NOTES

EPIGRAPHS

“Our politics, religion, news”: Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (Penguin Books, 1985).

“From this day forward”: Donald J. Trump, “Remarks of President Donald J. Trump—as Prepared for Delivery” (Inaugural Address, January 20, 2017), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/the-inaugural-address/.

“If you asked Babe Ruth”: Eric Dash, “The Midas Touch, with Spin on It,” New York Times, September 8, 2004, https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/08/business/the-midas-touch-with-spin-on-it.html.

“We are all enrolled”: Tom Toles, “We Are All Enrolled in Trump University Now,” Washington Post, November 11, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2016/11/11/we-are-all-enrolled-in-trump-university-now/.

“A certain grasp”: Carl Von Clausewitz, Michael Eliot Howard, and Peter Paret, On War (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008), 608, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=390520.

CHAPTER 1

“Mr. President: Are you sending”: “Trump Says ‘We’ll See’ about Increasing Troop Levels in Afghanistan,” CBS News, July 20, 2017, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-says-well-see-about-increasing-troop-levels-in-afghanistan/.

“We’ll see”: CBS News, “Troop Levels.”

Bannon, a voluble ringmaster: “The Turbulent Story of Steve Bannon—Video Profile,” Guardian, August 18, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2016/nov/15/stephen-bannon-and-the-alt-right-in-the-white-house-video-explainer.

“By reading, you learn”: Geoffrey Ingersoll, “General James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis Email about Being ‘Too Busy to Read’ Is a Must-Read,” Business Insider, May 9, 2013, https://www.businessinsider.com/viral-james-mattis-email-reading-marines-2013-5.

Bannon kept a dog-eared: Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, Unrestricted Warfare (Beijing: PLA Literature and Arts, 1999), http://www.c4i.org/unrestricted.pdf.

Bannon gave a copy: Alan Rappeport, “A China Hawk Gains Prominence as Trump Confronts Xi on Trade,” New York Times, November 30, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/us/politics/trump-china-trade-xi-michael-pillsbury.html.

vision du monde: “Watch Steve Bannon Explain How He Sees the World,” excerpt from Frontline, “Bannon’s War” episode, aired May 23, 2017, https://youtu.be/P8zPZRxAC_Y.

fight to seize Baghdad: Paul Szoldra, “Trump’s Cabinet Is Starting to Look Like the Staff of One of the Most Storied Units of the Iraq War,” Business Insider, December 7, 2016, https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-marine-general-picks-iraq-war-2016-12.

In 1987, Trump: For more on this point, see Jacob M. Schlesinger, “Trump Forged His Ideas on Trade in the 1980s—and Never Deviated,” Wall Street Journal, November 15, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-forged-his-ideas-on-trade-in-the-1980sand-never-deviated-1542304508.

“ripping us off”: Jim Tankersley and Mark Landler, “Trump’s Love for Tariffs Began in Japan’s ’80s Boom,” New York Times, May 15, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/15/us/politics/china-trade-donald-trump.html.

quarter of global output: Robbie Gramer, “Infographic: Here’s How the Global GDP Is Divvied Up,” Foreign Policy, February 24, 2017, https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/24/infographic-heres-how-the-global-gdp-is-divvied-up/.

2 percent of their GDP: Christina Wilkie, “Trump Is Pushing NATO Allies to Spend More on Defense. But So Did Obama and Bush,” CNBC, July 11, 2018, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/11/obama-and-bush-also-pressed-nato-allies-to-spend-more-on-defense.html.

Of the twenty-nine countries: “The US Spent $686 Billion on Defense Last Year—Here’s How the Other NATO Countries Stack Up,” CNBC, July 6, 2018, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/03/nato-spending-2017.html.

spent around $250 billion: Michael E. O’Hanlon, “Permit (Part of) Trump’s Defense Buildup Without Blowing Up the Deficit,” Brookings (blog), January 31, 2018, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2018/01/31/permit-trumps-defense-buildup-without-blowing-up-the-deficit/.

spent around $700 billion: Robert Burns “A Pentagon Budget Like None Before: $700 Billion,” Military Times, February 11, 2018, https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/02/11/a-pentagon-budget-like-none-before-700-billion/.

Tillerson considered Trump: “Rex Tillerson Reflects on Firing, Working for ‘Undisciplined’ Trump,” CBS News, December 7, 2018, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rex-tillerson-bob-schieffer-interview-houston-firing-trump-tweet-tillerson-insult-2018-12-07/.

190,000 American soldiers: Gen. Mark A. Milley, 2017 Posture Statement of the U.S. Army, February 2016, https://www.army.mil/article/163561/2017_posture_statement_of_the_us_army.

“Steve, that was spectacular”: Cliff Sims, Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2019), 154.

CHAPTER 2

“Well, I don’t have: Author interview with Barack Obama, April 28, 2016.

“He doesn’t have”: Andrew Kacyznski and Nathaniel Meyersohn, “Trump in Crazy 2011 Interview: ‘I’m Very Proud’ to Be a Birther,” BuzzFeed News, September 21, 2016, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/andrewkaczynski/trump-in-crazy-2011-interview-im-very-proud-to-be-a-birther.

“I wouldn’t believe Donald Trump”: “It’s Leona’s Turn in Playboy—Donald Is a ‘Skunk,’” Associated Press, September 21, 1990, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-21-ca-959-story.html.

Muslim Americans polled: “American Attitudes: Immigration, Civil Rights, Surveillance, Profiling, and Hate Crimes,” Zogby Analytics, 2017, https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/aai/pages/12479/attachments/original/1501521073/Poll__7-2017.pdf?1501521073.

Another poll, from 2015: Peter Schroeder, “Poll: 43 Percent of Republicans Believe Obama Is a Muslim,” The Hill, September 13, 2015, https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/253515-poll-43-percent-of-republicans-believe-obama-is-a-muslim.

no evidence for this: “Trump ‘Wrong’ in Claiming US Arabs Cheered 9/11 Attacks,” BBC News, November 23, 2015, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34902748.

Clinton proposed a robust: For an account of this episode, see Mark Landler, Alter Egos: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and the Twilight Struggle Over American Power (New York: Penguin Random House, 2016), 208–212.

Wall Street Journal-NBC News: Lucy McCalmont, “Poll: Beheading News Makes Impact,” Politico, September 9, 2014, https://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/poll-james-foley-isil-110783.

campaign rally in Iowa: “Trump: I’d Bomb the Sh-*t Out of Isis,” https://www.facebook.com/cnn/videos/10154213275786509.

“total and complete shutdown”: Ed Pilkington, “Donald Trump: Ban All Muslims Entering US,” Guardian, December 7, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/07/donald-trump-ban-all-muslims-entering-us-san-bernardino-shooting.

“putting our troops”: Ed Pilkington, “Donald Trump: Ban All Muslims Entering US,” Guardian, December 7, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/07/donald-trump-ban-all-muslims-entering-us-san-bernardino-shooting.

“We wanted none”: Corey Lewandowski and David N. Bossie, Let Trump Be Trump: The Inside Story of His Rise to the Presidency (New York: Center Street, 2017), 97.

Polling in early 2016: Murtaza Hussain, “Majority of Americans Now Support Trump’s Proposed Muslim Travel Ban, Poll Shows,” The Intercept, March 30, 2016, https://theintercept.com/2016/03/30/majority-of-americans-now-support-trumps-proposed-muslim-ban-poll-shows/.

“We must be smart!”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism. . . . ,” Twitter, June 12, 2016, 12:43 pm, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/742034549232766976.

sixty-five thousand Syrian refugees: Rebecca Kaplan, “Hillary Clinton: U.S. Should Take 65,000 Syrian Refugees,” Face the Nation, CBS, September 2015, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinton-u-s-should-take-65000-syrian-refugees/.

“ISIS will hand her”: Ivan Levingston, “Trump: ISIS Will Give Clinton MVP Award, ‘Her Only Competition Is Barack Obama,’” CNBC, August 11, 2016, https://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/11/trump-isis-will-give-clinton-mvp-award-her-only-competition-is-barack-obama.html.

During the presidential campaign: Peter Eavis, “There’s a Disconnect in Americans’ Worry About Terrorism,” New York Times, June 15, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/16/upshot/theres-a-disconnect-in-americans-worry-about-terrorism.html.

“Never Trump” movement: Scott Detrow, “‘Never Trump’ Campaign Launches Last-Ditch Effort to Stop Nomination,” All Things Considered, NPR, July 13, 2016, https://www.npr.org/2016/07/13/485895835/opposition-forces-prepare-last-ditch-effort-to-thwart-donald-trump.

Signatories to the letter: “Open Letter on Donald Trump from GOP National Security Leaders,” War on the Rocks, March 2, 2016, https://warontherocks.com/2016/03/open-letter-on-donald-trump-from-gop-national-security-leaders/.

Kellogg had commanded: Alan Yuhas, “Keith Kellogg: Who Is Trump’s Acting National Security Adviser?,” Guardian, February 14, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/14/keith-kellogg-who-is-trumps-acting-national-security-adviser-.

Papadopoulos had highlighted: Missy Ryan and Steven Mufson, “One of Trump’s Foreign Policy Advisers Is a 2009 College Grad Who Lists Model UN as a Credential,” Washington Post, March 22, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/03/21/meet-the-men-shaping-donald-trumps-foreign-policy-views/.

one of nine children: Associated Press, “Michael Flynn Returns to Beach Town Where He Grew Up Surfing,” CBS News, July 17, 2017, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-flynn-returns-to-beach-town-where-he-grew-up-surfing/.

Flynn used to joke: Author interview with Michael Flynn, 2014.

out-of-the-box thinker: Michael T. Flynn and Michael Ledeen, The Field of Fight: How We Can Win the Global War against Radical Islam and Its Allies (New York: St. Martin’s, 2016), 16–17.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq: This paragraph draws on Stanley McChrystal, My Share of the Task: A Memoir (New York: Portfolio/Penguin, 2013).

Rolling Stone reporter: Michael Hastings, “The Runaway General: The Profile That Brought Down McChrystal,” Rollling Stone, June 22, 2010, https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/the-runaway-general-the-profile-that-brought-down-mcchrystal-192609/.

The Flynn brothers were watching: James Kitfield, Twilight Warriors: The Soldiers, Spies, and Special Agents Who Are Revolutionizing the American Way of War (New York: Basic Books, 2016), 234–235.

accepted McChrystal’s resignation: David Gura, “Obama Accepts McChrystal’s Resignation, Appoints Petraeus as His Replacement,” NPR, June 23, 2010, https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/06/23/128048080/president-obama-makes-statement-about-mcchrystal-meeting.

rare night off in Paris: McChrystal, My Share of the Task, 384.

Flynn was a registered Democrat: Krishnadev Calamur, “Donald Trump’s Choice for National Security Adviser Has One Priority: Combatting ‘Radical Islamic Terrorism,’” The Atlantic, November 18, 2016, https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2016/11/michael-flynn-trum-national-security-adviser/508115/.

seventeen thousand employees: P. W. Singer and Emerson T. Brooking, LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media (Boston: Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018).

orchestrated by Iran: Peter Bergen, “The Mystery of Mike Flynn,” CNN, December 18, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/05/opinions/mystery-of-michael-flynns-fall-from-grace-bergen/index.html.

coin the term “Flynn facts”: Bergen. “The Mystery of Mike Flynn.”

releasing those documents: Flynn and Ledeen, The Field of Fight, 5.

a “jayvee” team: David Remnick, “Going the Distance: On and off the Road with Barack Obama,” New Yorker, January 19, 2014, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/01/27/going-the-distance-david-remnick.

on February 11, 2014: “Clapper, Flynn Testify Al-Qaeda Not on ‘Path to Defeat,’” video excerpt from US Armed Services Committee Meeting SD-G50, “Current and Future Worldwide Threats,” February 11, 2014, https://www.inhofe.senate.gov/news/video-and-audio/view/clapper-flynn-testify-al-qaeda-not-on-path-to-defeat.

CNN’s Evan Perez asked Flynn: Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, “The Global Threat Picture as the Defense Intelligence Agency Sees It,” interview by Evan Perez, Aspen Institute Homeland Security Program 2014, July 26, 2014, http://aspensecurityforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/The-Global-Threat-Picture-as-DIA-Sees-It.pdf.

morale at the agency: James R. Clapper and Trey Brown, Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence (New York: Viking, 2018), 330.

terror was largely over: Flynn and Ledeen, The Field of Fight, 4.

country was heading: Dana Priest, “Trump Adviser Michael T. Flynn on His Dinner with Putin and Why Russia Today Is Just Like CNN,” Washington Post, August 15, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/08/15/trump-adviser-michael-t-flynn-on-his-dinner-with-putin-and-why-russia-today-is-just-like-cnn/.

he wasn’t paid by the Russians: Zack Beauchamp, “It Sure Seems Like Michael Flynn Lied to Federal Investigators about His Russia Ties,” Vox, May 22, 2017, https://www.vox.com/world/2017/5/22/15678186/michael-flynn-investigators-cummings.

paid Flynn $33,750: Ken Dilanian, “Russians Paid Mike Flynn $45K for Moscow Speech, Documents Show,” NBC News, March 16, 2017, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/russians-paid-mike-flynn-45k-moscow-speech-documents-show-n734506.

RT was similar to CNN: Priest, “Trump Adviser Michael T. Flynn.”

“threat they pose against us”: Jason Russell, “Excerpts from Monday Night’s Speeches,” Washington Examiner, July 18, 2016, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/excerpts-from-monday-nights-speeches-including-willie-robertson-sheriff-clarke-and-joni-ernst.

“Get fired up!”: Michael Flynn Leads ‘Lock Her Up’ Chant at 2016 RNC,” 2016 Republican National Convention, accessed July 30, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx94428MYcc.

“Lock her up, that’s right!”: “Michael Flynn Leads ‘Lock Her Up’ Chant at 2016 RNC.”

The Field of Fight: Flynn and Ledeen, The Field of Fight, 2–4, 8, 159, 164.

gripped by conspiracy theories: Bergen, “The Mystery of Mike Flynn.”

I have personally seen: Andrew Kacyznski, “Michael Flynn Once Claimed Arabic Signs on Southern Border Guide ‘radicalized Muslims’ into US,” CNN, December 9, 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/08/politics/kfile-michael-flynn-arabic-signs-on-border/index.html.

Comet Ping Pong pizzeria: “Incoming National Security Adviser’s Son Spreads Fake News about D.C. Pizza Shop,” Politico, December 4, 2016, https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/incoming-national-security-advisers-son-spreads-fake-news-about-dc-pizza-shop-232181.

“intel on this wasn’t 100 percent: Matthew Haag and Maya Salam, “Gunman in ‘Pizzagate’ Shooting Is Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison,” New York Times, January 22, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/22/us/pizzagate-attack-sentence.html.

“until #Pizzagate proven”: Michael Flynn Jr. (@mflynnJR), “Until #Pizzagate Proven to Be False, It’ll Remain a Story. The Left Seems to Forget #PodestaEmails and the Many ‘Coincidences’ Tied to It.,” Twitter via Internet Archive Wayback Machine, December 4, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20161205032236/https://twitter.com/mflynnJR/status/805611056009768960.

This proved too much: Matthew Rosenberg, Maggie Haberman, and Eric Schmitt, “Trump Fires Adviser’s Son from Transition for Spreading Fake News,” New York Times, December 6, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/us/politics/michael-flynn-son-trump.html.

glorified clip job: Andrew Reynolds, “Stop Calling Him ‘Dr.’: The Academic Fraud of Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s Terrorism ‘Expert,’” Haaretz, April 27, 2017, https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/the-academic-fraud-of-trumps-terrorism-expert-1.5465216.

Understanding Terror Networks: Marc Sageman, Understanding Terror Networks (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004).

Marine Corps University: “Sebastian Gorka Ph.D.—Nationally Syndicated Radio Show Host of AMERICA First on the SALEM Radio Network” LinkedIn, n.d., https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastian-gorka-ph-d-0a86a35.

a major Republican donor: Greg Jaffe, “For a Trump Adviser, an Odyssey from the Fringes of Washington to the Center of Power,” Washington Post, February 20, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/for-a-trump-adviser-an-odyssey-from-the-fringes-of-washington-to-the-center-of-power/2017/02/20/0a326260-f2cb-11e6-b9c9-e83fce42fb61_story.html.

It later emerged that Saunders: Jaffe, “Odyssey.”

soon to be radicalized: Spencer Ackerman, “FBI Fired Sebastian Gorka for Anti-Muslim Diatribes,” Daily Beast, July 10, 2017, https://www.thedailybeast.com/fbi-fired-sebastian-gorka-for-anti-muslim-diatribes.

he was paid $8,000: Jacey Fortin, “Who Is Sebastian Gorka? A Trump Adviser Comes Out of the Shadows,” New York Times, February 17, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/17/us/politics/dr-sebastian-gorka.html.

Gorka’s book, Defeating Jihad: Sebastian Gorka, Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2016).

