A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America

Philip Rucker · Carol Leonnig

Jan 2020 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

The instant #1 bestseller.

“This taut and terrifying book is among the most closely observed accounts of Donald J. Trump’s shambolic tenure in office to date."
- Dwight Garner, The New York Times

Washington Post national investigative reporter Carol Leonnig and White House bureau chief Philip Rucker, both Pulitzer Prize winners, provide the definitive insider narrative of Donald Trump’s presidency
 
“I alone can fix it.” So proclaimed Donald J. Trump on July 21, 2016, accepting the Republican presidential nomination and promising to restore what he described as a fallen nation. Yet as he undertook the actual work of the commander in chief, it became nearly impossible to see beyond the daily chaos of scandal, investigation, and constant bluster. In fact, there were patterns to his behavior and that of his associates. The universal value of the Trump administration was loyalty—not to the country, but to the president himself—and Trump’s North Star was always the perpetuation of his own power. 

With deep and unmatched sources throughout Washington, D.C., Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker reveal the forty-fifth president up close. Here, for the first time, certain officials who felt honor-bound not to divulge what they witnessed in positions of trust tell the truth for the benefit of history.

A peerless and gripping narrative, A Very Stable Genius not only reveals President Trump at his most unvarnished but shows how he tested the strength of America’s democracy and its common heart as a nation.

Ratings and reviews

I received this book as a gift. It was difficult for me to read but I approached it with an open mind. It is cult propaganda at its worst. From a group of supporters of a man that mocks veterans and those with disabilities. A man that is racist and treats women like objects. A man that never got past the 4th grade and failed at every business deal ever touched. Reading this book was painful. It reads like a gleefully scripted wish from 1939. It is as if there is a wish to return to the Nazi party and its ideals. It suggests that Trump is some kind of mastermind leading a battle against a deep state that does not exist. In reality it is just conspiracy theory playing to the lowest common denominator. I always want to hear both sides. This time I regret my decision.

You are such a great Liar and hater who don't like America. it is obvious that you are not a real american even if you were born in America. In contrast, you like CCP , other CCP supporting countries as well as denial of all types of freedom. You support invasion of people privacy as well as creating artificial wars and chaos around the world instead of peace and stability in order to kill the people all over the world. You are supporter of the world with one dictatorial government. YOU ARE NOT A REAL AMERICAN IF YOU WERE BORN AND GREW UP IN THIS COUNTRY. I was born in Persia ( Iran )( I'm sure you are aware of Persian empire and king Cyrus plus causes of Iran revolution in 1979 ) but LOVE AMERICA even far more than how much Americans do.

My experience in reading this rag and the reviews by "liberals" is this: when you cast your eviscerating eye to the dnc, I will then believe you (authors) are capable of an objective thought and are able to recognize reality. To absolutely deny the deceit, outright lies (I did not have sex with that woman, Monica Lewinski amongst legions of examples), I must check myself. To imply that only conservative members of our elected officials is impossible to digest. Good Luck to you.

About the author

Philip Rucker is the senior Washington correspondent at The Washington Post and led its coverage of President Trump and his administration as White House Bureau chief. He and a team of Post reporters won the Pulitzer Prize and George Polk Award for their reporting on Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. In 2021, the White House Correspondents’ Association honored Rucker with the Aldo Beckman Award for overall excellence in White House coverage. Rucker joined the Post in 2005 and previously has covered Congress, the Obama White House, and the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaigns. He serves as an on-air political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC and graduated from Yale University with a degree in history. He is also the co-author of I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year.

Carol Leonnig is a national investigative reporter at The Washington Post, where she has worked since 2000, covering Donald Trump’s presidency and previous administrations. She won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on security failures and misconduct inside the Secret Service. She also was part of the Post teams awarded Pulitzers in 2018, for reporting on Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, and in 2014, for revealing the U.S. government’s secret, broad surveillance of Americans. Leonnig is an on-air contributor to NBC News and MSNBC, author of Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service, and co-author of I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year.