TrumpNation

Book excerpt: The extensively researched biography that goes beyond the hype to “separate Trump the reality from Trump the reality show” (USA Today). Now with a new introduction by the author, this entertaining look inside the world of Donald Trump is chock full of rip-roaring anecdotes, jaw-dropping quotes, and rigorous research into the business deals, political antics, curious relationships, and complex background of the forty-fifth US president. Granted unprecedented access, Timothy L. O’Brien traveled across the country and up and down the East Coast with Trump on his private jet, wheeled around Palm Beach with him in his Ferrari, and spent hours interviewing him in his home, in his office, and on the golf course. He met with the entrepreneur’s closest friends and most aggressive rivals, while compiling a treasure trove of Trumpisms from the Donald himself: Trump on the public’s enduring fascination with Trump: “There is something crazy, hot, a phenomenon out there about me, but I’m not sure I can define it and I’m not sure I want to.” Trump on naysayers: “You can go ahead and speak to guys who have four-hundred-pound wives at home who are jealous of me, but the guys who really know me know I’m a great builder.” Trump on the art of self-promotion: “You might as well tell people how great you are, because no one else is going to.” Ultimately, when O’Brien’s research revealed that Trump’s business record and annual spot on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans might be more fantasy than reality, he—like so many others who have dared to tangle with the former host of The Apprentice—found himself in a courtroom. In a new introduction, O’Brien reflects on the recent wave of TrumpMania and updates readers on what it’s like to depose one of the world’s most litigious businessmen—and win.