“a direct existential threat”: Gorka, Defeating Jihad, 41, 120.

fighting an “ideological war”: Bill Gertz, “For White House Counterterror Adviser, Media Attacks Are Latest Theater of Battle,” Washington Free Beacon, February 27, 2017, https://freebeacon.com/national-security/white-house-counterterror-adviser-media-attacks-latest-theater-battle/.

frequent appearances on TV: Jack Miles, “With His Power Unchecked, Michael Flynn Could Lead Trump Into War with Iran,” HuffPost, February 1, 2017, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/flynn-trump-iran_b_5890fbcee4b0522c7d3dba76; Fortin, “Who Is Sebastian Gorka?”; Pamela Engel, “Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s Combative New National Security Aide, Is Widely Disdained within His Own Field,” Business Insider, February 22, 2017, https://www.businessinsider.com/sebastian-gorka-trump-bio-profile-2017-2.

Obama responded to this: “Obama on ISIS,” Wilson Center, August 5, 2016, https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/obama-isis.

forty-five thousand ISIS fighters: Kristina Wong, “General: 45,000 ISIS Fighters Killed in Two Years,” The Hill, August 11, 2016, https://thehill.com/policy/defense/291179-general-isis-fighters-becoming-easier-to-kill.

Also, Obama asserted: Maya Rhodan, “President Obama: Stigmatizing Muslims ‘Feeds the Terrorist Narrative,’” Time, December 6, 2016, https://time.com/4592640/president-obama-national-security-speech-muslims/.

His father, Khizr Khan, made: “Khizr Khan’s powerful DNC speech,” CNN, July 29, 2016, https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/07/29/dnc-convention-khizr-khan-father-of-us-muslim-soldier-entire-speech-sot.cnn.

joked with Howard Stern: Andrew Kaczynski, “Trump, Comparing Sex to Vietnam, Said in 1998 He Should Receive the Congressional Medal of Honor,” CNN Business, October 14, 2016, https://money.cnn.com/2016/10/14/media/trump-stern-vietnam-stds/index.html.

“look at his wife”: Steve Turnham, “Donald Trump to Father of Fallen Soldier: ‘I’ve Made a Lot of Sacrifices,’” ABC News, July 30, 2016, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-father-fallen-soldier-ive-made-lot/story?id=41015051.

TV screen at the convention: Turnham, “Donald Trump to Father.”

“thousands of jobs”: Turnham, “Donald Trump to Father.”

fifty leading Republicans: Carol Morello, “Former GOP National Security Officials: Trump Would Be ‘Most Reckless’ American President in History,” Washington Post, August 8, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/group-of-50-former-gop-national-security-officials-trump-would-be-most-reckless-president-in-american-history/2016/08/08/6715042c-5d9f-11e6-af8e-54aa2e849447_story.html.

Americans cast their votes: Chris Alcantara, Kevin Uhrmacher, and Emily Guskin, “Clinton and Trump’s Demographic Tug of War,” Washington Post, October 16, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/the-demographic-groups-fueling-the-election/.

possible commander in chief: Alan Yuhas, “Benjamin Netanyahu to Meet with Clinton and Trump on Sunday,” Guardian, September 23, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/23/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-trump-clinton-meeting.

top four issues: “Top Voting Issues in 2016 Election,” Pew Research Center, July 7, 2016, https://www.people-press.org/2016/07/07/4-top-voting-issues-in-2016-election/.

article he wrote: Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, “Our Ally Turkey Is in Crisis and Needs Our Support,” The Hill, https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/foreign-policy/305021-our-ally-turkey-is-in-crisis-and-needs-our-support.

half a million dollars: Adam K. Raymond, “Mike Flynn’s Firm Was Paid to Make a Pro-Erdogan Propaganda Film While He Advised Trump,” New York, May 31, 2017, http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/05/mike-flynns-firm-made-a-pro-erdogan-propaganda-film.html.

Syria to fight ISIS: Margaret Hartmann, “Every Shady, Possibly Illegal Thing Michael Flynn Has Been Accused Of,” New York, December 7, 2017, http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/12/every-shady-thing-michael-flynn-has-been-accused-of.html.

CHAPTER 3

“I’m going to surround”: Robert Costa, “Trump Ends Relationship with Longtime Political Adviser Roger Stone,” Washington Post, August 8, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/08/08/trump-ends-relationship-with-longtime-political-adviser-roger-stone/.

“Well, I watch the shows”: Donald J. Trump, interview by Chuck Todd, Meet the Press, NBC, August 19, 2015, https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-transcript-august-16-2015-n412636.

won the presidency: Corey Lewandowski and David N. Bossie, Let Trump Be Trump: The Inside Story of His Rise to the Presidency (New York: Center Street, 2017), 97.

planning to proceed: Chris Christie, Let Me Finish: Trump, the Kushners, Bannon, New Jersey, and the Power of In-Your-Face Politics (New York: Hachette Books, 2019), 307.

senior role in Trump’s cabinet: Christie, Let Me Finish, 258, 388.

governor Scott Walker: Christie, Let Me Finish, 339.

no plaudits in Trumpworld: Alexander Nazaryan, The Best People: Trump’s Cabinet and the Siege on Washington (New York: Hachette Books, 2019), 20.

he was being vaporized: Christie, Let Me Finish, 1–2.

convicted of witness tampering: Daniel Victor, “Chris Christie Says Jared Kushner’s Father Committed a ‘Loathsome’ Crime,” New York Times, January 30, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/30/us/politics/chris-christie-charles-kushner.html.

consigned to the garbage: Christie, Let Me Finish, 76.

‘Let’s start from scratch’: Major Garrett, Mr. Trump’s Wild Ride: The Thrills, Chills, Screams, and Occasional Blackouts of an Extraordinary Presidency (New York: All Points Books, 2018), 70.

during the campaign: Eric Bradner and Catherine Treyz, “Romney Implores: Bring Down Trump,” CNN Politics, March 3, 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/03/03/politics/mitt-romney-presidential-race-speech/index.html.

“he is the real deal”: David Greene, “Trump’s Transition Team Works Over The Weekend On Cabinet Selections,” Morning Edition, NPR, November 21, 2016, https://www.npr.org/2016/11/21/502841560/trumps-transition-team-works-over-the-weekend-on-cabinet-selections.

“I come in peace”: Thomas Ricks, “Fiasco,” Armed Forces Journal (blog), August 1, 2006, http://armedforcesjournal.com/fiasco/.

“Number one Iran”: Greg Jaffe and Adam Entous, “As a General, Mattis Urged Action against Iran. As a Defense Secretary, He May Be a Voice of Caution.,” Washington Post, January 8, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/as-a-general-mattis-urged-action-against-iran-as-a-defense-secretary-he-may-be-a-voice-of-caution/2017/01/08/5a196ade-d391-11e6-a783-cd3fa950f2fd_story.html.

hostility to Iran: Mark Perry, “James Mattis’ 33-Year Grudge gainst Iran,” Politico, December 4, 2016, https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/james-mattis-iran-secretary-of-defense-214500.

commander of Southern Command: Jerry Markon, “Trump Considering Retired General Who Clashed with Obama, Ex-Bush Official for Homeland Security,” Washington Post, November 21, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/11/21/trump-considering-retired-general-who-clashed-with-obama-ex-bush-official-for-homeland-security/.

“going into the administration”: Peter Bergen, “The General Now in Command at the White House Faces Ultimate Test,” CNN, July 30, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/07/30/opinions/john-kelly-general-in-command-at-white-house-bergen/index.html.

made up of 240,000 employees: Andrew Glass, “Homeland Security Department Begins Operations, Jan. 24, 2003,” Politico, January 24, 2019, https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/24/homeland-security-department-begins-2003-1116070.

gone to the White House: Peter L. Bergen, The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda (New York: Free Press, 2011), 280–281.

messy confirmation process: Josh Dawsey and Shane Goldmacher, “Giuliani Pulls Name from Contention for Secretary of State,” Politico, December 9, 2016, https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/giuliani-pulls-name-from-contention-for-secretary-of-state-232439.

“Just met with General Petraeus”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “Just met with General Petraeus—was very impressed!,” Twitter, November 28, 2016, 1:01 pm, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/803343150907617284.

Trump Tower to advise Bannon: Matthew Nussbaum, “Robert Gates Huddling with Trump Friday,” Politico, December 2, 2016, https://www.politico.com/blogs/donald-trump-administration/2016/12/robert-gates-meeting-with-trump-friday-232118.

$250 billion a year: Trefis Team, “How Have Exxon Mobil’s Revenues And EBITDA Changed in Recent Years?,” Forbes, May 29, 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2018/05/29/how-have-exxon-mobils-revenues-and-ebitda-changed-in-recent-years/.

on par with Pakistan: Hufsa Chaudhry, “Budget 2020: Govt Predicts 2.4pc Growth, Rs7 Trillion in Expenditures,” Dawn, June 11, 2019, https://www.dawn.com/news/1484102.

lived in Yemen: Philip Bump, “Who Is Rex Tillerson, the ExxonMobil Chairman Who May Become Secretary of State?” Washington Post, January 11, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/10/who-is-rex-tillerson-the-exxonmobil-chairman-who-may-become-secretary-of-state/.

almost two decades: Josh Rogin, “Inside Rex Tillerson’s Long Romance with Russia,” Washington Post, December 13, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2016/12/13/inside-rex-tillersons-long-romance-with-russia/.

Order of Friendship award: David Filipov, “What Is the Russian Order of Friendship, and Why Does Rex Tillerson Have One?,” Washington Post, December 13, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/12/13/what-is-the-russian-order-of-friendship-and-why-does-trumps-pick-for-secretary-of-state-have-one/.

“God’s not through with you”: Cheryl K. Chumley, “Rex Tillerson: The Man with a Mission from God,” Washington Times, March 22, 2017, https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/22/rex-tillersons-wife-see-gods-not-through-you/.

Trump transition team: Harper Neidig, “Mike Rogers Leaves Trump Transition Team,” The Hill, November 15, 2016, https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/306026-report-former-gop-rep-leaves-trump-transition-team.

retired career diplomat: Eliana Johnson, “White House Pushing Back against Mattis Appointment,” Politico, March 2, 2017, https://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/jim-mattis-appointment-white-house-pushback-anne-patterson-235633.

Trump officials and supporters: Johnson “White House Pushing Back.”

clinched the Republican nomination: Elliott Abrams, “When You Can’t Stand Your Candidate,” Weekly Standard, May 6, 2016, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/when-you-cant-stand-your-candidate.

“home in New Jersey”: “Donald Trump on Russia, Advice from Barack Obama and How He Will Lead,” Time, December 7, 2016, https://time.com/4591183/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump-interview/.

thirty-five Russian diplomats: Lauren Gambino, Sabrina Siddiqui, and Shaun Walker, “Obama Expels 35 Russian Diplomats in Retaliation for US Election Hacking,” Guardian, December 30, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/29/barack-obama-sanctions-russia-election-hack.

“give him the info”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “Julian Assange said ‘a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta’—why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!,” Twitter, January 4, 2017, 4:22 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/816620855958601730.

“political witch hunt”: Michael D. Shear and David E. Sanger, “Putin Led a Complex Cyberattack Scheme to Aid Trump, Report Finds,” New York Times, January 6, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/06/us/politics/donald-trump-wall-hack-russia.html.

secret hacking campaign: Mark Hensch, “US Caught Russian Officials Cheering Trump Win: Report,” The Hill, January 5, 2017, https://thehill.com/policy/international/russia/312961-us-caught-russian-officials-cheering-trump-win-report.

“90 days of taking office”: Jacob Pramuk, “Trump Won’t Say Whether Russia Hacked Democrats but Says Election Outcome Wasn’t Affected,” CNBC, January 6, 2017, https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/06/trump-wont-say-whether-russia-hacked-democrats-but-says-election-outcome-wasnt-affected.html.

information about Trump: Evan Perez, Jim Sciutto, Jake Tapper, and Carl Bernstein, “Intel Chiefs Presented Trump with Claims of Russian Efforts to Compromise Him,” CNN, January 12, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/10/politics/donald-trump-intelligence-report-russia/index.html.

Miller had rebelled: Lisa Mascaro, “How a Liberal Santa Monica High School Produced a Top Trump Adviser and Speechwriter,” Los Angeles Times, January 17, 2017, https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-speechwriter-santamonica-20170117-story.html.

Bannon was producing conservative: Joshua Green, Devil’s Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency (New York: Penguin Press, 2017), 65.

“I pick you, general”: Steve Benen, “Why Trump Is So Preoccupied with ‘Central Casting,’” TheMaddowBlog, MSNBC, February 28, 2017, http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/why-trump-so-preoccupied-central-casting.

“CIA’s Memorial Wall”: Ryan Browne, “Ex-CIA Chief Brennan Bashes Trump over Speech during CIA Visit,” CNN, January 22, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/21/politics/trump-to-cia-i-am-so-behind-you/index.html.

Andrew Jackson in his office: Susan B. Glasser, “The Man Who Put Andrew Jackson in Trump’s Oval Office,” Politico, January 22, 2018, http://politi.co/2mZOuHp.

seat on the NSC: Mallory Shelbourne, “Ex-Defense Secretary: Trump’s Changes to Security Council a ‘Big Mistake,’” The Hill, January 29, 2017, https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/316775-gates-big-mistake-to-remove-dni-and-chairman-of-joint-chiefs-from-nsc.

Special Initiatives Group: Julie Smith and Derek Chollet, “Bannon’s ‘Strategic Initiatives’ Cabal Inside the NSC Is Dangerous Hypocrisy,” Foreign Policy, February 1, 2017, https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/01/bannons-strategic-initiatives-cabal-inside-the-nsc-is-dangerous-hypocrisy/.

“real import to the president”: Sebastian Gorka, interview by Jake Tapper, The Lead with Jake Tapper, CNN, February 1, 2017, http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1702/01/cg.02.html.

“new sheriff in town”: Greg Jaffe, “For a Trump Adviser, an Odyssey from the Fringes of Washington to the Center of Power,” Washington Post, February 20, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/for-a-trump-adviser-an-odyssey-from-the-fringes-of-washington-to-the-center-of-power/2017/02/20/0a326260-f2cb-11e6-b9c9-e83fce42fb61_story.html?noredirect=on.

“the alpha males are back”: “Gorka: The Alpha Males Are Back on January 20th,” Fox News, December 16, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUMQ7hWpX6g.

captain in Afghanistan: Mark Landler and Jane Perlez, “A Veteran and China Hand Advises Trump for Xi’s Visit,” New York Times, April 4, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/world/asia/matthew-pottinger-trump-china.html.

publication in 2010: Matt Pottinger, Michael T. Flynn, and Paul D. Batchelor, “Fixing Intel: A Blueprint for Making Intelligence Relevant in Afghanistan” Center for a New American Security, January 4, 2010, https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/fixing-intel-a-blueprint-for-making-intelligence-relevant.

punched him in the face: Matt Pottinger, “Mightier Than the Pen,” Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2005, https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB113461636659623128.

botched rescue attempt: Barbara Starr, Jim Sciutto, and Ray Sanchez, “U.S.: Al Qaeda Kills Hostages during SEALS Raid in Yemen,” CNN, December 7, 2014, https://www.cnn.com/2014/12/06/world/meast/yemen-u-s-hostage-killed/index.html.

six women were also killed: Iona Craig, “Death in Al Ghayil: Women and Children in Yemeni Village Recall Horror of Trump’s ‘Highly Successful’ SEAL Raid,” The Intercept, March 9, 2017, https://theintercept.com/2017/03/09/women-and-children-in-yemeni-village-recall-horror-of-trumps-highly-successful-seal-raid/.

“successful operation by all standards”: “Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sean Spicer,” White House, February 2, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/press-briefing-press-secretary-sean-spicer-020217/.

video was about a decade old: Nicole Gaouette and Ryan Browne, “Military Botches Release of Video Seized in Yemen Raid,” CNN, February 3, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/03/politics/yemen-raid-videos/index.html.

refused to meet the president: Martin Pengelly, “Father of Navy Seal Killed in Yemen Calls for Investigation into ‘Stupid Mission,’” Guardian, February 26, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/26/father-navy-seal-yemen-trump-investigation-stupid-mission.

“And they lost Ryan”: Phillip Carter, “Trump Just Blamed the Military for the Botched Yemen Raid. That’s a Disgrace.,” Vox, February 28, 2017, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/2/28/14766918/trump-blame-military-yemen-seal-botched-raid-pentagon-fox.

“more victories in the future”: Maggie Penman, “In Emotional Moment of Speech, Trump Addresses Navy SEAL’s Widow,” NPR, February 28, 2017, https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/28/517849426/in-emotional-moment-of-speech-trump-addresses-navy-seals-widow.

“in that moment, period”: Jason Kurtz, “Van Jones on Trump: ‘He Became President of the United States in That Moment, Period,’” CNN, March 1, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/01/politics/van-jones-trump-congress-speech-became-the-president-in-that-moment-cnntv/index.html.

CHAPTER 4

“Above all President Johnson”: H. R. McMaster, Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam (New York: Harper Perennial, 1998), 61.

twenty-three days on the job: Greg Miller and Philip Rucker, “Michael Flynn Resigns as National Security Adviser,” Washington Post, February 14, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/michael-flynn-resigns-as-national-security-adviser/2017/02/13/0007c0a8-f26e-11e6-8d72-263470bf0401_story.html.

Mattis’s top deputy: Julie Hirschfeld Davis, “Ex-Admiral and Member of Navy SEALs Is Top Choice to Replace Flynn,” New York Times, February 14, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/14/us/politics/robert-harward-national-security-adviser.html.

