“Frankly, We Did Win This Election”: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost
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I’ve never attempted anything remotely approaching the scale of this project, and it unfolded amid circumstances I wouldn’t have believed even if Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted “Theodore” Logan would have snatched me from the streets of Washington in the summer of 2019, when I first considered writing this book, and brought me in their time-traveling telephone booth to the horrors that lay ahead in 2020. The pandemic wreaked havoc on all of our daily lives and routines, and I repeatedly considered abandoning this project in the face of the unexpected upheaval and chaos. Instead, I pushed ahead. I had thought about writing a book at different points in my career, and it seemed improbable that it would ever happen if I didn’t try after five years of covering Trump, who has been the most fascinating political story of my lifetime. But I’ve struggled to come to terms with the fallout from my choice. I am so sorry that during this already troubled time I’ve been the source of additional stress to the humans I love most. Not a day passed that I wasn’t filled with some combination of overwhelming guilt and humbling appreciation that my family believed in me enough to assume many of my responsibilities and help ease some of my burden at a time when they were already shouldering too much of their own. I hope my family has enjoyed these pages. This book exists because of them. And it’s for them that every word here was written.
That dedication begins first and mostly with Ashley. The countless nights and weekends she cleared for me by buying groceries, cooking dinners, paying bills, potty training the baby, and making sure both girls were safe and fed and at running and soccer and gymnastics practices—and on time, too!—is a load I never should have put on her and a debt I will never fully be able to repay.1 For that, I apologize. She did it while she worked two high-pressure jobs—and thrived at both—and while she pedaled a Peloton, finished a Shamrockin’ Run, coordinated our summer, maintained all of her friendships, and found me nearby office space to rent so she could, as it turned out, kick me out of our bedroom/pandemic office/cycling studio. She read and reread chapters for me and improved them every time. Her handling of huge changes these past few years has been heroic and inspiring. I am exceptionally lucky and endlessly thankful to have her guidance, her support, and, most of all, her love.
The heaviest price I paid while writing this book has been time lost with my two daughters, who fill me with joy just by climbing through a bumblebee jungle gym or running across a softball diamond. Zoe, my ten-year-old peanut, handled the dual challenges of a distracted father and twelve months of online elementary school—sandwiched around two months of a locked-down summer—with more generosity and grace than many adults. Nothing encouraged me to finish more than the little note she Scotch-taped to my desk lamp telling me that she knew I could do it. Mazarine bean, my two-year-old, updated me on everything I missed and asked only for tickles in return—and occasional visits to my “office house.” The organizing principle of my life is that these two girls, someday, will be half as proud of me as I am of them.
I’m blessed to have the world’s best mom. Elisa Bender drove halfway across the country in the middle of a pandemic when I needed her help, didn’t blink when my chaos greeted her as soon as she stepped through the front door, and did it all over again in my final scramble to meet my deadline. Both girls were always thrilled to find out about an upcoming weekend with my dad, Mike Bender, and his partner, Peg Drew, both of whom also pitched in during the crucial final days. I was lucky to have their help. My in-laws, Betty Parker and Justine Parker, constantly interrupted their own lives to find ways to provide support: making almond milk for Mazzy, reading her books, playing with Norman the gorilla, and putting her to bed. The unequivocal welcome Bruce Parker extended to me when I joined his family was a gift that continues to resonate today. Bruce unfortunately was unable to put a red pen to this manuscript, but he will be proud to know that his eldest daughter inherited his exacting editing skills.
My sisters and brothers-in-law kept me encouraged with constant texts, calls, and care packages: Courtney Bender, Sarah Bender, Monique and Romilly Taylor, Emily and Mike Iuzzilino, Alexandra and Freddy Hunt, and Jordan and Brandon Sandmann. Thank you all so very much. Thank you to Gigi and Papa—my endlessly clever grandmother and loving grandfather—for a lifetime of support.
A special thank-you to Marty Bacon and the entire Bacon family, who winterized the family river house so I could have a quiet place for reporting and writing, and to Norma for sharing her leftovers on the deck. Pop welcomed my family like we’d always been a part of his, and I’m forever grateful that the rest of the Bacons picked up that mantle.
Roberta Cummings isn’t technically family, but a loving nanny feels like one in every sense of the word—and Roberta is the absolute greatest. We literally would not have survived without you, Roberta. Thanks to Henry Gelinas and Callum Czin for being such sweet little boys.
