A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America
Philip Rucker · Carol Leonnig
Jan 2020 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Philip Rucker, Carol Leonnig, and Hillary Huber
3.7star
29 reviewsreport
headphones
Audiobook
18 hr 26 min
Unabridged
family_home
Eligible
info
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
Want a 10 min sample? Listen anytime, even offline.
Add
About this audiobook
The instant #1 bestseller.
“This taut and terrifying book is among the most closely observed accounts of Donald J. Trump’s shambolic tenure in office to date."
- Dwight Garner, The New York Times
Washington Post national investigative reporter Carol Leonnig and White House bureau chief Philip Rucker, both Pulitzer Prize winners, provide the definitive insider narrative of Donald Trump’s presidency
“I alone can fix it.” So proclaimed Donald J. Trump on July 21, 2016, accepting the Republican presidential nomination and promising to restore what he described as a fallen nation. Yet as he undertook the actual work of the commander in chief, it became nearly impossible to see beyond the daily chaos of scandal, investigation, and constant bluster. In fact, there were patterns to his behavior and that of his associates. The universal value of the Trump administration was loyalty—not to the country, but to the president himself—and Trump’s North Star was always the perpetuation of his own power.
With deep and unmatched sources throughout Washington, D.C., Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker reveal the forty-fifth president up close. Here, for the first time, certain officials who felt honor-bound not to divulge what they witnessed in positions of trust tell the truth for the benefit of history.
A peerless and gripping narrative, A Very Stable Genius not only reveals President Trump at his most unvarnished but shows how he tested the strength of America’s democracy and its common heart as a nation.
“This taut and terrifying book is among the most closely observed accounts of Donald J. Trump’s shambolic tenure in office to date."
- Dwight Garner, The New York Times
Washington Post national investigative reporter Carol Leonnig and White House bureau chief Philip Rucker, both Pulitzer Prize winners, provide the definitive insider narrative of Donald Trump’s presidency
“I alone can fix it.” So proclaimed Donald J. Trump on July 21, 2016, accepting the Republican presidential nomination and promising to restore what he described as a fallen nation. Yet as he undertook the actual work of the commander in chief, it became nearly impossible to see beyond the daily chaos of scandal, investigation, and constant bluster. In fact, there were patterns to his behavior and that of his associates. The universal value of the Trump administration was loyalty—not to the country, but to the president himself—and Trump’s North Star was always the perpetuation of his own power.
With deep and unmatched sources throughout Washington, D.C., Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker reveal the forty-fifth president up close. Here, for the first time, certain officials who felt honor-bound not to divulge what they witnessed in positions of trust tell the truth for the benefit of history.
A peerless and gripping narrative, A Very Stable Genius not only reveals President Trump at his most unvarnished but shows how he tested the strength of America’s democracy and its common heart as a nation.
Ratings and reviews
3.7
29 reviews
T. M.
- Flag inappropriate
August 9, 2020
If you offer a 9 minute sample, it should be 9 minutes first of all, that's what's wrong with this country,everybody wants to get paid but they don't want to do what they offered to do. It should be 9 minutes of the actual book and not the author notes and epilogue. Keep it, I didn't hear enough to make me give up that much money.
Kissed By Sun
- Flag inappropriate
March 2, 2020
Underwhelming and boring. If you've followed the news you already heard 98% of this. The remaining 2% consists of stuff like. Trump put on khakis and played a round of golf, or Guilliani wore a chunky sweater because it was chilly. I kid you not. That accompanied with the readers sometimes sarcastic, otherwise boring rendition makes this a snoozer.
R Lakota
- Flag inappropriate
May 27, 2021
January 6th proved Trump is the Anti-Christ & his followers are good Homeland citizens who will follow him down his blazing trail of blaming others not as "pure"
About the author
Philip Rucker is the senior Washington correspondent at The Washington Post and led its coverage of President Trump and his administration as White House Bureau chief. He and a team of Post reporters won the Pulitzer Prize and George Polk Award for their reporting on Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. In 2021, the White House Correspondents’ Association honored Rucker with the Aldo Beckman Award for overall excellence in White House coverage. Rucker joined the Post in 2005 and previously has covered Congress, the Obama White House, and the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaigns. He serves as an on-air political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC and graduated from Yale University with a degree in history. He is also the co-author of I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year.
Carol Leonnig is a national investigative reporter at The Washington Post, where she has worked since 2000, covering Donald Trump’s presidency and previous administrations. She won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on security failures and misconduct inside the Secret Service. She also was part of the Post teams awarded Pulitzers in 2018, for reporting on Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, and in 2014, for revealing the U.S. government’s secret, broad surveillance of Americans. Leonnig is an on-air contributor to NBC News and MSNBC, author of Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service, and co-author of I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year.
Carol Leonnig is a national investigative reporter at The Washington Post, where she has worked since 2000, covering Donald Trump’s presidency and previous administrations. She won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on security failures and misconduct inside the Secret Service. She also was part of the Post teams awarded Pulitzers in 2018, for reporting on Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, and in 2014, for revealing the U.S. government’s secret, broad surveillance of Americans. Leonnig is an on-air contributor to NBC News and MSNBC, author of Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service, and co-author of I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year.
Rate this audiobook
Tell us what you think.
Listening information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can read books purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