Broadwell suddenly popped up: Eli Watkins, “Paula Broadwell: Petraeus Has Paid His Price, Slams ‘Double Standard,’” CNN, February 15, 2014, https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/14/politics/paula-broadwell-david-petraeus/index.html.

Trump appointed retired lieutenant general: “Vice President Mike Pence Announces Lieutenant General (Ret) Keith Kellogg as National Security Adviser,” White House, April 23, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/vice-president-mike-pence-announces-lieutenant-general-ret-keith-kellogg-national-security-adviser/ [inactive].

proclivity to call for: John R. Bolton, “To Stop Iran’s Bomb, Bomb Iran,” New York Times, March 26, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/opinion/to-stop-irans-bomb-bomb-iran.html; John Bolton, “The Legal Case for Striking North Korea First,” Wall Street Journal, February 28, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-legal-case-for-striking-north-korea-first-1519862374.

Battle of 73 Easting: H. R. McMaster, “Eagle Troop at the Battle of 73 Easting,” The Strategy Bridge, February 26, 2016, https://thestrategybridge.org/the-bridge/2016/2/26/eagle-troop-at-the-battle-of-73-easting.

“lived in abject fear”: Interview with Tresha Mabile, producer, American War Generals (National Geographic, 2014).

Rice in congressional testimony said: Iraq in U.S. Foreign Policy: Hearing before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, 109th Cong. (2005) (statement of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-109shrg27403/html/CHRG-109shrg27403.htm.

his 1997 book: McMaster, Dereliction of Duty.

instant best seller: Sarah Begley, “Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster’s Book Dereliction of Duty Rockets to Top of Best Seller List,” Time, February 22, 2017, https://time.com/4678741/hr-mcmaster-national-security-adviser-book-dereliction-duty-best-seller/.

Another NSC official McMaster sidelined: Adam Entous, “The Agonizingly Slow Downfall of K. T. McFarland,” New Yorker, January 29, 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-agonizingly-slow-downfall-of-k-t-mcfarland.

withdrew her nomination: Shane Harris, “K. T. McFarland Withdraws Nomination to Be Trump’s Ambassador to Singapore,” Washington Post, February 2, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/kt-mcfalrand-withdraws-nomination-to-be-trumps-ambassador-to-singapore/2018/02/02/8da67a02-0862-11e8-ae28-e370b74ea9a7_story.html.

only national security adviser: Stephen J. Hadley, “The Role and Importance of the National Security Advisor,” Bush School of Government & Public Service, 2017, https://bush.tamu.edu/scowcroft/papers/hadley/.

“Geographical Pivot of History”: H. J. Mackinder, “The Geographical Pivot of History,” Geographical Journal 23, no. 4 (April 1904): 421, https://doi.org/10.2307/1775498.

Trump gave his speech: Nahal Toosi, “Breaking with Bush and Obama, Trump Talks About ‘Radical Islamic Terrorism,’” Politico, February 28, 2017, https://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/donald-trump-congress-speech-radical-islamic-terrorism-235531.

Gorka tweeted triumphantly: Sebastian Gorka (@SebGorka), “After 8 years of obfuscation and disastrous Counterterrorism policies those 3 words are key to Victory against Global Jihadism.,” Twitter, March 1, 2017, 3:58 am, https://twitter.com/sebgorka/status/836908458045759488?lang=en.

Egyptian-born Dina Powell: Michael R. Gordon, “Dina Powell, Donald Trump Aide, Named to National Security Post,” New York Times, March 15, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/15/us/politics/dina-powell-donald-trump-aide-named-to-national-security-post.html.

War and the Art of Governance: Nadia Schadlow, War and the Art of Governance: Consolidating Combat Success into Political Victory (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2017).

CHAPTER 5

“For every complex problem”: “H. L. Mencken Quotes,” BrainyQuote, n.d., https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/h_l_mencken_129796.

“It’s not a Muslim ban”: “Trump Says New Order on Refugees Is Not a Muslim Ban,” Reuters, January 28, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-ban-idUSKBN15C0UY.

“love, deeply, our people”: Michael D. Shear and Helene Cooper, “Trump Bars Refugees and Citizens of 7 Muslim Countries,” New York Times, January 27, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/us/politics/trump-syrian-refugees.html.

Abdul Razak Ali Artan: Pete Williams et al., “Suspect Identified in Ohio State Attack as Abdul Razak Ali Artan,” NBC News, November 28, 2016, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/suspect-dead-after-ohio-state-university-car-knife-attack-n689076.

“yet one more tragic reminder”: Julie Hirschfeld Davis, “Donald Trump Calls Ohio State Attack a ‘Tragic Reminder’ on Immigration,” New York Times, December 8, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/08/us/politics/donald-trump-ohio-state-attack-refugee.html.

“You know my plans”: Mark Landler, “Trump Suggests Berlin Attack Affirms His Plan to Bar Muslims,” New York Times, December 21, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/21/us/politics/donald-trump-syria-policy.html.

fifteen thousand Syrian refugees: Deborah Amos, “The U.S. Has Accepted Only 11 Syrian Refugees This Year,” NPR, April 12, 2018, https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/04/12/602022877/the-u-s-has-welcomed-only-11-syrian-refugees-this-year.

nearly five million people: Danielle Paquette, “Trump’s Travel Ban on ‘Bad Dudes’ Actually Keeps out Women and Children,” Washington Post, January 30, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/01/30/president-trump-wanted-to-ban-bad-dudes-he-could-block-more-women-and-children/.

Any ISIS terrorist: Peter Bergen, “Syrian Refugees Are Not a Threat to U.S.,” CNN, November 21, 2015, https://www.cnn.com/2015/11/21/opinions/bergen-syrian-refugees-not-a-threat-to-us/index.html.

“refugees get the most scrutiny”: Peter Bergen, “Syrian Refugees Are Not a Threat to U.S.,” CNN.com, November 21, 2015, https://www.cnn.com/2015/11/21/opinions/bergen-syrian-refugees-not-a-threat-to-us/index.html.

None of the terrorists: Peter Bergen and David Sterman, “Trump’s Travel Ban Wouldn’t Have Stopped These Deadly Terrorists,” CNN, January 30, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/30/opinions/travel-ban-wouldnt-have-stopped-these-deadly-terrorists-bergen-sterman/index.html.

Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller: Ashley Parker, Philip Rucker, and Robert Costa, “From Order to Disorder: How Trump’s Immigration Directive Exposed GOP Rifts,” Washington Post, January 30, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/from-order-to-disorder-how-trumps-immigration-directive-exposed-gop-rifts/2017/01/30/b4e42044-e70f-11e6-b82f-687d6e6a3e7c_story.html; Shane Harris, “Conservative Pundit Sebastian Gorka Brings ‘Global Jihadist Movement’ Theory into White House,” Wall Street Journal, February 21, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/conservative-pundit-sebastian-gorka-brings-global-jihadist-movement-theory-into-white-house-1487650120.

The executive order: “Executive Order Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States” White House, January 27, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-protecting-nation-foreign-terrorist-entry-united-states/.

no time to review: “DHS Implementation of Executive Order #13769 ‘Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States’ (January 27, 2017)” DHS Office of the Inspector General, January 18, 2018, https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2018-01/OIG-18-37-Jan18.pdf.

“The president is signing”: Michael D. Shear and Ron Nixon, “How Trump’s Rush to Enact an Immigration Ban Unleashed Global Chaos,” New York Times, January 29, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/29/us/politics/donald-trump-rush-immigration-order-chaos.html.

whether green card holders: “DHS Implementation of Executive Order #13769.”

planes were already: Joanna Walters, Edward Helmore, and Saeed Kamali Deghan, “US Airports on Frontline as Donald Trump’s Travel Ban Causes Chaos and Protests,” Guardian, January 28, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/28/airports-us-immigration-ban-muslim-countries-trump.

“you see it all over”: “Trump Says New Order on Refugees Is Not a Muslim Ban.”

“dissent channel” cable: Felicia Schwartz, “State Department Dissent, Believed Largest Ever, Formally Lodged,” Wall Street Journal, February 1, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/state-department-dissent-believed-largest-ever-formally-lodged-1485908373.

not to defend the ban: Ryan Lizza, “Why Sally Yates Stood Up to Trump,” New Yorker, May 29, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/29/why-sally-yates-stood-up-to-trump.

Trump immediately fired: Michael D. Shear et al., “Trump Fires Acting Attorney General Who Defied Him,” New York Times, January 30, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/us/politics/trump-immigration-ban-memo.html; Matt Zapotosky, Lori Aratani, and Justin Jouvenal, “Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump’s Entry Order Nationwide,” Washington Post, February 4, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/federal-judge-temporarily-blocks-trumps-immigration-order-nationwide/2017/02/03/9b734e1c-ea54-11e6-bf6f-301b6b443624_story.html.

“will be overturned”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!,” Twitter, February 4, 2017, 5:12 am, https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/827867311054974976.

“A terrible decision”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “Because the ban was lifted by a judge, many very bad and dangerous people may be pouring into our country. A terrible decision,” Twitter, February 4, 2017, 1:44 pm, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/827996357252243456.

“touched American soil”: Cliff Sims, Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2019), 191.

review of the issue: Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Somini Sengupta, “Trump Administration Rejects Study Showing Positive Impact of Refugees,” New York Times, September 18, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/us/politics/refugees-revenue-cost-report-trump.html.

Homeland Security internal report: Matt Zapotosky, “DHS Report Casts Doubt on Need for Trump Travel Ban,” Washington Post, February 24, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/dhs-report-casts-doubt-on-need-for-trump-travel-ban/2017/02/24/2a9992e4-fadc-11e6-9845-576c69081518_story.html; Vivian Salama, “AP Exclusive: DHS Report Disputes Threat from Banned Nations,” Associated Press, February 24, 2017, https://www.apnews.com/39f1f8e4ceed4a30a4570f693291c866.

“Bowling Green massacre”: Samantha Schmidt and Lindsey Beyer, “Kellyanne Conway Cites ‘Bowling Green Massacre’ That Never Happened to Defend Travel Ban,” Washington Post, February 3, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/02/03/kellyanne-conway-cites-bowling-green-massacre-that-never-happened-to-defend-travel-ban/.

To “prove” that the media: Peter Bergen, “Trump’s Terrorism Claim Is Baloney,” CNN, February 7, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/07/opinions/trump-claim-on-under-covering-terrorism-is-baloney-bergen/index.html.

“vast majority of individuals”: “Remarks by President Trump in Joint Address to Congress,” White House, February 28, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-joint-address-congress/.

On March 6: “Executive Order Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” White House, March 6, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-protecting-nation-foreign-terrorist-entry-united-states-2/.

Hawaii filed a motion: Oliver Laughland, “Hawaii Becomes First State to Sue over Trump’s Revised Travel Ban,” Guardian, March 9, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/08/revised-travel-ban-hawaii-legal-challenge-trump.

“extra level of safety”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!,” Twitter, June 3, 2017, 4:17 pm, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/871143765473406976.

Trump issued a third version: “Presidential Proclamation Enhancing Vetting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry into the United States by Terrorists or Other Public-Safety Threats,” White House, September 24, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-enhancing-vetting-capabilities-processes-detecting-attempted-entry-united-states-terrorists-public-safety-threats/.

version would not have prevented: David Sterman and Peter Bergen, “Trump’s New Travel Ban Still Doesn’t Fly,” CNN, September 25, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/25/opinions/trump-travel-ban-still-doesnt-fly-opinion-bergen-sterman/index.html.

Sayfullo Saipov plowed: Holly Yan and Dakin Andone, “Who Is New York Terror Suspect Sayfullo Saipov?,” CNN, November 2, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/11/01/us/sayfullo-saipov-new-york-attack/index.html.

“Would love to”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “Would love to send the NYC terrorist to Guantanamo but statistically that process takes much longer than going through the Federal system . . . ,” Twitter, November 2, 2017, 4:50 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/926053970535243777.

had yet to begin: Joanna Walters, “Will Accused 9/11 Architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Ever Come to Trial?,” Guardian, September 11, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/11/will-khalid-sheikh-mohammed-come-to-trial-9-11-attacks.

Mary Anne MacLeod: Mary Pilon, “Donald Trump’s Immigrant Mother,” New Yorker, June 24, 2016, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/donald-trumps-immigrant-mother.

CHAPTER 6

“Fear, honor, and interest”: “An Introduction to the Work of Thucydides,” The Great Thinkers, accessed August 2, 2019, https://thegreatthinkers.org/thucydides/introduction/.

“I know more”: John T. Bennett, “On Afghanistan, Trump Bets on Generals He Once Criticized,” Roll Call, August 21, 2017, https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/trump-will-keep-thousands-u-s-troops-afghanistan.

Assad’s air force: Rick Gladstone, “U.N. Panel Points Finger at Syria in Sarin Attack on Village,” New York Times, October 26, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/26/world/middleeast/syria-chemical-khan-shekhoun.html.

“I’m having to enforce”: Cliff Sims, Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House (New York: Thomas Dunne, 2019), 189.

Trump selected the strike option: “Statement by Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis on the U.S. Military Response to the Syrian Government’s Use of Chemical Weapons,” US Department of Defense, April 10, 2017, https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/1146758/statement-by-secretary-of-defense-jim-mattis-on-the-us-military-response-to-the/source/GovDelivery/.

one of his best speeches: “Transcript and Video: Trump Speaks about Strikes in Syria,” New York Times, April 6, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/world/middleeast/transcript-video-trump-airstrikes-syria.html.

gave him a rousing endorsement: Jessica Chasmar, “CNN’s Fareed Zakaria: ‘Donald Trump Became President’ Last Night,” Washington Times, April 7, 2017, https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/apr/7/fareed-zakaria-donald-trump-became-president-last-/.

Assad emptied his prisons: Maria Abi-Habib, “Assad Policies Aided Rise of Islamic State Militant Group,” Wall Street Journal, August 22, 2014, https://www.wsj.com/articles/assad-policies-aided-rise-of-islamic-state-militant-group-1408739733.

within thirty days: Candace Smith, “Donald Trump Wants Plan within 30 Days to Defeat ISIS If Elected,” ABC News, September 7, 2016, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-plan-defeat-isis-30-days-elected/story?id=41905399.

General Joseph Votel: Peter Bergen, “A Conversation with the General Running the War against ISIS,” CNN, October 30, 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/30/world/man-whos-running-war-vs-isis-bergen/index.html.

There was a debate: Helene Cooper, Mark Landler, and Alissa J. Rubin, “Obama Allows Limited Airstrikes on ISIS,” New York Times, August 7, 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/08/world/middleeast/obama-weighs-military-strikes-to-aid-trapped-iraqis-officials-say.html.

Abdul-Wahab al Saadi: Peter Bergen, “Bergen: It Wasn’t Trump but This General’s Elite Soldiers Who Defeated ISIS,” CNN, December 16, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/15/opinions/it-wasnt-trump-but-this-generals-elite-soldiers-who-defeated-isis-bergen/index.html.

“The importance of Raqqa”: Bergen, “A Conversation with the General Running the War against ISIS.”

Trump visited CENTCOM: Jim Garamone, “Trump: America Will Stand with Those Who Stand for Freedom,” DOD News, February 6, 2017, https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/NEWS-ARTICLES/News-Article-View/Article/1073221/trump-america-will-stand-with-those-who-stand-for-freedom/.

Strait of Hormuz: “Strait of Hormuz: The World’s Most Important Oil Artery,” Reuters, July 5, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-oil-factbox-idUSKBN1JV24O.

Obama directed that the plans: Adam Entous, Greg Jaffe, and Missy Ryan, “Obama’s White House Worked for Months on a Plan to Seize Raqqa. Trump’s Team Took a Brief Look and Decided Not to Pull the Trigger.,” Washington Post, February 2, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obamas-white-house-worked-for-months-on-a-plan-to-seize-raqqa-trumps-team-deemed-it-hopelessly-inadequate/2017/02/02/116310fa-e71a-11e6-80c2-30e57e57e05d_story.html.

Bush had done something similar: Peter L. Bergen, The Longest War: 194–195.

Trump approved a plan: Dion Nissenbaum, Gordon Lubold, and Julian E. Barnes, “Trump Set to Arm Kurds in ISIS Fight, Angering Turkey,” Wall Street Journal, May 9, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-approves-direct-arming-of-kurds-in-fight-against-isis-1494353541.

two thousand troops: John Ismay, “U.S. Says 2,000 Troops Are in Syria, a Fourfold Increase,” New York Times, December 6, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/world/middleeast/us-troops-syria.html.

larger than a cell phone: Ron Nixon, Adam Goldman, and Eric Schmitt, “Devices Banned on Flights from 10 Countries over ISIS Fears,” New York Times, March 21, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/21/us/politics/tsa-ban-electronics-laptops-cabin.html.

Raqqa was liberated: “Syrian Democratic Forces Liberate Raqqa,” US Department of Defense, October 20, 2017, https://dod.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1349213/syrian-democratic-forces-liberate-raqqa/.

