By Michael Wolff
Forty-five years ago, when Bob Woodward and Carl Bernsteinâs âThe Final Daysâ came out, it was a different world: There was no cable news, no internet and no social media, and the political establishment offered at least the illusion of being in control. The Watergate scandal, culminating in Richard Nixonâs resignation, presented a riveting series of public events â hearings, trials and so on â but that left it open to Woodward and Bernstein to tell the story of what had been going on behind the scenes.
âLandslide: The Final Days of the Trump White House,â Michael Wolffâs third book about Donald Trumpâs presidency, after âFire and Furyâ and âSiege,â faces a different challenge in recounting Trumpâs political demise (for now). Penetrating a buttoned-up White House was not the issue, because Trump ran his administration as a public performance. Nixon spoke calmly in public and ranted and cursed to his aides. Trump put his self-pity, revenge fantasies and paranoia on full display at his rallies and in his tweets. He was indiscreet, and he surrounded himself with other indiscreet people, whom he often motivated to become especially indiscreet by humiliating or firing them. How can one lend an element of revelation to an account of the crazy, terrifying weeks between Election Day 2020 and President Bidenâs inauguration?