And while Bill and Ted never found me, Matt and Keith did. Javelin uber-agents Matt Latimer and Keith Urbahn provided advice, resources, and encouragement that finished this book. Sean Desmond, the publisher at Twelve, recognized potential in this project from the start and carried it to completion with savvy professionalism and sharp editorial guidance.
A very special thank you to Genevieve Smith, who provided invaluable edits along the way. This book was immeasurably improved by her attention to detail and organization. It’s no surprise that she’s one of the best editors at New York magazine—and in publishing, generally. I learned so much about writing and reporting from her.
Thank you to Julie Tate for her careful read of the manuscript, and her support and encouragement along the way; Bob Castillo at Twelve for his round-the-clock work to get this book printed; Reagan Schmidt provided sharp and concise research assistance; Dylan Colligan and Khang Dang at Javelin for help with the source notes; Lissa Ryan Photography for the author shot for the book jacket; and Jarrod Taylor for the inspired cover design.
I spent the final months writing this book literally from inside a therapist’s office, a space that was unironically provided by Melissa Kilbride after the pandemic suspended in-person consultations for her practice.
A posthumous note of gratitude to the great John Homans, the once-in-a-generation magazine editor who left a legion of admirers with indelible memories and writing lessons. I was lucky enough to work with John at Bloomberg News, and I could hear his encouragement and excitement whenever I scored a fun anecdote or managed to turn a phrase.
Thank you also to Sasha Issenberg for sharing invaluable and endless wisdom about the book industry and the joys and travails of the writing process. Thank you to everyone who read pages, offered consultations, or provided additional support to finish this book, including Rebecca Ballhaus, Nick Corasaniti, Sopan Deb, Reid Epstein, Carrie Frye, John Heilemann, John Kelly, Alex Leary, Jon Lemire, Ted Mann, Phil Mattingly, Mike Nizza, Andrew Restuccia, Andrew Rice, Phil Rucker, Michael Schmidt, and Eli Stokols.
This project wouldn’t have been possible without the support and opportunities provided to me by the Wall Street Journal. A special thank-you to Matt Murray, Karen Miller Pensiero, Paul Beckett, and Ben Pershing for the time and space to finish this project. Thank you to my Trump World teammates, past and present, whose relentless reporting skills, graceful writing, and unmatched collegiality have made the past five years so memorable. Their wisdom and insights are reflected in this book from the first page to the last: Rebecca Ballhaus, Alex Leary, Catherine Lucey, Gordon Lubold, Andrew Restuccia, Vivian Salama, Louise Radnofsky, Ted Mann, Carol Lee, Peter Nicholas, Damian Paletta, Eli Stokols, Reid Epstein, Janet Hook, and Beth Reinhard. Additional thanks to my generous colleagues from the newspaper’s 2020 campaign reporters and Congress team: Siobhan Hughes, Kristina Peterson, Byron Tau, Lindsay Wise, Julie Bykowicz, Dante Chinni, Eliza Collins, Alexa Corse, Chad Day, Emily Glazer, Josh Jamerson, Tim Hanrahan, John McCormick, Madeleine Ngo, Tarini Parti, Sabrina Siddiqui, Emily Stephenson, Ken Thomas, and Aaron Zitner. An individual thank-you-and-apology combo to Andy Duehren
for getting dragged into the Hunter saga. And finally, my eternal gratitude to Jeanne Cummings and Jerry Seib, who adopted me into this strange and wonderful family in 2016.
Thank you to my White House press corps colleagues, whose relentless reporting, lively writing, and unmatched contributions to journalism I continue to strive to match, including Yamiche Alcindor, Peter Baker, Julie Davis, Josh Dawsey, Anne Gearan, Maggie Haberman, Steve Holland, Jennifer Jacobs, Weijia Jiang, Jonathan Karl, Annie Karni, Jon Lemire, Zeke Miller, Doug Mills, Sara Murray, Tolu Olorunnipa, Abby Phillip, Steven Portnoy, Maeve Reston, Katie Rogers, Phil Rucker, Justin Sink, Jonathan Swan, Katy Tur, and Cecilia Vega.