Trump took a victory Lap: Zachary Cohen and Dan Merica, “Trump Takes Credit for ISIS ‘Giving Up,’” CNN, October 17, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/17/politics/trump-isis-raqqa/index.html.

forty-five thousand ISIS fighters: “Department of Defense Press Briefing by Lieutenant General Sean MacFarland, Commander, Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve via Teleconference from Baghdad, Iraq,” US Department of Defense, August 10, 2016, https://dod.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/911009/department-of-defense-press-briefing-by-lieutenant-general-sean-macfarland-comm/.

seventy thousand ISIS fighters: Robin Wright, “ISIS Jihadis Have Returned Home by the Thousands,” New Yorker, October 23, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/isis-jihadis-have-returned-home-by-the-thousands.

began in October 2016: “How the Battle for Mosul Unfolded,” BBC News, July 10, 2017, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37702442.

“There was no difference”: Bergen, “It Wasn’t Trump but This General’s Elite Soldiers Who Defeated ISIS.”

eleven thousand soldiers: “Statement to Public Opinion,” SDF Press, March 23, 2019, https://sdf-press.com/en/2019/03/statement-to-public-opinion-14/.

seventeen American servicemen: “Casualty Status as of 10 a.m. EDT Aug. 13, 2019,” US Department of Defense, August 13, 2019, https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Casualty-Status/.

number close to zero: “Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2019,” Europol, n.d., https://www.europol.europa.eu/activities-services/main-reports/terrorism-situation-and-trend-report-2019-te-sat.

“ISIS still commands”: Daniel R. Coats, “Statement for the Record: Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community,” Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (2019), https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/2019-ATA-SFR—-SSCI.pdf?utm_source=Gov%20Delivery%20Email&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Media%20Contacts%20Email [inactive].

CHAPTER 7

“Let’s get out”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “Let’s get out of Afghanistan. Our troops are being killed by the Afghanis we train and we waste billions there. Nonsense! Rebuild the USA,” Twitter, January 11, 2013, 1:55 pm, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/289807790178959360.

“The first, the supreme”: Carl von Clausewitz, Michael Eliot Howard, and Peter Paret, On War (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008), 88.

“six trillion dollars”: Allison Kaplan Sommer, “What Did Clinton and Trump Say about the Middle East in the First Presidential Debate?,” Haaretz, September 27, 2016, https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium-what-did-clinton-trump-say-about-middle-east-in-first-debate-1.5443170.

rich in copper, gold: James Risen, “U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan,” New York Times, June 13, 2010, https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?mtrref=undefined&gwh=19CB4075E09A9C8409869182058EE6FF&gwt=pay&assetType=PAYWALL.

China had made an expensive: Laura Zhou, “Is There Still Hope for China, Afghanistan’s Long-Stalled US$3 Billion Copper Mining Deal?,” South China Morning Post, May 12, 2017, https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2093852/talks-aim-jump-start-china-miners-stalled-afghanistan.

Mattis had advocated: Jim Mattis and Bing West, Call Sign Choas: Learning to Lead, (New York: Random House, 2019), 206.

Obama had seriously considered: Author interviews with Obama administration officials.

testified before the Senate: Michael R. Gordon, “U.S. General Seeks ‘a Few Thousand’ More Troops in Afghanistan,” New York Times, February 9, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/09/us/politics/us-afghanistan-troops.html.

comments irritated White House officials: Carol E. Lee and Courtney Kube, “Trump Says U.S. ‘Losing’ Afghan War in Tense Meeting With Generals,” NBC News, August 2, 2017, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-says-u-s-losing-afghan-war-tense-meeting-generals-n789006.

“We’re going to crush this”: Joshua Partlow, A Kingdom of Their Own: The Family Karzai and the Afghan Disaster, (New York: Knopf, 2016), 157.

speech at West Point: “Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on the Way Forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” White House, December 1, 2009, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-address-nation-way-forward-afghanistan-and-pakistan.

Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb: Helene Cooper and Mujib Mashal, “U.S. Drops ‘Mother of All Bombs’ on ISIS Caves in Afghanistan,” New York Times, April 13, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/world/asia/moab-mother-of-all-bombs-afghanistan.html.

deployment of the MOAB: Peter Bergen, “Why the ‘Mother of All Bombs’ and Why Now?,” CNN, April 14, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/13/opinions/why-mother-of-all-bombs-and-why-now-bergen/index.html.

McMaster left for Kabul: “Top U.S. Security Official Visits Kabul After Massive Bomb,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, April 16, 2017, https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-us-mcmaster-visit/28433445.html.

Rough rule of thumb: Steven M. Goode, “A Historical Basis for Force Requirements in Counterinsurgency” US Army, March 26, 2010, https://www.army.mil/article/36324/a_historical_basis_for_force_requirements_in_counterinsurgency.

McMaster seemed to publicly contradict: “McMaster Says US Will Pay for THAAD Anti-Missile System in South Korea,” Fox News, April 30, 2017, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mcmaster-says-us-will-pay-for-thaad-anti-missile-system-in-south-korea.

shared highly classified information: Adam Goldman, Eric Schmitt, and Peter Baker, “Israel Said to Be Source of Secret Intelligence Trump Gave to Russians,” New York Times, May 16, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/world/middleeast/israel-trump-classified-intelligence-russia.html.

A massive truck bomb: Josh Smith, “Kabul Truck-Bomb Toll Rises to More Than 150 Killed: Afghan President,” Reuters, June 6, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-blast-idUSKBN18X0FU.

Trump delegated the decision: Nicole Gaouette, “Trump Delegates Troop Decisions, to Praise and Concern,” CNN, June 16, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/16/politics/trump-military-troops-afghanistan-mattis/index.html.

Prince proposed a plan: Erik Prince, “The MacArthur Model for Afghanistan,” Wall Street Journal, May 31, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-macarthur-model-for-afghanistan-1496269058.

a story in USA Today: Erik Prince, “Erik Prince: ‘Restructure’ the Afghanistan War,” USA Today, August 7, 2017, https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/08/07/erik-prince-restructure-afghanistan-war-editorials-debates/104389448/.

Prince went on CNN: Sophie Tatum, “Blackwater Founder Questions US Afghanistan Strategy,” CNN, August 7, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/07/politics/erik-prince-afghanistan-cnntv/index.html; “Blackwater Founder Backs Outsourcing Afghan War-Fighting to Contractors,” NPR, July 24, 2017, https://www.npr.org/2017/07/24/538970956/blackwater-founder-backs-outsourcing-afghan-war-fighting-to-contractors.

Gorka also appeared: Jamie McIntyre, “Jim Mattis: New Afghanistan Strategy Isn’t Finished Yet,” Washington Examiner, July 14, 2017, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/jim-mattis-new-afghanistan-strategy-isnt-finished-yet.

embraced the Prince plan: Rosie Gray, “Erik Prince’s Plan to Privatize the War in Afghanistan,” The Atlantic, August 18, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/afghanistan-camp-david/537324/.

Pompeo made a surprise visit: David Brunnstrom, “Pompeo, in Surprise Visit to Afghanistan, Urges Taliban Peace Talks,” Reuters, July 9, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-usa-pompeo/pompeo-in-surprise-visit-to-afghanistan-urges-taliban-peace-talks-idUSKBN1JZ1N9.

Trump told reporters: “Remarks by President Trump at Luncheon with Servicemembers,” White House, July 18, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-luncheon-servicemembers/.

Dunford had been: “Visitor Access Records,” The White House President Barack Obama, accessed August 15, 2019, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/disclosures/visitor-records.

During the Trump administration: Andrew Restuccia et al, “All the President’s Guests The UNAUTHORIZED White House Visitor Logs,” Politico, accessed August 15, 2019, https://www.politico.com/interactives/databases/trump-white-house-visitor-logs-and-records/index.html.

lost a son in Afghanistan: Luis Martinez, “Son of Marine General Killed in Afghanistan,” ABC News, November 11, 2010, https://abcnews.go.com/News/star-marine-generals-son-killed-afghanistan/story?id=12122030.

“The American military”: Lt. Gen. John Kelly, “Four Days Later,” Center for a New American Security, November 3, 2010, https://www.cnas.org/publications/blog/four-days-later.

349 marines were killed: Thomas Gibbons-Neff, “‘It’s like Everyone Forgot’: On a Familiar Battlefield, Marines Prepare for Their Next Chapter in the Forever War,” Washington Post, August 22, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/08/22/its-like-everyone-forgot-on-a-familiar-battlefield-marines-prepare-for-their-next-chapter-in-the-forever-war/.

The first to go: Rosie Gray, “An NSC Staffer Is Forced Out Over a Controversial Memo,” The Atlantic, August 2, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/a-national-security-council-staffer-is-forced-out-over-a-controversial-memo/535725/.

The Higgins memo: Jana Winter and Elias Groll, “Here’s the Memo That Blew Up the NSC,” Foreign Policy, August 10, 2017, https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/10/heres-the-memo-that-blew-up-the-nsc/.

gave Higgins his marching orders: Gray, “An NSC Staffer Is Forced Out Over a Controversial Memo.”

Another Bannonite McMaster Removed: Kevin Liptak, “NSC Official Ezra Cohen-Watnick Removed,” CNN, August 2, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/02/politics/nsc-ezra-cohen-watnick/index.html.

particular target was Javed Ali: Michael Warren, “White House Watch: The Fake News War on McMaster,” Weekly Standard, September 19, 2017, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/white-house-watch-the-fake-news-war-on-mcmaster.

PJMedia.com, a conservative website: David Steinberg, “EXCLUSIVE: Gen. McMaster Sparked a Row with the Israeli Delegation at a White House Meeting on Hezbollah,” PJ Media, September 13, 2017, https://pjmedia.com/davidsteinberg/exclusive-gen-mcmaster-sparked-row-israeli-delegation-white-house-meeting-hezbollah/.

Hannity and Laura Ingraham: Rosie Gray, “The War Against H. R. McMaster,” The Atlantic, August 4, 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/the-war-against-hr-mcmaster/536046/.

anti-McMaster stories: Gray, “The War Against H. R. McMaster.”

compelled to release a statement: Julian Borger, “‘A Good Man, Very Pro-Israel’: Trump Defends McMaster from Far-Right Snipers,” Guardian, August 5, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/05/donald-trump-hr-mcmaster-israel-breitbart.

Kelly took over: Andrew Grandpre, “John Kelly, Trump’s New Chief of Staff, ‘Won’t Suffer Idiots and Fools,’” Washington Post, July 29, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/07/29/john-kelly-trumps-new-chief-of-staff-wont-suffer-idiots-and-fools/.

protests in Charlottesville: Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Brian M. Rosenthal, “Man Charged After White Nationalist Rally in Charlottesville Ends in Deadly Violence,” New York Times, August 12, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/12/us/charlottesville-protest-white-nationalist.html.

Trump asked Cohn: Stephen J. Dubnjer, “A Free-Trade Democrat in the Trump White House (Ep. 371),” Freakonomics, March 13, 2019, http://freakonomics.com/podcast/cohn/.

keeping Bannon on was untenable: Jeremy W. Peters and Maggie Haberman, “Bannon Was Set for a Graceful Exit. Then Came Charlottesville,” New York Times, August 20, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/20/us/politics/steve-bannon-fired-trump-departure.html.

Mark Milley, tweeted: Gen. Mark A. Milley (@ArmyChiefStaff), “The Army doesn’t tolerate racism, extremism, or hatred in our ranks. It’s against our Values and everything we’ve stood for since 1775,” Twitter, August 16, 2017, 4:50 am, https://twitter.com/armychiefstaff/status/897742317897093121.

Presenting a united front: Dave Philipps, “Inspired by Charlottesville, Military Chiefs Condemn Racism,” New York Times, August 16, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/16/us/joint-chiefs-tweets-racism-charlottesville-veterans.html.

“Just hold the line”: Pauline Shanks Kaurin, “Just Another Mattis Pep Talk?: How ‘Hold the Line’ Speaks to Civilian and Military Audiences,” Just Security (blog), August 26, 2017, https://www.justsecurity.org/44518/mattis-pep-talk-hold-line-speaks-civilian-military-audiences/.

Bannon helped to seal: Robert Kuttner, “Steve Bannon, Unrepentant,” American Prospect, August 16, 2017, https://prospect.org/article/steve-bannon-unrepentant.

Bedminster golf club: Andrew Rafferty and Kelly O’Donnell, “Trump Kicks Off 17-Day Stay at His New Jersey Golf Club,” NBC News, August 4, 2017, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-kicks-17-day-vacation-his-new-jersey-golf-club-n789371.

prime-time address: “Remarks by President Trump on the Strategy in Afghanistan and South Asia,” White House, August 21, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-strategy-afghanistan-south-asia/.

kidnapped by the Taliban: Jessica Murphy, “Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman: The Couple Taken by the Taliban,” BBC News, October 21, 2017, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41656159.

Gorka told the BBC: Aaron Blake, “More Drama in Trumpland: Gorka Publicly Shuns Tillerson’s Effort to Scale Back North Korea Red Line,” Washington Post, August 10, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/08/10/more-drama-in-trumpland-gorka-publicly-shuns-tillersons-effort-to-scale-back-north-korea-red-line/.

Gorka tried to paint: Mollie Hemingway, “Breaking: Sebastian Gorka Resigns from Trump Administration,” Federalist, August 25, 2017, https://thefederalist.com/2017/08/25/breaking-sebastian-gorka-resigns-from-trump-administration/.

The Secret Service issued: Melissa Quinn, “Sebastian Gorka Was Barred from Entering the White House on Friday, Report Says,” Washington Examiner, August 29, 2017, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/sebastian-gorka-was-barred-from-entering-the-white-house-on-friday-report-says.

he was fired: Annie Karni, “White House Aide Sebastian Gorka Ousted from Post,” Politico, August 25, 2017, https://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/25/white-house-aide-gorka-resigns-242054.

“ART [of] WAR”: Jay Willis, “Seb Gorka Has Some Weird Shit in His Mustang Convertible,” GQ, September 1, 2017, https://www.gq.com/story/seb-gorka-mustang-cleanout.

CHAPTER 8

“I like them very much”: Bernard Condon, Stephen Braun, and Tami Abdollah, “‘I Love the Saudis’: Trump Business Ties to Kingdom Run Deep,” Associated Press, October 12, 2018, https://apnews.com/cafffbc8448e49329e04ef7941c2b85a.

“I couldn’t care less”: “Remarks by President Trump before Marine One Departure,” White House, November 20, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-marine-one-departure-25/.

a thousand flight cancellations: Christine Wang, “March Snowstorm Brings Flight Delays, Cancellations,” CNBC, March 14, 2017, https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/13/march-snowstorm-brings-flight-delays-cancellations.html.

“the worst deal ever”: Peter Bergen, “How Donald Trump Created One Hell of a Mess with Iran,” CNN, June 20, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/20/opinions/us-iran-mess-trump-endgame-bergen/index.html.

this one was not: Chas Danner, “Beyond Russia: Understanding the New Trump Campaign Collusion Story,” New York, May 20, 2018, http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/05/understanding-the-new-trump-campaign-collusion-story.html.

Trump intervened to say: Carol D. Leonnig et al., “How Jared Kushner Forged a Bond with the Saudi Crown Prince,” Washington Post, March 19, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-jared-kushner-forged-a-bond-with-the-saudi-crown-prince/2018/03/19/2f2ce398-2181-11e8-badd-7c9f29a55815_story.html?utm_term=.56a303a6b1cf.

“an explosive remark”: Maggie Haberman, interview by Jake Tapper, The Lead with Jake Tapper, CNN, May 19, 2017, http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1705/19/cg.01.html.

Trump was visiting Saudi Arabia: Peter Bergen, “Bergen: Saudi Women Driving a Sign Bigger Change Is Coming,” CNN, September 27, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/opinions/symbolism-of-saudi-women-driving/index.html.

days of $100-a-barrel oil: Peter Bergen, “Bergen: The Real Reason Saudis Rolled Out the Reddest of Red Carpets,” CNN, May 22, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/21/opinions/trump-riyadh-trip-opinion-bergen/index.html.

$40 a barrel: Hannah Breul, “Crude Oil Prices Started 2015 Relatively Low, Ended the Year Lower,” US Energy Information Administration, January 6, 2016, https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=24432.

called it “Vision 2030”: Bergen, “Bergen: Saudi Women Driving.”

harsh interpretation of Sunni Islam: Bergen, “Bergen: The Real Reason Saudis Rolled Out.”

Committee for the Promotion of Virtue: Bergen, “Bergen: The Real Reason Saudis Rolled Out.”

Fifteen of them perished: Bergen, “Bergen: The Real Reason Saudis Rolled Out.”

wings of the religious police: Bergen, “Bergen: Saudi Women Driving.”

key conservative clerics: Bergen, “Bergen: Saudi Women Driving.”

“my first sword dance”: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, interview by Chris Wallace, Fox News Sunday, Fox News, May 21, 2017, https://www.state.gov/interview-with-chris-wallace-of-fox-news-sunday-3/.

restore freedom of speech: Yeganeh Torbati and Jonathan Landay, “U.S. Calls on Iran to Halt Support for ‘Destabilizing Forces,’” Reuters, May 20, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-election-usa-idUSKCN18G0PX.

“Not one guy”: Jacob Pramuk, “Wilbur Ross Is Happy That the Saudis Didn’t Protest Trump—but He Misses a Critical Point,” CNBC, May 22, 2017, https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/22/wilbur-ross-says-saudis-did-not-protest-trump-but-misses-key-point.html.

