The United States of Trump
Page 25
Chapter 24
1. Sadly, Charles Krauthammer passed away due to complications from cancer on June 21, 2018. He is missed.
Chapter 27
1. In May 2019, executives from the Disney and Comcast corporations threatened to boycott the state of Georgia because it passed a strong anti-abortion law. Conservative CEOs never would have done that.
Chapter 29
1. That meeting was discovered by a local Arizona reporter.
Chapter 34
1. Democrat Gary Hart was forced to withdraw from the presidential campaign in 1988 after he was found to be having an extramarital affair.
2. The actor telling Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca that he was shocked gambling was allowed in Rick’s Café.
Chapter 43
1. President Trump has little use for the German chancellor. He believes she does not pay her fair share of NATO expenses and is foolish for cooperating with Russia on a natural gas pipeline, among other things.
2. After interviewing President Obama at the White House, he was kind enough to walk me up to the Lincoln Bedroom and show me the address. Having written Killing Lincoln, I found this a very special moment in my life.
Chapter 46
1. In April 2019, black unemployment stood at 6.7 percent. Until Donald Trump took office, this statistic had never been below 7 percent in the forty-five years since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began separating unemployment numbers by race.
AFTERWORD
MANHASSET, NEW YORK
MAY 29, 2019
LATE MORNING
Special Counsel Robert Mueller looks tense. He is reading an eight-minute statement reiterating that his two-year investigation has not produced evidence of the Trump campaign colluding with Russia during the 2016 election. Mueller says his report does not rule out that President Trump might have done something wrong in the obstruction of justice area, but he is not allowed to bring charges against a sitting president under the Constitution.
True, but Mr. Mueller is certainly able to cite criminal activity if he can prove it. Judge Kenneth Starr did that eleven times in his investigation of President Clinton in 1998. But there is no proof in Mueller’s report that crimes were committed by President Trump.
Nevertheless, Robert Mueller is emphasizing that his investigators cannot say Donald Trump did NOT violate the law. Mueller then goes on to imply that Congress should resolve the question since the Justice Department, citing lack of evidence, has declined to take the case any further.
Is that fair of Mueller?
Individual Americans will have to decide for themselves. But it is clear today on television screens all over the world that Mr. Mueller has absolutely no use for Donald Trump and would not object to impeachment proceedings.
* * *
APPROXIMATELY TWELVE HOURS after Robert Mueller finishes his short dissertation, the phone rings in my house. The White House operator asks me if I can speak with the president of the United States.
Uh, yes, I believe I can.
It has been nearly five months since I spoke with President Trump aboard Air Force One. Since that time, I have conversed with him three times about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—mostly his happiness.
But now the time has come to get down to it. Has Donald Trump’s view of America changed considering all that has happened in the past three years? Does he see his country the same way he did before he began his presidential odyssey?
That’s where we begin.
O’REILLY: Has this Mueller situation changed your view of America?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: It’s made me more circumspect. It’s changed my life. What I am going through, no other president has gone through and it’s evil. But it’s also made me stronger because I have to get through it.
O’REILLY: Why is the campaign against you happening, in your opinion?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Let’s take Mueller. He’s my enemy. I turned him down after he asked me to head the FBI (after James Comey was fired). I said no. And years ago, he was a member of a golf club I owned on the Potomac. He called me asking for his deposit back. He said he was leaving the area. I think it was $15,000. But I said no because then I’d have to do that for all members. And the conversation got heated, it was nasty if you want to know the truth.
O’REILLY: So you think it was personal with Mueller?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: This was an attempted overthrow, Bill. And if I didn’t fire Comey we would have never known about it. It’s wrong. This should never happen to another president.
O’REILLY: Has your love for your country changed?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I’ve learned a lot. I think this Mueller investigation will go down as one of my great achievements.
O’REILLY: What?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Because the corruption would have never been uncovered. All these powerful people trying to subvert an election, people wouldn’t have known about it.
O’REILLY: Why do you think some powerful people want to hurt you?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I don’t know why they hate me. I guess it’s because I’m an outsider. I did something no one else had ever done. It’s about power. In New York, it’s money, but the New York guys are babies by comparison. I’ve never seen anything like it. You think you can trust people and they turn around and hurt you. You can’t trust anyone.
O’REILLY: Do you think the federal system is corrupt?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: The media is more corrupt. How can you win Pulitzer Prizes writing about stories that aren’t true, using anonymous sources that tell lies? Shouldn’t they have to give those prizes back? It’s horrible. I mean I’ve rebuilt the military, we have the best economy, women and minorities are doing much better and still all I get are bad stories.
O’REILLY: Why do you think things are so devious?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I think about it all the time. The Washington Post and the New York Times are the worst. Local news has actually been good to me. I think it comes from the top. Jeff Bezos (owner of the Washington Post) uses the paper to lobby. It’s a business thing for him.
O’REILLY: What about the fake news branding?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: A big success because I have exposed them as corrupt. It used to be people trusted the media but they are so far down in the polls.
O’REILLY: How has the media hatred affected you?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: In one way it’s positive. It shows that I can take it. Not many people could get through what I’ve had to take. Rudy Giuliani’s a tough guy but he told me he doesn’t think he could handle all the hate.
O’REILLY: What do you tell your thirteen-year-old son about America in the face of all this?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: You know he sometimes comes to me and says, “Dad, they are really coming after you. It’s sad.”
O’REILLY: What do you say to that?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I always say: we just keep going forward, that’s what we do. You know, the media doesn’t care if they hurt families. They are the meanest people. But when I leave office, I’ll have my revenge. Because many of them will go out of business. Without Trump, what have they got?
