Description: The essential account of the making of Donald Trump, his thinking, his foreign policy and its roots in American history.
Brief description: Charlie Laderman is Senior Lecturer in International History at King's College London and a Harrington Faculty Fellow at the Clements Center for National Security, University of Texas, Austin. He is the author of Sharing the Burden: Armenia, Humanitarian Intervention (2019) and co-author of Hitler's American Gamble: Pearl Harbor and Germany's March to Global War (2021) with Brendan Simms.
Review Quotes:
"The most comprehensive account yet of Trump's thinking over the years." --Paul D. Miller, The American Interest
"Highly recommend this study of the development of Trump's foreign policy world view ... Instant and powerful illumination!" --Adam Tooze, author of The Deluge: The Great War and the Remaking of Global Order 1916-1931 "Insightful ... historians Charlie Laderman and Brendan Simms have done political scientists and foreign policy establishments a big favour." --Financial Times "In this insightful study, Laderman and Simms expose the contours of Donald Trump's thinking on foreign policy and explore its roots in US history since 1945. This book refutes the widespread view that Trump can simply be dismissed as an improviser and a showman. Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the Trump presidency and what it means for the rest of us." --Sir Christopher Clark, author of Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 "The unthinkable has happened: Donald Trump is now President of the United States. We can condemn, dismiss, and ridicule him. But it makes more sense to understand him. This short book uses his lifeworld and his own language to do so, and offers an insightful and compelling account of his world view, and especially his view of foreign affairs. For anybody who wants to know what makes Trump tick and how he is likely to behave this is an absolute must read." --Richard Ned Lebow, James O. Freedman Presidential, Professor Emeritus of Government, Dartmouth College "As the historians Charlie Laderman and Brendan Simms show in this new book, since the 1980s Trump has developed a consistent world view. It is highly critical of the dominant US global strategy since 1945 of building and maintaining a liberal capitalist international order." --Alex Callinicos, Socialist Worker "This book does a great service in identifying the genesis of President Trump's world view, based on his words, and considering its likely impact on the future of American foreign policy and the Western alliance." --John Bew, author of Realpolitik: A History