginning to the violent finale, told by revered journalists Peter Baker of The New York Times and Susan Glasser of The New Yorker—an ambitious and lasting history of the full Trump presidency that also contains dozens of exclusive scoops and stories from behind the scenes in the White House, from the absurd to the deadly serious.

"A sumptuous feast of astonishing tales...The more one reads, the more one wishes to read."—NPR.com • "A beautifully written, utterly dispiriting history of the man who attacked democracy." —The Guardian

The bestselling authors of The Man Who Ran Washington argue that Trump was not just lurching from one controversy to another; he was learning to be more like the foreign autocrats he admired.

The Divider brings us into the Oval Office for countless scenes both tense and comical, revealing how close we got to nuclear war with North Korea, which cabinet members had a resignation pact, whether Trump asked Japan’s prime minister to nominate him for a Nobel Prize and much more. The book also explores the moral choices confronting those around Trump—how they justified working for a man they considered unfit for office, and where they drew their lines.

The Divider is based on unprecedented access to key players, from President Trump himself to cabinet officers, military generals, close advisers, Trump family members, congressional leaders, foreign officials and others, some of whom have never told their story until now.

Contents

• Ready Set Tweet: 1
• Team of Amateurs: 19
• Never Put Rupert Murdoch on Hold: 43
• Allies and Adversaries: 60
• The Ghost of Roy: 79
• My Generals: 104
• The Adhocracy: 127
• Youre Fired: 153
• Like Conflict: 155
• Heat Seeking Missile: 174
• Russia Russia Russia: 194
• The Eighty five Percenter: 210
• Shut It Down: 229
• The Adults Have Left the Building: 248
• Catch Me if You: 267
• Going Full Napoleon: 269
• Split Screen in Hanoi: 288
• King Kong Always Wins: 299
• John Boltons War: 322
• The Summer of Crazy: 337
• Fucking Ukraine: 360
• The Age of Impeachment: 386
• Divided We Fall: 409
• Game Changer: 432
• Youre Blowing This: 446
• The Battle of Lafayette Square: 467
• The Divider: 484
• Secretary of Everything: 505
• The Altar of Trump: 525
• Trumperdämmerung: 547
• Can Anyone Land This Plane?: 565
• All Hell Is Going to Break Loose: 583
• Trial by Combat: 605
• This Uncivil War: 621
• A CloseRun Thing: 643
• Afterword: 653
• Acknowledgments: 659
• Bibliography: 707
• Index: 713

About the author

PETER BAKER is the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, a political analyst for MSNBC, and the author of Days of Fire and The Breach. SUSAN GLASSER is a staff writer for The New Yorker and author of its weekly "Letter from Trump's Washington," as well as a CNN global affairs analyst. Their first assignment as a married couple was as Moscow bureau chiefs for The Washington Post, after which they wrote Kremlin Rising. They also coauthored The Man Who Ran Washington, a New York Times bestseller. They live in Washington, D.C., with their son.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021
• Authors: Peter Baker, Susan Glasser
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2022
• ISBN: 0385546548, 9780385546546
• Length: 752 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Presidents & Heads of State; History / United States / 21st Century; Political Science / American Government / General