I’m proud to have had a newspaper career that started with a community paper that allowed me to write about people I’d have to face the next day in the grocery store, in the neighborhood, or inside the county commission building. Thank you to the journalists at the Dayton Daily News; the Daily Sentinel in Grand Junction, Colorado; the Palm Beach Post; the Tampa Bay Times; and Bloomberg News who gave me a chance to prove myself, put their faith in me when I needed a second chance, and made me a better reporter often in spite of myself: Bill Hershey, Vince McKelvey, Mike Wagner, Denny Herzog, Marc Masferrer, Rachel Sauer, Shannon Joyce Neal, Alex Taylor, Marija Vader, Tim Harty, Gary Harmon, Mike Wiggins, Bob Silbernagel, Zack Barnett, Bob Kretschman, Ted Taylor, Paul Blythe, Glenn Henderson, Brian Crowley, Dara Kam, Holly Baltz, S.V. Dáte, Amy Hollyfield, Steve Bousquet, Neil Brown, Adam Smith, Joni James, Stephanie Garry Garfunkel, Tia Mitchell, Janet Scherberger, Mary Ellen Klaus, Marc Caputo, Pati Mazzei, Joe Follick, Susan Goldberg, Steve Merelman, Josh Tyrangiel, Wes Kosova, Josh Green, Cesca Antonelli, Mike Tackett, Laura Litvan, Justin Blum, Josh Gallu, Julia Goldman, Nick Johnston, Lisa Lerer, David Lynch, Mark Niquette, Jim Rowley, Mike Shepard, Del Wilber, Craig Gordon, and Jon Allen.
Thank you to the families who formed a pandemic school pod that gave our girls a social outlet during online classes: Chuck and Renu Schmoyer, Matt Felix and Carrie Pugh, and especially Zoe’s mom, Margot Susca, and her partner, Warren Stern, who graciously covered my pod shifts and have always provided Zoe with another loving home.
Special thanks to Whitman ballers Kat Bozarth and Catherine Kennedy; the Wednesday night Penn Zoom gang, including Nina Gribetz, Michelle Price, Emily Ruda, Alison Silber, and Karen Silverman; also Kasie Hunt, Matt Rivera, Rachel Streitfeld, Tim Runfola, Phil Rucker, the entire Washington Post family, and everyone else who extended their time and bottomless generosity to our family during this project.
To Saundra, Libby, Randal’s family and friends, and all the other Front Row Joes who were inspired to become politically active for the first time in their lives: Thank you for entrusting me with your stories. My life is richer and my Trump reporting is fuller for knowing you all.
To all of the men and women inside Trump World who I cannot name here, thank you for sharing your accounts of the decision-making process for the past five years and especially the 2020 campaign. Your help and patience during long phone calls and multiple meetings—and constant follow-up questions—were invaluable contributions to tell the full story of this historic campaign.
Footnote
1 But her habitual list-making makes me think she’s got a few ideas for where I should start.
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Source Notes
This book emerged from five years of reporting on President Trump, his administration, and both of his campaigns for the Wall Street Journal and, previously, Bloomberg News. It draws most heavily from exclusive interviews, many recorded, with more than 150 White House officials, administration officials, campaign staff, outside advisers to the president, friends, and other firsthand witnesses to the events and conversations that have been re-created in these pages. Many were patient and kind enough to endure several hours of interviews in multiple sessions, and several shared emails, texts, pictures, calendar items, and internal campaign and White House documents that were relevant to the discussion. I also leaned heavily on numerous websites and Twitter feeds to track down times, dates, and quotes, including Factbase, Right Side Broadcasting, and the Trump Twitter Archive.
In addition, I drew from the following published and broadcast sources in each chapter:
Prologue
Michael C. Bender. “‘It’s Kind of Like an Addiction’: On the Road with Trump’s Rally Diehards.” Wall Street Journal, 6 September 2019.
Chapter 1. Battle Creek
Natalie Andrews and Andrew Duehren. “Pelosi Announces Impeachment Inquiry of President Trump.” Wall Street Journal, 25 September 2019.
Michael C. Bender. “Trump Team Bets Impeachment Will Backfire on Democrats.” Wall Street Journal, 26 September 2019.
Will Steakin and Rachel Scott. “Trump Campaign Turns Impeachment Inquiry into Fundraising Bonanza.” ABC News, 25 September 2019.
Max Greenwood. “Trump Campaign, RNC Raise $154M in Fourth Quarter of 2019.” The Hill, 3 January 2020.
“Party Breakdown—117th Congress.” U.S. House of Representatives Press Gallery.
“Casualty List—117th Congress.” U.S. House of Representatives Press Gallery.
@realDonaldTrump (Donald J. Trump). “Well said, Brian!” Twitter, 18 December 2019, 7:11 a.m. Trump Twitter Archive.
@realDonaldTrump (Donald J. Trump). “Can you believe that I will be impeached today by the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, AND I DID NOTHING WRONG!” Twitter, 18 December 2019, 7:34 a.m.
