Confidence Man

The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America

By: Maggie Haberman

Narrated by: Maggie Haberman

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

Critic reviews

“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

Objective and well delivered

A very fair and objective look into such a complex subject. She eschews hyperbole and lets the reader digest the facts without influence. The book verifies and validates a lot of the stories and themes in Michael Wolfe and Bob Woodward’s books. I highly recommend confidence man.

must read

rich history of trump giving the reader a nuanced view of the NY developer who became our president.

The Story of Trump

From childhood to insurrection, this captures Trump in all his narcissistic shame. Well done Maggie!

Excellent account of Trump’s history

Required reading to understand the history of Trump. Loved that the author is the reader.

This is the one I enjoyed the most

Maggie tells us the story we witnessed during those nightmarish four years but with the facts , statements and reactions of everyone involved. I needed to hear specifically how Lindsey Graham & Kevin McCarthy spoke against TFG yet seemed to be his buddy within months of the insurrection. Those conversations make me more aware of the actual hypocrisy in people who influence major decisions in our government. Maggie sounds like she’s having a conversation with me versus reading a book. I do not sense any opinion here, just pure facts. I’ve read at least 5 books about TFG & this one is definitely the most interesting. I’m glad I gave it a shot.

Evil vs Truth

Loved this! Why evil is answered! Why CHOOSE evil is anybody's guess.
Great narrator! Enjoyed!

Excellent!

As a Brit living in America, I had no idea who Trump was and thought that those who voted for him didn’t either. Clearly they knew exactly who this man is and they still voted him in regardless! Thank you for good, honest and clear facts about this man!

An excellent listen!

Maggie is one of the best at what she does. I had to force myself to purchase a book all about Trump, but her excellent reporting, attention to detail, and fair account of Trump’s story was extremely engaging and taught me new things about a story I thought I already knew from the real-time media coverage.

Phenomenal recount with details

Bravo! Demands a relisten bc as always I really value Ms. Haberman’s sober statement of the facts and analysis.

Highly Recommended

I have read over a half dozen Trump books and I highly recommend this one. The author takes us back to the beginning with his grandparents and describes the dysfunction in his family and Trump’s beginnings. It seems that Trump has never changed or matured - he remains a spoiled, entitled brat.

I will say that the author displays insights into Trump’s rationales for famous incidents that seem a lot less “threatening” or “conspiratorial” then may have been believed. But instead show Trump as an insecure, egotistical, small-minded bully that either wants favorable exposure or needs to get even at any costs. For sure his personality and style make him the least competent of presidents in our history. And his autocratic tendencies and incompetence make him a real danger if re-elected. So I’m not saying Trump’s controversial actions were not terrible but rather that they stemmed from the man’s flaws and not a grand plan.

What is shocking is that he won the presidency - a man like him would historically have come to office via succession within a royal dynasty. And of course that’s how he became head of his real estate company.

I wish every diehard Trump supporter could read this book with an open mind and see how shallow and incompetent Trump truly is.

So once again, I highly recommend this book and I’m glad I decided to spend the time to listen to it.