Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Why would one put themselves through the trouble that was the Trump presidency once again? The world is a dreadful enough place to not need further tragedy in one’s day, but it’s still helpful to better understanding of the events that took place. In this case, I think Mr Wolff has generally done a good job in describing the chaos although a dislike towards all the individuals involved with the administration also seemed to be present.
Nevertheless, if there’s something to be taken away from this it’s that failure is guaranteed if there’s apparent infighting in a team that should be working towards the same goals. In this case, the hostility shown by Steve Bannon against Ivanka Trump and vice versa makes this book a spiral downwards, with the American people the casualty. Some of the most interesting part of this is how liberal the author describes Ivanka.
At the same time, it’s clear that a lot of what the author was told by the staff should not have been open knowledge, at least not that quickly. The grudges everyone carried against everyone else, whether justified or not, turned this into a chaotic event from the first day (or before that). This made the author’s insights into Donald Trump’s mentality helpful as it clearly spells out that where one could suspect a nefarious plan, there was only stupidity.
I don’t think there’s reread value in this, and possibly we are still too close in time to really evaluate the events, but I found one pass at this reasonable enough to (want to) continue with the following titles which cover the later part of the presidency.