O’REILLY: So your love for America hasn’t changed?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I love my country but many things in it should not be happening and I hope no other president goes through this. It’s bad for America.
* * *
DONALD TRUMP IS not going to change. He will not modify his behavior, stop tweeting, or begin wearing jeans. He’ll stay the way he is until the grave.
Many of the 63 million Americans who voted for Trump in 2016 will not change, either. They have too much emotion invested in Mr. Trump. And they generally loathe his detractors.
Despite the almost daily controversies, citizens see how the president is governing and close to half the country approves of his job performance in any given polling week.
This is based on the healthy economy, I believe, not on ideology. If you study the president you will not
see much promotion of conservative principles. Vice President Pence is much more on the right than his boss is.
However, the president understands his base support comes from conservative Americans, therefore he will not alienate them. He will continue to choose traditional Supreme Court justices, back stronger laws against abortion, and defend the Second Amendment.
This is essentially why the American left hates Donald Trump. Some liberals make assertions about character and such but that’s mostly bull. Liberal America, in general, supported President Clinton to the end of his administration.
No, the anti-Trump “Resistance” is mostly about social policy. And there are many ingredients in that stew. But the primary flavor is a belief on the committed left that America is an unjust country and Donald Trump is a major part of that injustice. That core anti-Trump belief is what spawned Robert Mueller and the ongoing attempts to oust Donald Trump from power.
However, the raw hatred that is on vivid display may actually work in President Trump’s favor as he seeks reelection. Independent voters will decide who wins in 2020 and any overreach, say, a flimsy impeachment attempt by House Democrats, could well bolster the Republicans.
The most important question for the nation right now is this: Can President Trump win another term after all that has happened? It would be another stunning political story if he did—especially because he has the establishment media lined up against him in a way never seen before in this country. He is also facing a hostile House of Representatives that will continue to oppose him on all fronts.
And so it is that a man from Queens has achieved incredible power through guile, determination, and immense ambition.
But Donald Trump has paid a price for that power—a price he could never have foreseen.
Nor could any of us.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As I wrote in the beginning of the book, getting the truth about Donald Trump was difficult. So, a very special thank-you to Martin Dugard and Makeda Wubneh, who helped me separate fact from propaganda.
Also, I owe a debt of gratitude to Bill Shine for primary source material, including access to the president himself. And thanks to Charles Lachman, executive producer of Inside Edition, for his help.
Finally, my team at Henry Holt led by Steve Rubin and Serena Jones is both professional and perspicacious. We’ve made history together.
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
here: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
here: Mirrorpix
here: Don Hogan Charles/The New York Times/Redux
here: Barton Silverman/The New York Times/Redux
here: Barton Silverman/The New York Times/Redux
here: Piero Oliosi/Polaris/Newscom
here: AP Photo/Mel Evans
here: Louis Liotta/New York Post Archives/Getty Images
here: J. Scott Applewhite/Pool via CNP/MediaPunch
here: New York Daily News/Getty Images
here: Nancy Moran /Sports Illustrated/Getty Images
here: Ted Thai/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
here: Davidoff Studios/Getty Images
here: John Barrett/Photolink/MediaPunch
here: AP Photo/Marc Serota
here: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
here: Kristin Callahan/Everett Collection
here: The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
here: Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times/Redux
here: Olivier Douliery/White House Pool (ISP Pool Images)/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
here: Christy Bowe/Corbis via Getty Images
here: Doug Mills/The New York Times/Redux
here: David Becker/Getty Images
here: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire (Press Association via AP Images)
here: James Atoa/Everett Collection
here: James Atoa/Everett Collection
here: Danny Wilcox Frazier/VII/Redux
here: Steven Ferdman/Everett Collection
here: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
here: Brian Snyder/Reuters/Newscom
here: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
here: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
here: Xinhua/Yin Bogu via Getty Images
here: Reuters Staff/Reuters/Newscom
here: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
here: dpa picture alliance/Alamy Stock Photo
here: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
ALSO BY BILL O’REILLY
Killing Lincoln
Killing Kennedy
Killing Jesus
Killing Patton
Killing Reagan
Killing the Rising Sun
Killing England
Killing the SS
Old School
Legends and Lies: The Civil War
Legends and Lies: The Patriots
Legends and Lies: The Real West
Pinheads and Patriots
A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity
Culture Warrior
The O’Reilly Factor
Who’s Looking Out for You?
Keep It Pithy
Those Who Trespass
The No Spin Zone
Hitler’s Last Days
Lincoln’s Last Days
The Day the World Went Nuclear
The Day the President Was Shot
Kennedy’s Last Days
The Last Days of Jesus
Give Please a Chance
Kids Are Americans Too
The O’Reilly Factor for Kids
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BILL O’REILLY is a trailblazing TV journalist who has experienced unprecedented success on cable news and in writing fifteen national number one bestselling nonfiction books. (There are currently more than seventeen million books in the Killing series in print.) Mr. O’Reilly does a daily podcast on BillOReilly.com. Also, his daily radio program, The O’Reilly Update, is heard on hundreds of stations across the country. He lives on Long Island. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Foreword
Part I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Part II
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Part III
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Notes
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Illustration Credits
Also by Bill O’Reilly
About the Author
Copy
right
THE UNITED STATES OF TRUMP: HOW THE PRESIDENT REALLY SEES AMERICA. Copyright © 2019 by Bill O’Reilly. All rights reserved. For information, address Henry Holt and Co., 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.henryholt.com
Cover design by Rick Pracher
Cover photograph © Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019948930
e-ISBN 9781250237217
First Edition: September 2019
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.