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Confidence Man

The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America

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Confidence Man

Written by: Maggie Haberman
Narrated by: Maggie Haberman
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About this listen

The #1 New York Times bestseller.

“This is the book Trump fears most.” —Axios

“Will be a primary source about the most vexing president in American history for years to come.” —Joe Klein,
The New York Times

“A uniquely illuminating portrait.” —Sean Wilentz,
The Washington Post

“[A] monumental look at Donald Trump and his presidency.” —David Shribman, Los Angeles Times

From the Pulitzer-Prize-winning New York Times reporter who has defined Donald J. Trump's presidency like no other journalist, Confidence Man is a magnificent and disturbing reckoning that chronicles his life and its meaning from his rise in New York City to his tortured post-presidency.

Few journalists working today have covered Donald Trump more extensively than Maggie Haberman. And few understand him and his motivations better. Now, demonstrating her majestic command of this story, Haberman reveals in full the depth of her understanding of the 45th president himself, and of what the Trump phenomenon means.

Interviews with hundreds of sources and numerous interviews over the years with Trump himself portray a complicated and often contradictory historical figure. Capable of kindness but relying on casual cruelty as it suits his purposes. Pugnacious. Insecure. Lonely. Vindictive. Menacing. Smarter than his critics contend and colder and more calculating than his allies believe. A man who embedded himself in popular culture, galvanizing support for a run for high office that he began preliminary spadework for 30 years ago, to ultimately become a president who pushed American democracy to the brink.

The through-line of Trump’s life and his presidency is the enduring question of what is in it for him or what he needs to say to survive short increments of time in the pursuit of his own interests.

Confidence Man is also, inevitably, about the world that produced such a singular character, giving rise to his career and becoming his first stage. It is also about a series of relentlessly transactional relationships. The ones that shaped him most were with girlfriends and wives, with Roy Cohn, with George Steinbrenner, with Mike Tyson and Don King and Roger Stone, with city and state politicians like Robert Morgenthau and Rudy Giuliani, with business partners, with prosecutors, with the media, and with the employees who toiled inside what they commonly called amongst themselves the “Trump Disorganization.”

That world informed the one that Trump tried to recreate while in the White House. All of Trump’s behavior as President had echoes in what came before. In this revelatory and newsmaking book, Haberman brings together the events of his life into a single mesmerizing work. It is the definitive account of one of the most norms-shattering and consequential eras in American political history.

©2022 Maggie Haberman (P)2022 Penguin Audio
Politics & Government United States Inspiring Thought-Provoking Personal Growth
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What the critics say

Confidence Man [is] Maggie Haberman’s much anticipated biography of the president she followed more assiduously than any other journalist. No doubt, there are revelations aplenty here. But this is a book more notable for the quality of its observations about Trump’s character than for its newsbreaks. It will be a primary source about the most vexing president in American history for years to come.” —Joe Klein, The New York Times

“A uniquely illuminating portrait...Haberman’s contribution in Confidence Man [is] much larger than its arresting anecdotes. Later generations of historians will puzzle over Trump’s rise to national power. The best of them will have learned from Haberman’s book that none of it would have been possible but for a social, cultural, political, media and moral breakdown that overtook New York beginning in the 1970s, a fiasco of trusted institutions that, having allowed the Trumpian virus to grow, failed at every step to contain its spread, then profited from, aided and even cheered its devastation." —Sean Wilentz, The Washington Post

“During the Trump presidency, Haberman of the New York Times established herself as the leading Trump-watcher — managing to report unsparingly on the president, while maintaining a relationship with him. Here, she delivered the definitive biography of Trump and his improbable rise from real estate mogul and television personality to president. Her deep understanding of the New York of the 1970s and 1980s helps to explain what makes Trump tick.” —Financial Times

What listeners say about Confidence Man

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Great Inside look into Trump's Character

Interesting and often shocking look into Trump's character through his life and presidency. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I think it will be a great primary source for history to make sense of those crazy times and Trump's political and social consequences. Incredibly well researched and Haberman's narration is surprisingly good.

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Just the facts, Ma'am

I really appreciate the facts based approach to the telling of this story. Loved the writing.

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Great listen

Maggie is so easy to listen to. Well done factual account of a very different man.

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Well put

Normally I read books, not listen to them.. but during the time Trump was president of the US I was ... what's the right was to describe it.. captivated, engrossed, concerned, bewildered each and everyday there was something chaotic. I wanted to listen to someone who was there but had nothing to gain politically by writing a book and presented facts. In each chapter I was brought back to the time it happened and given a time but of more clarity. Trump is s character that normalized division and turned most things it's head. Maggie never fed into it, just reported it.

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Great read!

Could not put it down. Maggie has a masterful way with words and has laid out this story in a way that is like being in the room.

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Maggie is a great investigative journalist but ...

...a scintilating narrator she is not. I kept falling asleep! I wanted to hear the information she'd uncovered but really hope the book gets redone so it doesn't sound like my boring Grade 12 Social Studies teacher. Sorry Maggie.

Update: She improved a lot once she got about 1/2 way through. Story is extremely good.

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A little disappointing

I wanted ro read this book because Maggie Haberman is a name to be reckoned with in Journalism. I don't know why I expected her book to be a historical analysis of how President Trump contrasts with other presidents, but I did. I'm a devourer of Trump books, I find them fascinating. it's fascinating to watch America reap what it has sown for so many years, and fascinating that a man as hideous and small as Donald Trump can reach that ultimate role of President. I can't stop reading Trump books for the tabloid nature of them.

This book wasn't supposed to be tabloid. This was supposed discuss comprehensively how this creep broke a country. I had hoped Maggie Haberman would discuss that in more detail, but to my understanding she only discussed it in the epilogue. The rest of the book is tabloid. It amounts to what Trump would call "a hit piece." I've heard this sentiment again and again: Trump=bad. Trump=sociopath. YES. I agree. That's already been written. I wanted some new material from Maggie Haberman. I feel let down.

Ultimately, if I'm ranking Trump books based on how they entertain me, this is the best one by far. If I'm ranking Trump books based on how they enlightened me about this monster, this somewhere toward the top, probably 4th or 5th. Mary Trumps: Too much and Never Enough would be first.

What I know: Trump is awful
What I learned from this book: Almost nothing.

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Trump … reads like fiction… unfortunately true

A great rendition of many hard-to-believe activities by the President of a supposedly mature democracy. It’s unfortunate and a serious impediment to sincere political behaviour in the future that will be in the interests of all Americans and others with a desire to see good governance.

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Confidence Man

Enjoyed this bio on a controversial character whose tale is not yet finished. Not sure the material met the claim of detailing this person’s development yet the author provides a personal insight into a figure who will surely be remembered as a terrible person and worse leader.

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Informative

Thank you Maggie for your insights and patience covering this person. Such an important, and depressing document of American history.

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