Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America by Maggie Haberman

Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America

by Maggie Haberman

View on Goodreads
Politics & Power

Haberman's case is that Trump governed with the same combative, transactional habits he built in New York real estate, tabloid media and city politics. You follow them from the Commodore Hotel and the West Side rail yards through the 1989 mayoral race to the White House, drawn from hundreds of interviews, several with Trump himself.

Core ideas
  • Early politics: Roger Stone commissioned a 1988 poll on Trump's national prospects, and a source in the book claims Rudy Giuliani dropped a Trump Tower money-laundering investigation.
  • A close call: Health officials believed Trump might have died from COVID-19 without monoclonal antibody treatment.
  • In his own words: Trump told her, of the documents taken to Mar-a-Lago, that most were in the archives, and denied watching television on January 6.
Published2022
Pages597
ISBN9780593297346
ReadSep 2024

Connected to 20 other books

See the connection map
Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump by Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan Regime Change Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan Read Jul 2026 Picture a classified defense meeting derailed by someone arriving with stone samples for the Rose Garden. Donald Trump v. The United States: Inside the Struggle to Stop a President by Michael S. Schmidt Donald Trump v. The United States Michael S. Schmidt Read May 2026 When Trump wanted Mueller fired, White House counsel Don McGahn refused, then spent more than 30 hours with Mueller's prosecutors. All or Nothing: How Trump Recaptured America by Michael Wolff All or Nothing Michael Wolff Read Feb 2026 Wolff's case is that the indictments didn't sink Trump, they fed him, as each courtroom fight brought in more endorsements and… Too Famous by Michael Wolff Too Famous Michael Wolff Read Feb 2026 Wolff says up front that "almost everyone in this book is a determined social climber," and his case is that chasing attention… Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction by David Enrich Dark Towers David Enrich Read Feb 2026 Deutsche Bank is best known as the bank that kept lending to Donald Trump. All the President’s Men by Carl Bernstein All the President’s Men Carl Bernstein Read Dec 2025 A 1972 burglary at the Democratic National Committee, two young Washington Post reporters, and a source who would only meet in… Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency by Joshua Green Devil's Bargain Joshua Green Read Dec 2025 The bargain in the title ran both ways: Bannon got a candidate who could win, and Trump got a strategist in August 2016, when his… Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America by Jonathan Karl Retribution Jonathan Karl Read Nov 2025 The second Trump presidency is more radical than the first in Karl's account, going after enemies, the courts, anti-corruption… Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign by Jonathan Allen Shattered Jonathan Allen Read May 2025 Why weren't working-class white voters with her? Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House by Jonathan Allen Fight Jonathan Allen Read Apr 2025 Biden's insistence on staying in the race after the June 27, 2024 debate split his party until he withdrew on July 21. Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man by Mary L. Trump Too Much and Never Enough Mary L. Trump Read Jan 2025 Mary Trump says plainly that she isn't making a formal diagnosis. Disloyal: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump by Michael Cohen Disloyal Michael Cohen Read Oct 2024 Cohen admits he enabled crimes on Trump's behalf during more than a decade as his personal attorney and fixer, and the confession… Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father's Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success by Russ Buettner Lucky Loser Russ Buettner Read Sep 2024 Trump received more than $400 million from his father, in today's dollars, through loans never repaid, trust funds and interest… Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House by Omarosa Manigault Newman Unhinged Omarosa Manigault Newman Read Aug 2024 Manigault Newman's relationship with Trump ran about fifteen years, from the first season of The Apprentice through the 2016… Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff Fire and Fury Michael Wolff Read Aug 2024 How much can you trust an account the White House denied and CNN's Jake Tapper urged skepticism about? A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America by Philip Rucker A Very Stable Genius Philip Rucker Read Jul 2024 Flash cards instead of written briefings, generals disparaged in public, advisers fired at will: that's how Trump governed his… Front Row at the Trump Show by Jonathan Karl Front Row at the Trump Show Jonathan Karl Read Nov 2023 The press is not the opposition party, and a president who treats it as one shows no grasp of the First Amendment. Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party by Jonathan Karl Tired of Winning Jonathan Karl Read Nov 2023 Trump's Republican rivals had an obvious case to make: two lost midterms and a lost presidential race. The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017 - 2021 by Peter Baker The Divider Peter Baker Read Oct 2022 Four years, told as one story, from the inauguration to January 6. American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump by Tim Alberta American Carnage Tim Alberta Read Oct 2022 Trump didn't cause the Republican civil war.