Obama’s Cairo remarks: “Full Text: Donald Trump’s Speech on Fighting Terrorism,” Politico, August 15, 2016, https://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-terrorism-speech-227025.

phrase “Islamic terrorism”: Mattathias Schwartz, “White House Blames Exhaustion for Donald Trump’s ‘Islamic Terrorism’ Dog Whistle in Saudi Arabia,” The Intercept, May 22, 2017, https://theintercept.com/2017/05/22/white-house-blames-exhaustion-for-donald-trumps-islamic-terrorism-dog-whistle-in-saudi-arabia/.

“We are not here to lecture”: Ali Vitali, “Trump Speech to Muslims: ‘We Are Not Here to Lecture,’” NBC News, May 21, 2017, https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/21/trump-speech-to-muslims-we-are-not-here-to-lecture.html.

millions of dollars of ransom: Paul Wood, “Did Qatar Pay the World’s Largest Ransom?,” BBC News, July 17, 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-44660369.

twelve thousand Qatari camels: Declan Walsh, “Tiny, Wealthy Qatar Goes Its Own Way, and Pays for It,” New York Times, January 22, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/world/middleeast/qatar-saudi-emir-boycott.html.

implicated in the cyberattack: Karen DeYoung and Ellen Nakashima, “UAE Orchestrated Hacking of Qatari Government Sites, Sparking Regional Upheaval, According to U.S. Intelligence Officials,” Washington Post, July 16, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/.

Qatar sat on some: Hadeel Al-Sayegh, “Qatar to Boost Gas Output in Sign of Strength amid Gulf Rift,” Reuters, September 26, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-qatar-energy/qatar-to-boost-gas-output-in-sign-of-strength-amid-gulf-rift-idUSKCN1M62H8.

Qatar had among the highest: Beth Greenfield, “The World’s Richest Countries,” Forbes, February 22, 2012, https://www.forbes.com/sites/bethgreenfield/2012/02/22/the-worlds-richest-countries/#4c00b46a4627.

Al Udeid Air Base: Brad Lendon, “Qatar Hosts Largest US Military Base in Mideast,” CNN, June 6, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/05/middleeast/qatar-us-largest-base-in-mideast/index.html.

The Qataris paid almost all: Paul McLeary, “Can Trump Find a Better Deal Than the U.S. Air Base in Qatar?,” Foreign Policy, July 20, 2017, https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/07/20/can-trump-find-a-better-deal-than-the-u-s-air-base-in-qatar/.

Qatar also housed: Nick Anderson, “In Qatar’s Education City, U.S. Colleges Are Building an Academic Oasis,” Washington Post, December 6, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/in-qatars-education-city-us-colleges-are-building-an-academic-oasis/2015/12/06/6b538702-8e01-11e5-ae1f-af46b7df8483_story.html.

“the horror of terrorism”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “So good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding . . .” and “. . . extremism, and all reference was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!” Twitter, June 6, 2017, 9:36 am and 9:44 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/872084870620520448 and https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/872086906804240384.

meeting their counterparts in Australia: Ali Harb, “Qatar Blockade: Tillerson Was Left in Dark as Kushner Met with Saudis,” Middle East Eye, June 27, 2019, http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/qatar-crisis-tillerson-says-he-had-no-idea-about-blockade.

eleven thousand American military servicemen: Brad Lendon, “Qatar Hosts Largest US Military Base in Mideast,” CNN, June 6, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/05/middleeast/qatar-us-largest-base-in-mideast/index.html.

Qatar for $12 billion: Ankit Ajmera, “Qatar Signs $12 Billion Deal to Buy F-15 Jets from U.S.,” Reuters, June 15, 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gulf-qatar-boeing-idUSKBN19531Y.

Nayef to step down: Peter Bergen, “Trump’s Uncritical Embrace of MBS Set the Stage for Khashoggi Crisis,” CNN, November 15, 2018, sec. Opinion, https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/15/opinions/how-the-saudis-played-trump-bergen/index.html.

interview with Bloomberg News: “Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Crown Prince Discusses Trump, Aramco, Arrests,” Bloomberg News, October 5, 2018, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-05/saudi-crown-prince-discusses-trump-aramco-arrests-transcript.

a half-billion-dollar yacht: Grace Guarnieri, “Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Bought the World’s Most Expensive Mansion for $300 Million, and a $500 Million Yacht,” Newsweek, December 18, 2017, https://www.newsweek.com/saudia-arabia-crown-prince-most-expensive-house-world-751128.

more than $7 billion: Rory Jones, Margherita Stancati, and Summer Said, “Saudi Arabia to Spend Billions to Revive Foreign Investment,” Wall Street Journal, July 22, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-arabia-to-spend-billions-to-revive-foreign-investment-1532260920.

elections in the Saudi kingdom: “Saudi ‘Seeks Death Penalty’ for Muslim Scholar Salman Al-Awdah,” Al Jazeera, September 5, 2018, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/09/saudi-seeks-death-penalty-muslim-scholar-salman-al-awdah-180905055754018.html.

Boys were arrested: Muhammad Darwish, Tamara Qiblawi, and Ghazi Balkiz, “He Was Arrested at 13. Now Saudi Arabia Wants to Execute Him,” CNN, June 2019, https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/06/middleeast/saudi-teen-death-penalty-intl/.

leadership of the Saudi military: “Saudi Arabia Fires Top Army Chiefs in Military Shake-Up,” Al Jazeera, February 27, 2018, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/02/saudi-arabia-fires-top-army-chiefs-military-shake-180227054218368.html.

mother under house arrest: Carol E. Lee and Courtney Kube, “Saudi Prince Hiding His Mother from Saudi King, Say U.S. Officials,” NBC News, March 15, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-officials-saudi-crown-prince-has-hidden-his-mother-n847391.

Beirut in 2005: “Lebanon’s Saad Hariri Demands ‘Justice’ for Slain Father at Trial,” Al Jazeera, September 12, 2018, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/09/lebanon-saad-hariri-demands-justice-slain-father-trial-180912083916681.html.

The Houthis subsequently fired: Caleb Weiss, “Analysis: Houthi Missiles against the Saudi-Led Coalition,” Long War Journal (blog), August 2, 2019, https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2019/08/analysis-houthi-missiles-against-the-saudi-led-coalition.php.

civilian casualties in Yemen: Ryan Goodman, “Annotation of Sec. Pompeo’s Certification of Yemen War: Civilian Casualties and Saudi-Led Coalition,” Just Security, October 15, 2018, https://www.justsecurity.org/61053/annotation-sec-pompeos-certification-yemen-war-civilian-casualties-resulting-saudi-led-coalitions-operations/.

The UN had earlier charged: “Yemen: United Nations Experts Point to Possible War Crimes by Parties to the Conflict,” United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, August 28, 2018, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23479.

“sunset” provisions in the deal: Ali Vaez, “The Iranian Nuclear Deal’s Sunset Clauses” Foreign Affairs, October 3, 2017, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/iran/2017-10-03/iranian-nuclear-deals-sunset-clauses.

sticking to the agreement: “Iran Sticking to Nuclear Deal, IAEA Says, amid New U.S. Sanctions,” Reuters, November 22, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-iaea/iran-sticking-to-nuclear-deal-iaea-says-amid-new-us-sanctions-idUSKCN1NR1DL.

Senate Armed Services Committee: Political and Security Situation in Afghanistan, Senate Committee on Armed Services, October 3, 2017, https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/17-82_10-03-17.pdf.

“Yes, Senator, I do”: Political and Security Situation in Afghanistan.

General Joseph Votel: Hearing to Receive Testimony on United States Central Command and United States Africa Command, Senate Committee on Armed Services, March 9, 2017, https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/17-18_03-09-17.pdf.

suffering from a stomach bug: Asawin Suebsaeng and Lachlan Markay, “John Kelly: Rex Tillerson Was on the Toilet When I Told Him He’d Be Getting Fired,” Daily Beast, March 16, 2018, https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-kelly-rex-tillerson-was-on-the-toilet-when-i-told-him-hed-be-getting-fired.

“a fantastic job”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!,” Twitter, March 13, 2018, 8:44 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/973540316656623616.

McMaster told the Munich audience: Daniel W. Drezner, “The Munich Security Conference Is One of the Premier Global Forums, so What’s with the Malaise?,” Washington Post, February 18, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/02/18/the-munich-security-conference-in-winter/.

“the Podesta Company”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “General McMaster forgot to say that the results of the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the Russians and that the only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems. Remember the Dirty Dossier, Uranium, Speeches, Emails and the Podesta Company!,” Twitter, February 17, 2018, 11:22 pm, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/965079126829871104.

John Bolton met with Trump: Greg Jaffe and Josh Dawsey, “Trump Names Former Ambassador John Bolton as His New National Security Adviser,” Washington Post, March 22, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-names-former-ambassador-john-bolton-as-his-new-national-security-adviser/2018/03/22/aa1d19e6-2e20-11e8-8ad6-fbc50284fce8_story.html.

hundreds of cheering staffers: Daniel Chaitin, “Departing National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster Gets ‘Clap Out’ from Large Group of Trump Staffers,” Washington Examiner, April 6, 2018, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/hr-mcmaster-gets-clap-out-from-large-group-of-trump-staffers.

started in his new job: Peter Bergen, “New Trump Adviser Is ‘Not Much of a Carrot Man,’” CNN, April 9, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/08/opinions/john-bolton-carrot-man-bergen/index.html.

“overwhelmingly Democratic and liberal”: Bergen, “New Trump Adviser Is ‘Not Much of a Carrot Man.”

America First guy: Bergen, “New Trump Adviser Is ‘Not Much of a Carrot Man.”

“unsigning” the agreement: Bergen, “New Trump Adviser Is ‘Not Much of a Carrot Man.”

a kid on Christmas Day: Bergen, “New Trump Adviser Is ‘Not Much of a Carrot Man.”

arms-control negotiations: Bergen, “New Trump Adviser Is ‘Not Much of a Carrot Man.”

“Iran will not negotiate”: John R. Bolton, “To Stop Iran’s Bomb, Bomb Iran,” New York Times, March 26, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/opinion/to-stop-irans-bomb-bomb-iran.html.

bankruptcy lawyer, David Friedman: David Remnick, “Trump’s Daily Bankruptcy and the Ambassador to Israel,” New Yorker, December 16, 2016, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/trump_daily_bankruptcy_israel_ambassador_david_friedman [inactive].

“far worse than kapos”: David Friedman, “Read Peter Beinart and You’ll Vote Donald Trump,” Arutz Sheva, June 5, 2016, http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/18828.

administration could support Israel: David M. Halbfinger, “U.S. Ambassador Says Israel Has Right to Annex Parts of West Bank,” New York Times, June 8, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/08/world/middleeast/israel-west-bank-david-friedman.html.

“Peace is within reach”: “‘Time to Try Something Better’: Kushner Says Peace ‘Within Reach’ at Jerusalem Embassy Opening,” Fox News Insider, May 14, 2018, https://insider.foxnews.com/2018/05/14/jared-kushner-speaks-us-jerusalem-embassy-dedication-ceremony-israel.

simultaneously killing scores of Palestinians: David M. Halbfinger, Isabel Kershner, and Declan Walsh, “Israel Kills Dozens at Gaza Border as U.S. Embassy Opens in Jerusalem,” New York Times, May 14, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/world/middleeast/gaza-protests-palestinians-us-embassy.html.

secure a top-secret clearance: Peter Bergen, “Jared Kushner Just Joined a Really Big Club,” CNN, February 28, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/28/opinions/jared-kushner-just-joined-a-big-club-opinion-bergen/index.html.

granting of clearances: Brian Naylor and Tim Mak, “Whistleblower Says White House Overturned 25 Denied Security Clearances,” NPR, April 1, 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/04/01/708726227/whistle-blower-says-white-house-overturned-denials-of-25-for-security-clearances.

Palestinian Authority president: Jack Khoury, “Abbas: Kushner’s Anti-UNRWA Actions Prove U.S. Wants to Erase Palestinian Issue,” Haaretz, August 4, 2018, https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/.premium-abbas-kushner-report-proves-u-s-wants-to-erase-palestinian-issue-1.6341547.

United Nations Relief: Clare Foran and Elise Labott, “US Ends All Funding to UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees,” CNN, September 1, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/31/politics/trump-administration-ending-funding-palestinian-refugees/index.html.

vote at the UN: Colum Lynch, “Haley Warns Diplomats on Jerusalem: Trump Is Watching You,” Foreign Policy, December 19, 2017, https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/12/19/haley-warns-diplomats-on-jerusalem-trump-is-watching-you/.

$60 million to UNRWA: Josh Rogin, “Tillerson Prevails over Haley in Palestinian Funding Debate,” Washington Post, January 16, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2018/01/16/tillerson-prevails-over-haley-in-palestinian-funding-debate/.

condemned the US embassy move: “Saudi King Slams Trump for Transferring US Embassy to Jerusalem,” Times of Israel, April 15, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/saudi-king-slams-trump-for-transferring-us-embassy-to-jerusalem/.

Trump’s Middle East envoy: Noa Landau. “U.S. Mideast Envoy Greenblatt: We May Postpone Publication of Peace Plan to November.” Haaretz, June 16, 2019. https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/u-s-mideast-envoy-greenblatt-we-may-postpone-publication-of-peace-plan-to-november-1.7373746.

“a hot I.P.O”: David M. Halbfinger, “In Bahrain, Gaza Is Pitched as a ‘Hot I.P.O.’ Many Palestinians Aren’t Buying It.,” New York Times, June 26, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/26/world/middleeast/bahrain-kushner-palestinian-peace.html.

CHAPTER 9

“Will no one rid me”: Olivia B. Waxman, “James Comey Makes Henry II, Thomas Becket Link” Time, June 8, 2017, https://time.com/4811148/comey-testimony-henry-ii-thomas-becket-will-no-one-rid-me-of-this-meddlesome-priest/.

“There’s not a smoking gun”: Stephen Dinan, “Sen. Lindsey Graham: ‘Smoking Saw’ Ties Saudi Crown Prince to Khashoggi Killing,” Washington Times, December 4, 2018, https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/dec/4/lindsey-graham-sees-smoking-saw-khashoggi-killing/.

recovered from the consulate: This account is based on Carlotta Gall’s New York Times story about a book about the murder, Diplomatic Atrocity: The Dark Secrets of the Jamal Khashoggi Murder, written by Turkish investigative journalists working for Sabah, a newspaper with close ties to Turkish intelligence.

fiancée, who was still waiting: Tuysuz Gul et al., “Surveillance Footage Shows Saudi ‘Body Double’ in Khashoggi’s Clothes, Turkish Source Says,” CNN, October 22, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/22/middleeast/saudi-operative-jamal-khashoggi-clothes/index.html.

“tell your boss”: “Khashoggi Killing: ‘Tell Your Boss Deed Is Done,’” Al Jazeera, November 12, 2018, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/khashoggi-killing-boss-deed-nyt-181113033718617.html.

“absolutely false, and baseless”: “The Saudi Ambassador Lied Point-Blank about a Journalist’s Murder. Now He Has the Gall to Come Back to D.C.,” Washington Post, December 7, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/khalid-bin-salman-took-part-in-the-coverup-of-jamal-khashoggis-killing-he-should-be-shunned/2018/12/07/7bcf51c2-fa48-11e8-8c9a-860ce2a8148f_story.html.

result of “rogue killers”: Summer Said, Rebecca Ballhaus, and David Gauthier-Villars, “Saudis Weigh Saying Journalist Was Killed by Mistake,” Wall Street Journal, October 15, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/turkey-to-inspect-saudi-consulate-where-khashoggi-went-missing-1539604362.

labeled a terrorist group: John Hudson, Souad Mekhennet, and Carol D. Leonnig, “Saudi Crown Prince Described Journalist as a Dangerous Islamist in Call with White House, Officials Say,” Washington Post, November 1, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/saudi-crown-prince-described-slain-journalist-as-a-dangerous-islamist-in-call-with-white-house/2018/11/01/b4513e05-2d8e-4533-9cc8-2cabf8bb2d0a_story.html.

“connected to Osama bin Laden”: Peter Bergen, “Jamal Khashoggi Was a Journalist, Not a Jihadist,” CNN, October 22, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/22/opinions/khashoggi-was-journalist-not-jihadist-bergen/index.html.

“source of our strength”: Peter Bergen, “The Awful Disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi,” CNN, October 8, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/08/opinions/the-awful-disappearance-of-jamal-khashoggi-bergen/index.html.

war against the United States: Bergen, “The Awful Disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.”

adviser to Prince Turki: Bergen, “The Awful Disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.”

“It’s a matter of choice”: Bergen, “Jamal Khashoggi Was a Journalist, Not a Jihadist.”

Qahtani was MBS’s closest adviser: “MBS in Touch with ‘Former’ Saudi Royal Adviser al-Qahtani: Report,” Al Jazeera, January 11, 2019, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/mbs-touch-saudi-royal-adviser-qahtani-wpost-190111120955535.html.

Six weeks after Khashoggi’s murder: Mohammed Muslemany, and Saphora Smith. “U.S. Treasury Slaps Sanctions on Saudi Officials over Khashoggi Killing,” NBC News (Cairo), November 15, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/saudi-prosecutor-seeks-death-penalty-suspects-khashoggi-s-killing-n936496.

