Rucker
To my mother, Naomi, who brought me into this world with bravery and unconditional love, thank you. You afforded me every opportunity a shy boy curious about the world could ever need or want, sometimes at great personal sacrifice. You gave me the courage to walk through open doors and taught me to live a life of honor, to think critically, and, importantly, to write. There could never be a book without you.
Clara, my brilliant, loving, and free-spirited sister, and Karen have proven that there is more to living than hustle. My nephew, Lee, has brightened my life and makes me hopeful about the future. My late grandparents, Helen and Bunny, were trailblazers for equality and justice and endowed me with the resolve to question authority.
I could not have partnered with a more faithful and indefatigable co-author than Carol Leonnig. Her prowess as a reporter is beyond compare. To watch Carol follow a lead and reconstruct a scene in exacting detail was breathtaking. She imbued this project with shrewd intuition and intellectual integrity, and her persistence expanded our ambitions. The readers are the richer for it. Carol’s warm spirit and optimism kept me moving forward, no matter my apprehensions, for which I will forever be in her debt.
I have had the great fortune to cover the Trump presidency as part of the strongest White House reporting squad in the news business: Josh Dawsey, Anne Gearan, Seung Min Kim, David Nakamura, Tolu Olorunnipa, and Ashley Parker, led by the steadfast and sharp Dan Eggen and Dave Clarke. Jacqueline Alemany, Rachael Bade, Jabin Botsford, Bob Costa, Colby Itkowitz, Jenna Johnson, Paul Kane, Damian Paletta, Felicia Sonmez, and John Wagner have lent their smarts and firepower to our team. You all have elevated my craft and still given me reasons to laugh. You are simply the best.
Three reporting partners have shaped my past decade covering politics at the Post. Dan Balz took me under his wing when I was a rookie on the trail and taught me to be rigorous and fair and to explore the country with an open notebook, imparting the simple truth that campaigns are about more than what candidates say. They are about how voters feel. Bob Costa, who took Trump’s aspirations seriously before anyone else in the media, showed me the power of reporting to challenge conventional wisdom. And Ashley Parker, my rival as a Romney Rambler in 2012, became my indispensable collaborator during the Trump presidency, coaching me in the art of language and counseling me through trials large and small.
I am privileged to have found a second professional home at NBC News and MSNBC. Thank you to Peter Alexander, Phil Griffin, Kasie Hunt, Hallie Jackson, Andy Lack, Dafna Linzer, Chris Matthews, Craig Melvin, Andrea Mitchell, Elena Nachmanoff, Kelly O’Donnell, Jesse Rodriguez, Stephanie Ruhle, Katy Tur, Nicolle Wallace, Kristen Welker, Brian Williams, and so many others. I am indebted to the inimitable Alan Berger and his crack team at Creative Artists Agency for making it all possible.
Al Kamen graciously opened his home on Lake Michigan in Pentwater for me to write with a change of scenery. Holly Bailey, Mary Jordan, Ruth Marcus, Eli Saslow, Mike Shear, and Karen Tumulty shared book-writing tips and offered encouragement. Ann Gerhart and Maralee Schwartz buoyed me with wisdom and warmth. Tammy Haddad offered generous counsel. The cheerful staff at Philz in Adams Morgan kept me caffeinated.
To Luis Gabriel Cuervo, Elizabeth Dooghan, Borja Gracia, Anna Gregory, Mari Fer Merino, Justin Mills, Ryan Ozimek, John Petersen, Sarah Strom, and April Warren, who have been my D.C. family at Sunday night “Noche” dinners, thank you for your love and nourishment. To Mike Bender, Andrew and Liz Cedar, Matt Lachman, Elyse Layton, Tom Lee, Will and Addar Levi, Rebecca Livengood, Leslie Pope, Adam and Rachel Presser, Julia Pudlin, Maeve Reston, Matt Rivera, Tim Runfola, Eli Stokols, Rachel Streitfeld, Keith and Kristen Urbahn, Burden Walker, Nate Wenstrup, and David Wishnick, thank you for always being there. And to Evelyn Kramer, Michelle Kwan, the Wieners, Christine Brennan, and the rest of the Ice Castle diaspora, you knew me when.
Notes
Chapter One: Building Blocks
Nor of his attendance: Greg Miller, “Trump’s Pick for National Security Adviser Brings Experience and Controversy,” Washington Post, Nov. 17, 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trumps-pick-for-national-security-adviser-brings-experience-and-controversy/2016/11/17/0962eb88-ad08-11e6-8b45-f8e493f06fcd_story.html.
Flynn called for the United States: Michael T. Flynn, “Our Ally Turkey Is in Crisis and Needs Our Support,” Hill, Nov. 8, 2016, thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/foreign-policy/305021-our-ally-turkey-is-in-crisis-and-needs-our-support.
During the March 5 Kansas caucuses: Susan B. Glasser, “Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of Trump,” New Yorker, Aug. 19, 2019, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/08/26/mike-pompeo-the-secretary-of-trump.
“Don’t forget, he’s a showbiz guy”: Philip Rucker and Karen Tumulty, “Donald Trump Is Holding a Government Casting Call. He’s Seeking ‘the Look,’” Washington Post, Dec. 22, 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donald-trump-is-holding-a-government-casting-call-hes-seeking-the-look/2016/12/21/703ae8a4-c795-11e6-bf4b-2c064d32a4bf_story.html.
But Trump dug in: Greg Miller, Greg Jaffe, and Philip Rucker, “Doubting the Intelligence, Trump Pursues Putin and Leaves a Russian Threat Unchecked,” Washington Post, Dec. 14, 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/national-security/donald-trump-pursues-vladimir-putin-russian-election-hacking/.
Chapter Two: Paranoia and Pandemonium
“You know, I won”: Max Greenwood, “Trump Told Pelosi: You Know I Won the Popular Vote,” Hill, June 9, 2017, thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/337117-trump-told-pelosi-you-know-i-won-the-popular-vote.
Chris Christie and his wife: Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election,” U.S. Department of Justice, March 2019.
Chapter Three: The Road to Obstruction
McGahn’s mind raced: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
He discovered an unexpected ally: Meghan Clyne, “Trump Scoffs at U.N.’s Plan for New H.Q.,” New York Sun, Feb. 4, 2005, www.nysun.com/new-york/trump-scoffs-at-uns-plan-for-new-hq/8727/.
He told the other senators: “U.S. Financial Involvement in Renovation of U.N. Headquarters,” Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Hearing, July 21, 2005,