@realDonaldTrump (Donald J. Trump). “SUCH ATROCIOUS LIES BY THE RADICAL LEFT, DO NOTHING DEMOCRATS. THIS IS AN ASSAULT ON AMERICA, AND AN ASSAULT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!!!!” Twitter, 18 December 2019, 12:44 p.m.
“The History Place—Great Speeches Collection: Bill Clinton Speech I Am Profoundly Sorry.” History Place, 11 December 1998.
Chapter 2. The Forty-Year Itch
Arnold Braeske. “Backed by the Body, the Donald May Muscle His Way into the Ring.” Star-Ledger, 14 September 1999.
Marylin Bender. “The Empire and Ego of Donald Trump.” New York Times, 7 August 1983.
Callum Borchers. “The Amazing Story of Donald Trump’s Old Spokesman, John Barron—Who Was Actually Donald Trump Himself.” Washington Post, 13 May 2016.
William Geist. “The Expanding Empire of Donald Trump.” New York Times, 8 April 1984.
David Segal. “Mover, Shaker, and Cranky Caller?” Washington Post, 25 August 2007.
Thomas Edsall. “The Lobbyist in the Gray Flannel Suit.” Campaign Stops, 14 May 2012.
John Taylor. “Trump Princess: Inside Donald Trump’s Lavish 86 Metre Superyacht.” Boat International, 2 November 2020.
Lisa Gutierrez. “How Donald Trump Finally Decided to Run for President after Nearly 30 Years of Just Talk.” Kansas City, 31 July 2015.
Michael Kruse. “The True Story of Donald Trump’s First Campaign Speech—in 1987.” Politico Magazine, 5 February 2016.
Bruce Bartlett. “Can Anyone Trump This Goofy Tax Plan?” Wall Street Journal, 16 November 1999.
Matt Lauer. “Interview: Donald Trump Discusses Possible Run for President.” Today Show, 8 October 1999.
“Trump a Presidential Candidate? Don’t Bet against It—Noted Developer Isn’t Ruling It Out.” Charleston Gazette via New York Times, 26 September 1999.
“Florida Affirmative Action.” Hannity & Colmes, Fox News, 12 November 1999.
Adam Nagourney. “Reform Bid Said to Be a No-Go for Trump.” New York Times, 14 February 2000.
Donald Trump. “Democracy in Action.” CPAC 2011, 10 February 2011, Orlando, Florida.
Igor Bobic and Sam Stein. “How CPAC Helped Launch Donald Trump’s Political Career.” HuffPost, 22 February 2017.
Maggie Haberman. “CPAC to Trump: You’re Hired!” Politico, 11 February 2011.
Goldman, Russell. “‘Birthers’ Mark President’s Birthday by Claiming H
e Was Born in Kenya.” ABC News, 4 August 2009.
trumprulezdotcom. “Donald Trump on the View 03/23/2011 Trump Wants to See Obama’s Birth Certificate.” YouTube, 25 March 2011.
“Talking Points Memo and Top Story.” The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News, 24 March 2011.
“Great American Panel.” Hannity, Fox News, 24 March 2011.
“Analysis With Jedediah Bila, Bob Beckel.” Hannity, Fox News, 25 March 2011.
“Donald Trump Sits Down with Bill O’Reilly.” Fox News, 30 March 2011.
Paul Steinhauser. “CNN Poll: Still No Front-Runner in the Battle for the GOP Nomination.” CNN, 5 May 2011.
Andrew Wallenstein. “NBC Overhauls Sked with 12 New Skeins.” Variety, 15 May 2011.
Karen Tumulty and Nia-Malika Henderson. “Donald Trump Says He Won’t Run for President in 2012.” Washington Post, 17 May 2011.
TreasuryDirect. “Monthly Statements, 2017.” U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Ashley Parker and Steve Eder. “Inside the Six Weeks Donald Trump Was a Nonstop ‘Birther.’” New York Times, 2 July 2016.
“Jeb Bush, R” OpenSecrets.org. Center for Responsive Politics.
Monica Langley. “Donald Trump Says Campaign Not in Crisis, and There Is ‘Zero Chance I’ll Quit.’” Wall Street Journal, 8 October 2016.
Michael C. Bender, Rebecca Ballhaus, and Alex Leary. “Never Mind Those Tweets, Trump’s 2020 Re-Election Team Wants Order and Discipline.” Wall Street Journal, 14 June 2019.
“Excerpts: Donald Trump’s Interview with Wall Street Journal.” Wall Street Journal, 25 July 2017.