CBS’s 60 Minutes: Donald J. Trump, interview by Lesley Stahl, 60 Minutes, CBS, October 13, 2018, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-donald-trump-vows-severe-punishment-if-saudi-arabia-is-behind-saudi-missing-journalist/.

new arms sales: “Fact Check: How Much Does Saudi Arabia Spend On Arms Deals With The U.S.?,” All Things Considered, NPR, October 15, 2018, https://www.npr.org/2018/10/15/657588534/fact-check-how-much-does-saudi-arabia-spend-on-arms-deals-with-the-u-s.

“I’m not going to destroy”: Josh Dawsey, Shane Harris, and Karen DeYoung, “Trump Calls Saudi Arabia a ‘Great Ally,’ Discounts Crown Prince’s Responsibility for Khashoggi’s Death,” Washington Post, November 20, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-defends-saudia-arabias-denial-about-the-planning-of-khashoggis-death/2018/11/20/b64d2cc6-eceb-11e8-9236-bb94154151d2_story.html.

to do with the murder: Samuel Chamberlain, “Trump Says ‘I Don’t Want to Hear the Tape’ of Purported Khashoggi Killing,” Fox News, November 18, 2018, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-says-i-dont-want-to-hear-the-tape-of-purported-khashoggi-killing.

“it’s a terrible tape”: Chamberlain, “Trump Says ‘I Don’t Want to Hear the Tape’.”

hit was ordered by MBS: Julian E. Barnes and Eric Schmitt, “Intercepts Solidify C.I.A. Assessment That Saudi Prince Ordered Khashoggi Killing,” New York Times, December 2, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/02/us/politics/crown-prince-mohammed-qahtani-intercepts.html.

“has got to go”: “‘He Had This Guy Murdered’: Graham Says ‘Toxic’ Saudi Crown Prince ‘Has Got to Go,’” Fox News Insider, 2018, https://insider.foxnews.com/2018/10/16/lindsey-graham-jamal-khashoggi-death-saudi-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salman-must-go.

Mattis called for a cease-fire: Ryan Browne. “Mattis and Pompeo call for Yemen ceasefire ‘within 30 days,’” CNN, October 31, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/30/politics/jim-mattis-yemen-ceasefire/index.html.

They charged eleven: Jen Kirby, “Saudi Arabia Begins Trial for 11 Suspects in Khashoggi Murder,” Vox, January 3, 2019, https://www.vox.com/2019/1/3/18166689/khashoggi-trial-saudi-arabia-mbs.

Trump vetoed the resolution on April 16, 2019: Allie Malloy, “Trump Vetoes Yemen War Powers Resolution, His 2nd Veto since Taking Office,” CNN, April 17, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/16/politics/trump-vetoes-yemen-war-powers-resolution/index.html

CHAPTER 10

“To really understand”: Cliff Sims, Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House (New York: Thomas Dunne, 2019)

Satellite imagery showed: Julian Ryall, “North Korea ‘‘Preparing Another Nuclear Test’, Satellite Images Suggest, “The Telegraph, September 14, 2017. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/14/north-korea-preparing-another-nuclear-test-satellite-images/.

twenty-five million: Ann Babe, “South Korea Built a ‘Master-Planned City’ From Scratch. Now, Critics Disagree on Its Effectiveness,” US News & World Report, June 4, 2019, https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/articles/2019-06-04/sejong-south-koreas-new-administrative-capital-city-draws-critics.

“their Independence Day”: Daniela Cobos, “North Korea’s Kim Jong Un Celebrates Missile Launch with Banquet,” International Business Times, July 11, 2017, https://www.ibtimes.com/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-celebrates-missile-launch-banquet-2564238.

UN Security Council: Associated Press, “U.S. Says It Has U.N. Security Council Support for New Sanctions against North Korea,” PBS NewsHour, March 30, 2018, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-says-it-has-u-n-security-council-support-for-new-sanctions-against-north-korea.

“Save your energy Rex”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man . . .” and “. . . Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!,” Twitter, October 1, 2017, 10:30 am and 10:30 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/914497877543735296.

“the calm before the storm”: Mark Landler, “What Did President Trump Mean by ‘Calm before the Storm’?,” New York Times, October 6, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/06/us/politics/trump-calls-meeting-with-military-leaders-the-calm-before-the-storm.html.

“much faster pace”: David Alexander, “Trump Declines to Explain ‘Calm before the Storm’ Remark,” Reuters, October 6, 2017, https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-military-idUKKBN1CB2G1.

Trump met with the generals: Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House (London: Simon and Schuster, 2018), 184.

“and my Button works”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!,” Twitter, January 2, 2018, 7:49 pm, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/948355557022420992.

“stop sending the military families”: Your World With Neil Cavuto, Fox News, January 26, 2018, http://archive.org/details/FOXNEWSW_20180126_210000_Your_World_With_Neil_Cavuto.

an opening for Trump: Anna Fifield, “As Winter Games Close, North Korea Says It Is Willing to Talk to the U.S., According to Seoul,” Washington Post, February 25, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/as-winter-games-close-olympics-chief-lauds-diplomatic-thaw-between-the-koreas/2018/02/25/9eedf22a-18d1-11e8-930c-45838ad0d77a_story.html.

nuclear weapons and missile tests: Anna Fifield, “North Korea Says It Will Suspend Nuclear and Missile Tests, Shut Down Test Site,” Washington Post, April 20, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/north-korean-leader-suspends-nuclear-and-missile-tests-shuts-down-test-site/2018/04/20/71ff2eea-44e7-11e8-baaf-8b3c5a3da888_story.html.

Bolton had written: John Bolton, “The Legal Case for Striking North Korea First,” Wall Street Journal, February 28, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-legal-case-for-striking-north-Korea-first-1519862374.

the “Libya model”: Megan Specia and David E. Sanger, “How the ‘Libya Model’ Became a Sticking Point in North Korea Nuclear Talks,” New York Times, May 16, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/world/asia/north-korea-libya-model.html.

“repugnance towards him”: “Full Text: North Korea Calls John Bolton Repugnant and Threatens to Bail on Summit with Trump,” Quartz, May 16, 2018, https://qz.com/1279247/full-text-north-korea-calls-john-bolton-repugnant-and-threatens-to-bail-on-summit-with-trump/.

“I’m not aware”: Specia and Sanger, “How the ‘Libya Model’ Became a Sticking Point.”

Trump met in Singapore: “Trump and Kim Joint Statement from the Singapore Summit,” Washington Post, June 12, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/06/12/trump-and-kim-joint-statement-from-the-singapore-summit/.

US–South Korean military exercises: Nancy Cook, Louis Nelson, and Nahal Toosi, “Trump Pledges to End Military Exercises as Part of North Korea Talks,” Politico, June 12, 2018, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/12/trump-kim-meeting-press-conference-637544.

“Nuclear Threat from North Korea”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “Just landed—a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!,” Twitter, June 13, 2018, 2:56 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1006837823469735936.

“We fell in love”: Roberta Rampton, “‘We Fell in Love’: Trump Swoons over Letters from North Korea’s Kim” Reuters, September 30, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-trump/we-fell-in-love-trump-swoons-over-letters-from-north-koreas-kim-idUSKCN1MA03Q.

critical to regime survival: “North Korea Unlikely to Give up Nuclear Weapons: U.S. Spy Chief Coats,” Reuters, January 29, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-northkorea-nuclear-idUSKCN1PN1Y7.

a “smart man”: Jill Colvin and Darlene Superville, “Trump in Japan: Trump Not ‘Bothered’ by North Korea Missile Tests,” USA Today, May 27, 2019, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/05/27/trump-japan-trump-not-bothered-north-korea-missile-tests/1249177001/.

“fool of low IQ”: “Ben Wescott and Jake Kwon, “North Korea Derides US Presidential Candidate Joe Biden as a ‘Fool of Low IQ,’” CNN, May 22, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/22/asia/north-korea-joe-biden-intl/index.html.

“just to shake his hand”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon). While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!,” Twitter, June 28, 2019, 3:51 pm, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1144740178948493314.

The tinpot dictator: Jungah Lee and Brett Miller, “Spies and Satellites: Analyzing North Korea’s Economy Isn’t Easy,” Japan Times, February 22, 2019, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/02/22/asia-pacific/even-help-spies-satellites-analyzing-north-koreas-economy-isnt-easy/#.XVL1z-hKiM8.

state of Vermont: Forbes. Accessed August 13, 2019. https://www.forbes.com/places/vt/.

CHAPTER 11

“There is only one thing”: “Chequers, 1 April 1945,” International Churchill Society, https://winstonchurchill.org/uncategorised/quotes-slider/2014-11-3-16-25-06/.

“We’ve had a president”: Ryan Teague Beckwith, “Read Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ Foreign Policy Speech,” Time, April 27, 2016, https://time.com/4309786/read-donald-trumps-america-first-foreign-policy-speech/.

Canadian master corporal: Peter Bergen, “Trump’s Way: Treating Allies Like Enemies and Enemies Like Allies,” CNN, July 12, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/11/opinions/trump-treats-putin-like-a-buddy-and-allies-like-enemies-bergen/index.html.

“still not paying what”: Peter Baker, “Trump Says NATO Allies Don’t Pay Their Share. Is That True?,” New York Times, May 28, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/26/world/europe/nato-trump-spending.html.

Obama had also pressed: “Everything Obama Ever Asked For: But Alliance Members Leave Brussels Bruised and Confused,” New York Times, July 12, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/12/opinion/editorials/trump-nato-obama.html.

agreed-upon target: Jim Techau, “The Politics of 2 Percent: NATO and the Security Vacuum in Europe,” Carnegie Europe, September 2, 2015, 2, https://carnegieeurope.eu/2015/09/02/politics-of-2-percent-nato-and-security-vacuum-in-europe-pub-61139.

Merkel arrived in Washington: Natalia Wojcik, “Trump Seems to Ignore Requests for Handshake with Merkel in the Oval Office,” CNBC, March 17, 2017, https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/17/trump-seems-to-ignore-requests-for-handshake-with-merkel-in-the-oval-office.html.

“provide some degree of support”: Justin Rowlatt, “Russia ‘Arming the Afghan Taliban,’ Says US,” BBC News, March 23, 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43500299.

died from exposure to Novichok: “Novichok: Murder Inquiry after Dawn Sturgess Dies,” BBC News, July 9, 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44760875.

“I have NATO”: Louis Nelson, “Trump Says Summit with Putin ‘May Be the Easiest’ of European Meetings,” Politico, July 10, 2018, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/10/trump-putin-meeting-2018-706141.

making “false statements”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!,” Twitter, June 9, 2018, 7:03 pm, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1005586152076689408.

$360 billion a year: “Canada U.S.-Canada Trade Facts,” Office of the United States Trade Representative, accessed July 31, 2019, https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/americas/canada.

piffling $12 billion: “Russia: U.S.-Russia Trade Facts,” Office of the United States Trade Representative, accessed July 31, 2019, https://ustr.gov/Russia.

“Germany is totally controlled”: Meredith McGraw, “Trump Issues Blistering Attacks on Germany at NATO Breakfast: ‘Germany Is Controlled by Russia,’” ABC News, July 11, 2018, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-issues-blistering-attacks-germany-nato-breakfast-germany/story?id=56504193.

“was displeased because he was”: : William Cummings, “Kelly Was Upset About the Food at NATO Breakfast, Not Trump Germany Remark, Sanders Says,” USA Today, July 11, 2018, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/07/11/john-kelly-upset-breakfast/777505002/.

“I have witnessed”: Jennifer Hansler, “Merkel Responds to Trump: ‘I Have Witnessed’ Germany under Soviet Control,” CNN, July 11, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/11/politics/angela-merkel-east-germany-nato-trump/index.html.

Trump turned his guns: Jeff Mason and Michael Holden, “Trump Blasts UK PM May’s Brexit Plan, Says It Puts Trade Deal in Doubt,” Reuters, July 11, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-britain/trump-blasts-uk-pm-mays-brexit-plan-says-it-puts-trade-deal-in-doubt-idUSKBN1K130C.

Trump also dumped: Palko Karasz, “Trump Targets London’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan. How Fair Are His Criticisms?,” New York Times, July 13, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/13/world/europe/trump-sadiq-khan-london.html.

Trump slapped tariffs: David J. Lynch, Josh Dawsey, and Damian Paletta, “Trump Imposes Steel and Aluminum Tariffs on the E.U., Canada and Mexico,” Washington Post, May 31, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trump-imposes-steel-and-aluminum-tariffs-on-the-european-union-canada-and-mexico/2018/05/31/891bb452-64d3-11e8-a69c-b944de66d9e7_story.html.

“We’re all to blame”: Gillian Brassil and Spencer Kimball, “‘The United States Has Been Foolish’: Read the Full Transcript of Trump’s Press Conference with Putin,” CNBC, July 16, 2018, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/16/i-hold-both-countries-responsible-here-is-the-full-transcript-of-tr.html.

“undermine our democracy”: Kevin Breuninger, “Spy Chief Dan Coats Shoots Back at Trump for Refusing to Side with Him over Putin on Election Meddling,” CNBC, July 16, 2018, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/16/dan-coats-shoots-back-at-trump-who-refused-to-side-with-him-over-putin.html.

“stunning and disappointing”: Henry Fernandez, “Trump Should Have Publicly Called Out Putin on US Election Meddling: Gen. Jack Keane,” Fox Business, July 16, 2018, https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/trump-should-have-publicly-called-out-putin-on-us-election-meddling-gen-jack-keane.

“The sentence should have been”: Matt Flegenheimer, “Would It or Wouldn’t It Be Russia: Trump Goes Double Negative,” New York Times, July 17, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/17/us/politics/trump-putin-russia.html.

Mitchell interviewed Coats: “A Look Over My Shoulder: The DNI Reflects and Foreshadows,” Aspen Institute, July 19, 2018, https://aspensecurityforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ASF-2018-A-Look-Over-My-Shoulder-The-DNI-Reflects-and-Foreshadows-3.pdf.

number one threat: Missy Ryan and Dan Lamothe, “Placing Russia First among Threats, Defense Nominee Warns of Kremlin Attempts to ‘Break’ NATO,” Washington Post, January 12, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/senate-set-to-question-trumps-pentagon-pick-veteran-marine-gen-james-mattis/2017/01/11/b3c6946a-d816-11e6-9a36-1d296534b31e_story.html.

national security strategy: “National Security Strategy of the United States of America,” White House, December 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final-12-18-2017-0905.pdf; Peter Bergen, “Trump’s New Strategy: Russia Is an Actual Threat,” CNN, December 19, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/12/18/opinions/trump-national-security-strategy-russia-china-peter-bergen-opinion/index.html.

expelling sixty Russian diplomats: Jeremy Diamond, Allie Malloy, and Angela Dewan, “Trump Expelling 60 Russian Diplomats in Wake of UK Nerve Agent Attack,” CNN, March 26, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/26/politics/us-expel-russian-diplomats/index.html.

$40 million of arms sales: Josh Rogin, “Trump Administration Approves Lethal Arms Sales to Ukraine,” Washington Post, December 20, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2017/12/20/trump-administration-approves-lethal-arms-sales-to-ukraine/.

“He is wrong”: “Remarks by LTG H.R. McMaster at Atlantic Council Baltic Summit Dinner,” White House, April 3, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-ltg-h-r-mcmaster-atlantic-council-baltic-summit-dinner/.

suffered from “momentary confusion”: Katie Reilly, “Nikki Haley’s ‘I Don’t Get Confused’ Comment Demonstrated Her Gift for the Clapback,” Time, April 18, 2018, https://time.com/5245537/nikki-haley-i-dont-get-confused-larry-kudlow-spat/.

“she was in a box”: Peter Baker, Julie Hirschfeld Davis, and Maggie Haberman, “Sanctions Flap Erupts into Open Conflict between Haley and White House,” New York Times, April 17, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/17/world/europe/trump-nikki-haley-russia-sanctions.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news.

not to meddle: Jen Kirby, “Trump Jokes with Putin About Russian Election Meddling and Getting ‘Rid’ of Journalists,” Vox, June 28, 2019,https://www.vox.com/2019/6/28/19102498/g20-trump-putin-election-meddling-fake-news.

“a sense of his soul”: “Press Conference by President Bush and Russian Federation President Putin,” White House, Office of the Press Secretary, June 16, 2001, https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/06/20010618.html.

CHAPTER 12

“Through your actions”: William H. McRaven, “Revoke My Security Clearance, Too, Mr. President,” Washington Post, August 16, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/revoke-my-security-clearance-too-mr-president/2018/08/16/8b149b02-a178-11e8-93e3-24d1703d2a7a_story.html.

“‘General’ McChrystal”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “‘General’ McChrystal got fired like a dog by Obama. Last assignment a total bust. Known for big, dumb mouth. Hillary lover!,” Twitter, January 1, 2019, 10:32 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1080124615920373760.

immoral and dishonest: Roey Hadar, “Retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal: President Donald Trump Immoral, Doesn’t Tell the Truth,” ABC News, December 30, 2018, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/retired-army-gen-stanley-mcchrystal-president-donald-trump/story?id=60065642.

“pocket of Putin”: John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan), “Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of “high crimes & misdemeanors.” It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???,” Twitter, July 16, 2018, 11:52 am, https://twitter.com/johnbrennan/status/1018885971104985093.

“unfounded and outrageous allegations”: “Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders,” White House, August 15, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/press-briefing-press-secretary-sarah-sanders-081518/.

“divided us as a nation”: McRaven, “Revoke My Security Clearance, Too, Mr. President.”

