A Very Stable Genius
Donald J. Trump's Testing of America
by Philip Rucker & Carol Leonnig


(Click for Amazon book review)

BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

This book is anti-Trump but uses as its basis Trump's own statements, including in the book title: "When a reporter asked Trump if he might attack NATO on Twitter after departing [the biannual NATO summit in Brussels], the president replied, "No, that's other people that do that. I don't. I'm very consistent. I'm a very stable genius." -- p.273 and further citations on p. 6, where Trump repeatedly uses the term very stable genius This book was published in January 2020, which means it was written in 2019, before the Democratic nominee (Trump's 2020 opponent) was determined. The only mentions of Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden are in the context of Trump's critiques of their actions, which we skip in these excerpts. Trump's critiques of his 2016 opponent focus on Hillary's email investigation, Benghazi investigation, and Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey. The book was written well before Biden was nominated to oppose Trump. Hence Trump's critique of Biden focuses on the Ukraine investigation, which we skip here after full Mueller Report coverage. The book's coverage of Trump's view of his opponents focuses on "negative campaigning" -- pointing out Clinton's and Biden's personal foibles and scandals, rather than actually countering their issue stances. But that is Trump's character -- it's rare that Trump addresses issue stances at all, especially avoiding issues chosen by his opponents. Buit the book does the same with Trump's own issue stances -- they are rarely addressed except in the context of personal foibles and scandals. Readers can best see this anti-Trump method in the index (the list of topics at the end of the book, instead of the Table of Contents at the beginning of the book). In particular, look at some of "Trump's characteristics:" Abuse of Subordinates Addiction to Media Alignment with Authoritarian Leaders Avoiding Payment Belief that He Is Above the Law Childishness Competitiveness Exclusive Dependence on Own Ability Hunger for Praise and Recognition Ignorance Image Focus Impulsivity Insecurity Loyalty Focus Lying Paranoia Racism Rages Reading Difficulty Short Attention Span Solipsism Transgression Transparency Unwillingness to Take Responsibility (From pp. 462-463). This is not just a list of characteristics -- each item has several page references which discuss each of those topics in detail! In other words, Trump's personal foibles and scandals are the major organizing principle of the book! For people who want a good source of material to oppose Trump or Trumpism, this book offers a solid resource -- but it has very little for Trump supporters. -- Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, Feb. 2021

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Civil Rights     Donald Trump: 2017: removing Confederacy monuments destroys our heritage.

Foreign Policy     Donald Trump: South Asia policy focused on Afghanistan not India.     Rex Tillerson: Protect India & fend off China's Belt-and-Road.

Government Reform     Barack Obama: 2016: sanctions against Russia for election interference.

Homeland Security     Donald Trump: South Korea should pay for $10B missile defense system.

Immigration     Kirstjen Nielsen: Solution to asylum is closing legal loopholes.

Principles & Values     Donald Trump: OpEd: Human hand grenade: razed and remade Washington.     Donald Trump: There are those that think I'm a very stable genius.     Donald Trump: 2018: Trump's lawyer disbarred for Stormy Daniel payoff.     Donald Trump: FactCheck: 2016 was Trump's 3rd run for presidency, not 1st.

War & Peace     John Bolton: Pre-emptive military strike against North Korea.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Barack Obama Democratic President (elected 2008) Donald Trump Republican Presidential incumbent John Bolton National Security Advisor Kirstjen Nielsen Secretary of Homeland Security Rex Tillerson Secretary of State 2017-2018