“I don’t know McRaven”: Richard Sisk, “Trump Brushes Off Criticism from Adm. McRaven: ‘Don’t Know Him,’” Military.com, August 17, 2018, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/08/17/trump-brushes-criticism-adm-mcraven-dont-know-him.html.

Wallace of Fox News: Andrew Kragie, “Everything’s Political to Trump, Even Killing Osama bin Laden,” The Atlantic, November 19, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/11/trump-denigrates-retired-admiral-mcraven-hillary-fan/576157/.

outdid one another to flatter: Tina Nguyen, “Trump Appointees Take Turns Praising Him in Bizarre Cabinet Meeting,” Vanity Fair, June 12, 2017, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/06/donald-trump-cabinet-meeting.

“men and women”: Adam Linehan, “Mattis Declines to Suck Up to Trump, Praises Troops Instead,” Task & Purpose, June 13, 2017, https://taskandpurpose.com/mattis-declines-to-suck-up-to-trump-praises-troops-instead.

blindsided by a Trump tweet: Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House (London: Simon and Schuster, 2018), 202.

“will be coming, nice”: Donald Trump (@realDonalTrump), “Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’ You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!,” Twitter, April 11, 2018, 3:57 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/984022625440747520?lang=en.

“We used a little”: Anne Gearan and Missy Ryan, “U.S. and Allies Warn Syria of More Missile Strikes If Chemical Attacks Used Again,” Washington Post, April 14, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-launches-missile-strikes-in-syria/2018/04/13/c68e89d0-3f4a-11e8-974f-aacd97698cef_story.html; “Briefing by Secretary Mattis on U.S. Strikes in Syria,” US Department of Defense, April 13, 2018, https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/1493658/briefing-by-secretary-mattis-on-us-strikes-in-syria/.

Trump also feuded: “Remarks by President Trump and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at Bilateral Breakfast,” White House, July 11, 2018, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-nato-secretary-general-jens-stoltenberg-bilateral-breakfast/.

“the most successful”: To Conduct a Confirmation Hearing on the Expected Nomination of Mr. James N. Mattis to Be Secretary of Defense, Senate Committee on Armed Services, January 12, 2017, https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/17-03_01-12-17.pdf.

made it a point: Tom Vanden Brook, “Defense Secretary Mattis Emphasizes NATO Commitment on First Day,” USA Today, January 23, 2017, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/23/mattis-support-nato/96971878/.

“We simply cannot trust”: “Remarks by Secretary Mattis on National Defense Strategy,” US Department of Defense, December 1, 2018, https://dod.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1702965/remarks-by-secretary-mattis-on-national-defense-strategy/.

“We fell in love”: Roberta Rampton, “‘We Fell in Love:’ Trump Swoons over Letters from North Korea’s Kim,” Reuters, September 30, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa-trump/we-fell-in-love-trump-swoons-over-letters-from-north-koreas-kim-idUSKCN1MA03Q.

ballistic missile program: David E. Saner et al., “New North Korea Concerns Flare as Trump’s Signature Diplomacy Wilts,” New York Times, May 9, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/09/world/asia/north-korea-missile.html.

mortar attacks landed: Dion Nissenbaum, “White House Sought Options to Strike Iran,” Wall Street Journal, January 13, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-sought-options-to-strike-iran-11547375404.

Mattis blocked Bolton: Peter Baker and Maggie Haberman, “Trump Undercuts Bolton on North Korea and Iran,” New York Times, May 28, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/28/us/politics/trump-john-bolton-north-korea-iran.html.

invasion of asylum seekers: Zach Montague, “Pentagon to Send 2,100 More Troops to the Southwestern Border,” New York Times, July 17, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/17/us/politics/troops-border-immigration.html.

“Tomorrow is one week”: David Folkenflik, “Tensions Rise at Fox News over Coverage and Rhetoric Surrounding Migrant Caravan,” NPR, October 30, 2018, https://www.npr.org/2018/10/30/662253600/tensions-rise-at-fox-news-over-coverage-and-rhetoric-surrounding-migrant-caravan.

“sort of a Democrat”: “Trump on Prospect of Mattis’ Departure: ‘At Some Point, Everybody Leaves,’” CBS News, October 14, 2018, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-60-minutes-interview-president-suggests-defense-secretary-james-mattis-could-be-next-to-leave-cabinet/.

off the mark: Amanda Macias, “Defense Secretary Mattis: ‘I’ve Never Registered for Any Political Party,’” CNBC, October 15, 2018, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/16/defense-secretary-mattis-never-registered-for-any-political-party.html.

“We are done”: Jeremy Diamond and Elise Labott, “Trump Told Turkey’s Erdogan in Dec. 14 Call about Syria, ‘It’s All Yours. We Are Done,’” CNN, December 24, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/23/politics/donald-trump-erdogan-turkey/index.html.

“period of years”: Peter Bergen, “Trump’s Bizarre Decision on Syria,” CNN, December 19, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/19/opinions/trump-withdrawal-syria-bergen/index.html.

“We have defeated ISIS”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” Twitter, December 19, 2018, 9:29 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1075397797929775105.

“they’re coming back now”: Courtney Kube, Carol E. Lee, and Josh Lederman, “U.S. Troops to Leave Syria as President Trump Declares Victory over ISIS,” NBC News, December 20, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-troops-leave-syria-president-trump-declares-victory-over-n949806.

see the president: “Defense Secretary Jim Mattis Quits in Protest of Trump’s Views,” Erin Burnett Outfront, CNN, December 20, 2018, http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1812/20/ebo.01.html.

two-page resignation letter: “James Mattis’ Resignation Letter,” CNN, December 21, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/20/politics/james-mattis-resignation-letter-doc/index.html.

Trump called Secretary of State: Dan Lamothe, “Trump’s Explanation for Why Mattis Left as Defense Secretary Changes Again,” Washington Post, February 1, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2019/02/01/trumps-explanation-why-mattis-left-defense-secretary-changes-again/.

replaced by Patrick Shanahan: Uri Friedman, “America, Meet Your (Acting) Secretary of Defense,” The Atlantic, January 1, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/01/acting-defense-secretary-shanahan-boeing-experience-trump/579232/.

domestic violence dispute: Zachary Cohen et al., “Shanahan Withdraws as Trump’s Defense Pick as Domestic Incidents Resurface,” CNN, June 18, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/18/politics/shanahan-out-defense-secretary/index.html.

“When President Obama”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “When President Obama ingloriously fired Jim Mattis, I gave him a second chance. Some thought I shouldn’t, I thought I should. Interesting relationship-but I also gave all of the resources that he never really had. Allies are very important-but not when they take advantage of U.S.,” Twitter, December 22, 2018, 9:20 pm, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1076663817831153664.

“I am pleased”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American. . . . ,” Twitter, July 28, 2017, 4:49 pm, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/891038014314598400.

Kelly saw his tenure: Molly O’Toole, “John F. Kelly Says His Tenure as Trump’s Chief of Staff Is Best Measured by What the President Did Not Do,” Los Angeles Times, December 30, 2018, https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-john-kelly-exit-interview-20181230-story.html.

John Bolton was dispatched: David E. Sanger, Noah Weiland, and Eric Schmitt, “Bolton Puts Conditions on Syria Withdrawal, Suggesting a Delay of Months or Years,” New York Times, January 6, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/06/world/middleeast/bolton-syria-pullout.html.

“Bolton’s remarks in Israel”: Bianca Britton et al., “Turkey’s Erdogan Slams Bolton, as Trump Position on Syria Seems to Shift,” CNN, January 8, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/08/politics/erdogan-bolton-syria-kurds-turkey-intl/index.html.

“prudent and necessary”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “The Failing New York Times has knowingly written a very inaccurate story on my intentions on Syria. No different from my original statements, we will be leaving at a proper pace while at the same time continuing to fight ISIS and doing all else that is prudent and necessary!. . . .,” Twitter, January 7, 2019, 9:55 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1082289526339448832.

CHAPTER 13

“There is no instance”: Sun Tzu, Sun Tzu on the Art of War, translated by Lionel Giles, (Leicester, UK: Allandale Online Publishing, 2000), https://sites.ualberta.ca/~enoch/Readings/The_Art_Of_War.pdf.

“The worst thing”: Donald Trump and Tony Schwartz, Trump: The Art of the Deal (New York: Ballantine Books, 2015), 53.

“in the Middle East”: “Remarks by President Trump in State of the Union Address,” White House, February 6, 2019, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-state-union-address-2/.

special representative for Afghanistan: Peter Bergen, “Is the Trump Team Pulling Off a Diplomatic Coup to End America’s Longest War?,” CNN, January 29, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/28/opinions/is-the-trump-team-pulling-off-a-diplomatic-coup-to-end-americas-longest-war-bergen/index.html.

“terms of our surrender”: Ryan Crocker, “I Was Ambassador to Afghanistan. This Deal Is a Surrender,” Washington Post, January 29, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-was-ambassador-to-afghanistan-this-deal-is-a-surrender/2019/01/29/8700ed68-2409-11e9-ad53-824486280311_story.html.

Khalilzad hadn’t spoken: Bergen, “Is the Trump Team Pulling Off a Diplomatic Coup.”

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai: Bergen, “Is the Trump Team Pulling Off a Diplomatic Coup.”

Mohib told the reporters: Jennifer Hansler and Kylie Atwood, “Senior Afghan Official Accuses US Envoy of ‘Delegitimizing’ Afghan Government,” CNN, March 14, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/14/politics/mohib-khalilzad-afghanistan-row/index.html.

a supremely undiplomatic attack: Hansler and Atwood, “Senior Afghan Official Accuses US Envoy.”

“it’s very important”: “Exclusive Interview: Trump Sits Down with Tucker Carlson in Japan,” Fox News, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRQW675j6dM.

“If we wanted to fight”: Quint Forgey, “Trump: I Could Win Afghanistan War ‘in a Week,’” Politico, July 22, 2019, https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/22/trump-afghanistan-war-1425692.

“the kind of U.S. withdrawal”: David Petraeus and Vance Serchuk, “The U.S. Abandoned Iraq. Don’t Repeat History in Afghanistan,” Wall Street Journal, August 9, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-u-s-abandoned-iraq-dont-repeat-history-in-afghanistan-11565385301.

CHAPTER 14

The central image: Richard Hofstadter, The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays (New York: Vintage Books, 2008), 29.

“This attack is a response”: Peter Baker and Michael D. Shear, “El Paso Shooting Suspect’s Manifesto Echoes Trump’s Language,” New York Times, August 4, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/04/us/politics/trump-mass-shootings.html.

“unknown Middle Easterners”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “Sadly, it looks like Mexico’s Police and Military are unable to stop the Caravan heading to the Southern Border of the United States. Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in. I have alerted Border Patrol and Military that this is a National Emergy. Must change laws!,” Twitter, October 22, 2018, 8:37 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1054351078328885248.

lethal terrorist attacks: Peter Bergen et al., “Terrorism in America after 9/11,” New America, accessed August 1, 2019, https://www.newamerica.org/in-depth/terrorism-in-america/who-are-terrorists/.

not one . . . southern border: Peter Bergen, “There Is No National Emergency,” CNN, February 14, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/07/opinions/border-wall-would-do-nothing-to-stop-terrorism-bergen/index.html.

“no credible information”: Philip Bump, “Key Parts of the Trump Administration’s Border Rhetoric Are Wrong, According to the Trump Administration,” Washington Post, January 8, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/08/key-parts-trump-administrations-border-rhetoric-are-wrong-according-trump-administration.

jihadist terrorism cases: Bergen et al, “Terrorism in America after 9/11.”

The largest number: Bergen et al. “Terrorism in America after 9/11.”

“more like an invasion”: “Fox News Host: Migrant Caravan Looks ‘More Like an Invasion Than Anything Else,’” Daily Beast, November 2, 2018, https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-host-migrant-caravan-looks-more-like-an-invasion-than-anything-else.

“This is an invasion”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “Many Gang Members and some very bad people are mixed into the Caravan heading to our Southern Border. Please go back, you will not be admitted into the United States unless you go through the legal process. This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!,” Twitter, October 29, 2018, 10:41 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1056919064906469376.

Robert Bowers murdered: Julie Turkewitz and Kevin Roose, “Who Is Robert Bowers, the Suspect in the Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting?,” New York Times, October 27, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/us/robert-bowers-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooter.html.

In early January2019: Peter Bergen, “There Is No National Emergency,” CNN, February 14, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/07/opinions/border-wall-would-do-nothing-to-stop-terrorism-bergen/index.html.

“a big surprise”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “Border rancher: “We’ve found prayer rugs out here. It’s unreal.” Washington Examiner People coming across the Southern Border from many countries, some of which would be a big surprise,” Twitter, January 18, 2019, 8:22 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1086252588088082432.

no photos of the rugs: For a recounting of this episode, see Tim Alberta, America Carnage, 588.

sixty miles of wall: Lucy Rodgers and Dominic Bailey, “Trump Wall—All You Need to Know about US Border in Seven Charts,” BBC News, June 26, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46824649.

highest homicide rates: Daniel F. Runde and Mark L Schneider, “A New Social Contract for the Northern Triangle,” Center for Strategic and International Studies, May 2019, https://csis-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/190507_RundeandSchneider_NTCA_pageproofs3.pdf.

“long faced a persistent security threat”: Peter Bergen and David Sterman, “The Huge Threat to America That Trump Ignores,” CNN, August 4, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/04/opinions/el-paso-dayton-far-right-threat-bergen-sterman/index.html.

lethal terrorist attack against Hispanics: Peter Baker and Michael D. Shear, “El Paso Shooting Suspect’s Manifesto Echoes Trump’s Language,” New York Times, August 4, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/04/us/politics/trump-mass-shootings.html.

had predated Trump becoming president: Bergen and Sterman, “The Huge Threat to America That Trump Ignores.”

with the 22 fatalities: “Part IV. What Is the Threat to the United States Today?” New America, accessed August 13, 2019, https://www.newamerica.org/in-depth/terrorism-in-america/what-threat-united-states-today/.

“racism, bigotry and white supremacy”: Catherine Lucey, Rebecca Ballhaus, and Natalie Andrews, “Trump Condemns Racism, Bigotry and White Supremacy After Weekend Shootings,” Wall Street Journal, August 5, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-suggests-lawmakers-could-combine-gun-background-check-legislation-with-immigration-reform-11565004350.

CHAPTER 15

“Everybody has a plan”: Mike Beradino, “Mike Tyson Explains One of His Most Famous Quotes,” South Florida Sun Sentinel, November 9, 2012, https://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/fl-xpm-2012-11-09-sfl-mike-tyson-explains-one-of-his-most-famous-quotes-20121109-story.html.

“I stopped it”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “. . . . On Monday they shot down an unmanned drone flying in International Waters. We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not. . . . ,” Twitter, June 21, 2019, 9:03 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1142055388965212161.

avoided service in Vietnam: Michael Daly, “The Fallen Heroes Who Went to Vietnam in John Bolton’s Place,” Daily Beast, April 13, 2018, https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-fallen-heroes-who-went-to-vietnam-in-john-boltons-place.

the nuclear deal: Edward Wong, Helene Cooper, and Megan Specia, “Trump Adds Troops after Iran Says It Will Breach Nuclear Deal,” New York Times, June 17, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/17/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-deal-compliance.html.

I’m the one who tempers”: “Trump Says Bolton Doing a Good Job but Has to Temper Him,” Reuters, May 9, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-bolton/trump-says-bolton-doing-a-good-job-but-has-to-temper-him-idUSKCN1SF2AI.

Meanwhile, Bolton, who: (@AmbJohnBolton), “Delighted to be in Ulaanbaatar & looking forward to meeting with officials to find ways to harness Mongolia’s capabilities in support of our shared economic & security objectives. Thank you for the warm welcome Secretary of State @davaasuren_d,” Twitter, June 30, 2019, 7:12 am, https://twitter.com/ambjohnbolton/status/1145288948291440642.

Colonel Douglas Macgregor: “Tom Homan: Migrant Families Are Coming in at Record Numbers Because They Know We Can’t Detain Them All,” Tucker Carlson Tonight, Fox News, May 20, 2019, https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/tom-homan-migrant-families-are-coming-in-at-record-numbers-because-they-know-we-cant-detain-them-all.

Oil prices jumped: “Oil Jumps 3% Towards $64 as US Drone Downed in Gulf,” RTÉ, June 20, 2019. https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2019/0620/1056413-world-oil-prices/.

troops to the Middle East: “Statement from the National Security Adviser Ambassador John Bolton,” White House, May 5, 2019, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-national-security-adviser-ambassador-john-bolton-2/ [inactive].

“the official end of Iran”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!,” Twitter, May 19, 2019, 4:25 pm, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1130207891049332737.

“a very big mistake”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), “Iran made a very big mistake!,” Twitter, June 20, 2019, 10:15 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1141711064305983488.

halved Iran’s oil exports: Alex Lawler, “Hit by Sanctions and Rising Tensions, Iran’s Oil Exports Slide in July,” Reuters, July 30, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-iran-exports/hit-by-sanctions-and-rising-tensions-irans-oil-exports-slide-in-july-idUSKCN1UP1UD.

reduce its support: Liz Sly and Suzan Haidamous, “Trump’s Sanctions on Iran Are Hitting Hezbollah, and It Hurts,” Washington Post, May 18, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/trumps-sanctions-on-iran-are-hitting-hezbollah-hard/2019/05/18/970bc656-5d48-11e9-98d4-844088d135f2_story.html.

Zarif told reporters: David E. Sanger, “Iran’s Foreign Minister Proposes Modest Deal to End Impasse with U.S.,” New York Times, July 18, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/us/politics/zarif-iran-nuclear-deal.html.

“not be shortsighted”: Farnaz Fassihi, “As Conflict with U.S. Grows, Some Iran Hard-Liners Suggest Talking to Trump,” New York Times, July 19, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/world/middleeast/iran-hard-liners-trump-talks.html.

above 4.5 percent: Parisa Hafezi, “Iran to Lift Uranium Enrichment to 5%, above Level in 2015 Deal: Official,” Reuters, July 6, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-iran-usa-announcement/iran-to-lift-uranium-enrichment-to-5-above-level-in-2015-deal-official-idUSKCN1U10HP.

CHAPTER 16

It was a roll call: Donald J. Trump, “Remarks by President Trump at a Salute to America,” Speech, Washington, DC, January 4, 2019, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-salute-america/.

Confounding his critics: Madeleine Joung, “President Trump Has Planned a Controversial Fourth of July ‘Salute to America,’ Here’s What to Know,” Time, July 4, 2019, https://time.com/5619191/donald-trump-july-4-speech-controversy/.

Trump watched as dozens: Jabeen Bhatti and Jane Onyanga-Omara, “President Trump Is Guest of Honor at Ornate Paris Bastille Day Celebrations,” CNBC, July 14, 2017, https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/14/president-trump-is-guest-of-honor-at-ornate-paris-bastille-day-celebrations.html.

Initially, Trump planned: Tamara Keith, “Trump’s Military Parade Could Cost As Much As $50 Million,” NPR, February 15, 2018, https://www.npr.org/2018/02/15/585924807/trumps-military-parade-could-cost-as-much-as-50-million.

As a light rain fell: Trump, “Remarks by President Trump at a Salute to America.”

Trump presided over substantial increases: James N. Miller and Michael E. O’Hanlon, “Quality over Quantity: U.S. Military Strategy and Spending in the Trump Years,” Brookings, January 2019, https://www.brookings.edu/research/quality-over-quantity-u-s-military-strategy-and-spending-in-the-trump-years/.

only six of the twenty-nine: “Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2011-2018),” North Atlantic Treaty Organization, News release, July 10, 2018, https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/pdf_2018_07/20180709_180710-pr2018-91-en.pdf.

J-31 stealth fighter: Jim Sciutto, The Shadow War: Inside Russia’s and China’s Secret Operations to Defeat America (New York: Harper Collins, 2019), 54.

Intellectual property theft: Sherisse Pham, “How Much Has the US Lost from China’s IP Theft?,” CNN, March 23, 2018, https://money.cnn.com/2018/03/23/technology/china-us-trump-tariffs-ip-theft/index.html.

During the campaign, Trump: Michelle Ye Hee Lee, “Donald Trump’s Claim That China ‘Will Enter’ the Trans-Pacific Partnership ‘at a Later Date,’” Washington Post, June 30, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/06/30/donald-trumps-claim-that-china-will-enter-the-trans-pacific-partnership-at-a-later-date/.

In fact, China was not part: James McBride and Andrew Chatzky, “What Is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)?,” Council on Foreign Relations, January 4, 2019, https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp.

It was striking, then: Idrees Ali, “U.S. Military Puts ‘Great Power Competition’ at Heart of Strategy: Mattis,” Reuters, January 19, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-china-russia/u-s-military-puts-great-power-competition-at-heart-of-strategy-mattis-idUSKBN1F81TR.

it was China: “The World Bank in China Overview,” The World Bank, April 8, 2019, https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/overview.

“building the most capable”: “National Security Strategy of the United States of America,” White House, December 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final-12-18-2017-0905-2.pdf.

“a fight with a different civilization”: Kiron Skinner, “What Does the State Department Think Will Be the Challenges of 2030?,” New America, ASU Future Security Forum, April 29, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZJL0NfJtaQ.

“the first time that”: “What Does the State Department Think Will Be the Challenges of 2030?,” Interview by Anne-Marie Slaughter and Kiron Skinner, Future Security Forum 2019, April 29, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZJL0NfJtaQ&t=21s.

For Trump, the military aspirations: Ben White and Aubree Eliza Weaver, “Trump Makes No Sense on Tariffs,” Politico, September 18, 2018, https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-money/2018/09/18/trump-makes-no-sense-on-tariffs-344232.

Trump imposed additional tariffs: “USTR Announces Next Steps on Proposed 10 Percent Tariff on Imports from China,” Office of the United States Trade Representative, August 13, 2019, https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2019/august/ustr-announces-next-steps-proposed.

new tariffs would only be applied: “USTR Announces Next Steps on Proposed 10 Percent Tariff on Imports from China.”

Trump had presided over: Teddy Ng, “US Steps up Freedom of Navigation Patrols in South China Sea to Counter Beijing’s Ambitions,” South China Morning Post, February 16, 2019.

communications and operations: For more on the Chinese militarization of space, see Jim Sciutto, The Shadow War, 163.

Pentagon had considered climate change: “Report on Effects of a Changing Climate to the Department of Defense,” Department of Defense, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, January 2019, https://climateandsecurity.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/sec_335_ndaa-report_effects_of_a_changing_climate_to_dod.pdf.

Paris climate agreement: Michael D. Shear, “Trump Will Withdraw U.S. from Paris Climate Agreement,” New York Times, June 1, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/climate/trump-paris-climate-agreement.html.

“I was elected by voters”: “Statement by President Trump on the Paris Climate Accord,” White House, June 1, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-trump-paris-climate-accord/.

as an “expensive hoax”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldJTrump), “We should be focused on magnificently clean and healthy air and not distracted by the expensive hoax that is global warming!,” Twitter, December 6, 2013, 7:38 am, https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/408983789830815744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E408983789830815744&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fpolicy-and-politics%2F2017%2F6%2F1%2F15726472 %2Ftrump-tweets-global-warming-paris-climate-agreement.

“the concept of global warming”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldJTrump), “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive,” Twitter, November 6, 2012, 11:15 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/265895292191248385?lang=ca.

“I’m not denying climate change”: “Trump Says Climate Change Not a ‘Hoax’ but Questions If It’s ‘Manmade,’” CBS, October 15, 2018, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-says-climate-change-not-a-hoax-but-questions-if-its-manmade/.

“Large parts of the Country”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldJTrump), “Be careful and try staying in your house. Large parts of the country are suffering from tremendous amounts of snow and near record setting cold. Amazing how big this system is. Wouldn’t be bad to have a little of that good old fashioned Global Warming right now!,” Twitter, January 20, 2019, 4:59 a.m., https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1086971499725160448?lang=en.

“I believe that there is”: “Interview: Piers Morgan Interviews Donald Trump on Good Morning Britain—July 16, 2018,” Good Morning Britain, July 13, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8dzpol5D0Q.

disagreed about the facts: Zeke Miller, Eric Tucker, and Deb Riechmann, “Trump Says Coats Is Out as National Intelligence Director,” Associated Press, July 29, 2019, https://www.apnews.com/6ad59c9104dc425bba166de4b9723612.

“We continue to assess”: Daniel R. Coats, “Statement for the Record: Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community, “January 29, 2019, https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/2019-ATA-SFR—-SSCI.pdf [inactive].

“Perhaps Intelligence should”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldJTrump), “. . . . a source of potential danger and conflict. They are testing Rockets (last week) and more, and are coming very close to the edge. There economy is now crashing, which is the only thing holding them back. Be careful of Iran. Perhaps Intelligence should go back to school!” Twitter, January 30, 2019, 5:56 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1090609577006112769?lang=en.

Ratcliffe, a three-term House member: Peter Bergen, “Trump Clashes with a Truth Teller and Replaces Him with a Partisan Sycophant,” CNN, July 29, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/29/opinions/trump-clashes-with-truth-teller-bergen/index.html.

“I think we need somebody: Jonathan Landay, “Defending Intelligence Pick, Trump Says U.S. Spy Agencies ‘Run Amok,’” Reuters, July 30, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-intelligence/defending-intelligence-pick-trump-says-u-s-spy-agencies-run-amok-idUSKCN1UP2JX.

together with his scant qualifications: Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent, “Another Trump Nominee Goes Down in Flames. This Is a Big One,” Washington Post, August 2, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/02/another-trump-nominee-goes-down-flames-this-is-big-one/.

K. T. McFarland: Adam Entous, “The Agonizingly Slow Downfall of K. T. McFarland,” New Yorker, January 29, 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-agonizingly-slow-downfall-of-k-t-mcfarland.

Bill Shine: Maggie Haberman, “Bill Shine, Ousted from Fox News in Scandal, Joins White House Communications Team,” New York Times, July 5, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/us/politics/bill-shine-white-house-communications.html.

Mercedes Schlapp: “President Donald J. Trump Announces White House Appointments,” White House, September 12, 2017, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/president-donald-j-trump-announces-white-house-appointments-2/.

Heather Nauert: Emily Tamkin, “Trump Will Nominate a Former Fox News Host and State Department Spokesperson to the Top UN Job,” BuzzFeed News, December 7, 2018, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilytamkin/heather-nauert-trump-fox-news-un-ambassador-nominate.

Morgan Ortagus: Samuel Chamberlain and John Roberts, “Morgan Ortagus to Be Named State Department Spokeswoman,” Fox News, April 2, 2019, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/morgan-ortagus-to-be-named-state-department-spokeswoman.

“You’ve got to be honest”: Nick Givas, “Tucker Carlson Says Trump ‘Dominated’ Kim as ‘Wheezing’ North Korean Dictator Struggled,” Fox News, June 30, 2019, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-kim-north-korea-dominated-wheezing-dmz-tucker-carlson.

“as dumb as a rock”: Allan Smith, “Trump Lashes Out at Rex Tillerson for Saying Putin Out-prepared Him,” NBC News, May 23, 2019, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-lashes-out-rex-tillerson-saying-putin-out-prepared-him-n1009156.

“What’s he done for me?”: Leo Shane III, “Trump Insists He Fired Mattis, Says Former Defense Secretary Was ‘Not Too Good’ at the Job,” Military Times, January 2, 2019, https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/01/02/trump-insists-he-fired-mattis-says-former-defense-secretary-was-not-too-good-at-the-job/.

Trump so berated homeland security secretary: Michael D. Shear and Nicole Perlroth, “Kirstjen Nielsen, Chief of Homeland Security, Almost Resigns After Trump Tirade,” New York Times, May 10, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/10/us/politics/trump-homeland-security-secretary-resign.html.

America’s racial divisions: Peter Baker, “Trump Fans the Flames of a Racial Fire,” New York Times, July 14, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/14/us/politics/trump-twitter-race.html.

baseless conspiracy theories: Zachary B.Wolf, “How Trump’s Paranoia and Conspiracy Theories Become US Policy,” CNN, August 12, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/12/politics/trump-conspiracy-theories-jeffrey-epstein/index.html.

made false claims: “100 Days of Trump Claims,” Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims/?utm_term=.eafb5fb96211.

Lyndon Johnson routinely gave: Joseph A. Califano, The Triumph & Tragedy of Lyndon Johnson: The White House Years (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2014), Electronic.

Nixon was a paranoid liar: “Rapprochement with China, 1972,” Office of the Historian, accessed August 19, 2019, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1969-1976/rapprochement-china.

Reagan was a fantasist: Eric Alterman, “Ronald Reagan Superstar,” The Nation, February 17, 2011, https://www.thenation.com/article/ronald-reagan-superstar/.

grabbing an unfair share: For a larger discussion of this point, see Arlie Russell Hochschild, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (New York: New Press, 2016).

“We all share”: “Remarks by President Trump at a Salute to America,” White House, July 5, 2019, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-salute-america/.

“And from the banks”: “Remarks by President Trump at a Salute to America.”

“Why don’t they go back”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldJTrump), “. . . and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run.Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how. . . . ,” Twitter, July 14, 2019, 5:27 am, https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1150381395078000643?lang=en.

“I felt like I was”: Michael D’Antonio, The Truth About Trump, (New York: St. Martin’s, 2016), 70.

“locked and loaded”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1173368423381962752

EPILOGUE

Jim Mattis launched: James N Mattis and Francis J West, Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead (New York: Random House), 2019.

Upper East Side: “Distinguished Voices Series with Jim Mattis,” Council on Foreign Relations, September 3, 2019, www.cfr.org/event/distinguished-voices-series-jim-mattis-0.

“a truly consequential election”: “Distinguished Voices Series with Jim Mattis.”

“I’m old fashioned”: Mattis and West, Call Sign Chaos, xiii.

Sold for a reported $300 million: David Carr, “Covering the World of Business, Digital Only,” New York Times, September 23, 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/business/media/with-digital-only-quartz-atlantic-to-cover-business-world.html.

into a profitable enterprise: “The Atlantic Announces Expansion,” The Atlantic, February 21, 2018, www.theatlantic.com/press-releases/archive/2018/02/the-atlantic-announces-expansion/553871/.

for $100 million: Lukas I. Alpert, “The Atlantic, Propped Up by Laurene Powell Jobs, Charts New Course,” Wall Street Journal, August 24, 2019, www.wsj.com/articles/the-atlantic-propped-up-by-steve-jobss-widow-charts-new-course-11566651600.

a “residual force”: Mattis and West, Call Sign Chaos, 206–8.

“filled by Sunni terrorists”: Mattis and West, Call Sign Chaos, 206–8.

egging on the president: Bob Sellers, “Tariff Man: Behind Trump Economic Advisor Peter Navarro’s Long Quest to Ratchet Up the Trade War With China,” Forbes, August 27, 2019, https://fortune.com/2019/08/27/tariff-man-behind-trump-economic-advisor-peter-navarros-long-quest-to-ratchet-up-the-trade-war-with-china/.

a heat-seeking missile: Susan B. Glasser, “Mike Pompeo, The Secretary of Trump,” New Yorker, August 19, 2019, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/08/26/mike-pompeo-the-secretary-of-trump.

a call that he made: “Read Trump’s Phone Conversation with Volodymyr Zelensky,” CNN, September 26, 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/09/25/politics/donald-trump-ukraine-transcript-call/index.html.

Bolton had advised: Carol E. Lee et al., “Bolton Criticizes Trump Policy on North Korea as Sources Say He Opposed Call to Ukraine,” NBC, September 30, 2019, www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/john-bolton-says-north-korea-will-never-give-nuclear-weapons-n1060286.

Pompeo listening in: Jason Horowitz and Richard Pérez-Peña, “Pompeo Confirms He Listened to Trump’s Call to Ukraine President,” New York Times, October 2, 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/10/02/world/europe/pompeo-trump-italy.html.

general Keith Kellogg: Greg Miller, Greg Jaffe, and Ashley Parker, “Trump Involved Pence in Efforts to Pressure Ukraine’s Leader, Though Officials Say Vice President Was Unaware of Allegations in Whistleblower Complaint,” Washington Post, October 2, 2019, https://washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-involved-pence-in-efforts-to-pressure-ukraines-leader-though-aides-say-vice-president-was-unaware-of-pursuit-of-dirt-on-bidens/2019/10/02/263aa9e2-e4a7-11e9-b403-f738899982d2_story.html.

he continued to support: Anton Troianovski and Ksenia Ivanova, “To Avoid Sanctions, Kremlin Goes off the Grid,” Washington Post, November 21, 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/11/21/feature/how-russia-avoids-sanctions-and-supports-rebels-in-eastern-ukraine-using-a-financial-system/.

$400 million of military assistance: Karoun Demirijian et al., “Trump Ordered Hold on Military Aid Days before Calling Ukrainian President, Officials Say,” Washington Post, September 23, 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-ordered-hold-on-military-aid-days-before-calling-ukrainian-president-officials-say/2019/09/23/df93a6ca-de38-11e9-8dc8-498eabc129a0_story.html.

Ukrainian investigators had concluded: Will England, “Ukraine’s New Chief Prosecutor to ‘Audit’ Biden Case,” Washington Post, October 4, 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/ukraines-new-chief-prosecutor-to-audit-biden-case/2019/10/04/fce8d3fa-e68d-11e9-a6e8-8759c5c7f608_story.html.

I would like you to do us a favor: “Read Trump’s Phone Conversation with Volodymyr Zelensky.”

but here was the president: Scott Shane, “How a Fringe Theory About Ukraine Took Root in the White House,” New York Times, October 3, 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/10/03/us/politics/trump-ukraine-conspiracy.html.

erratic and bombastic: Adam K. Raymond and Matt Stieb, “The Wildest Moments From Rudy Giuliani’s Ukraine Scandal Media Blitz,” New York Magazine, October 3, 2019, http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/rudy-giuliani-ukraine-media-wild-moments.html.

Trump doubled down: Peter Baker and Eileen Sullivan, “Trump Publicly Urges China to Investigate the Bidens,” New York Times, October 3, 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/10/03/us/politics/trump-china-bidens.html.

Moved House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: Heather Caygle et al., “Why Pelosi and Her Party Finally Embraced Impeachment,” Politico, September 26, 2019, www.politico.com/news/2019/09/26/nancy-pelosi-impeachment-trump-002118.