I hate myself, but I read Regime Change, the Trump tell-all from Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. I usually try to avoid these kind of books because I don’t believe newspaper journalists should “save” their best scoops for months and years, until after the sweet book-deal check cashes. And also, I think books about Trump administration palace intrigue are the lowest form of #resistance-bait, a lurid soap opera for liberals desperate for shocks.
But I chose to read this one because I genuinely have no idea what it’s like behind the scenes of the White House in this second Trump administration. They all behave so oddly, and seem so divorced from reality, that I was hoping Haberman and Swan might have some insights as to what the fuck is going on, because I sure have no clue.
The answer, I guess, is they did have some insights. But Regime Change is still not a good book. And it’s probably not worth your time—it’s just as disposable as all the first-term Trump books were.
One of the few insights this book delivered is the fact that JD Vance is an Extremely Online Conspiracy Theorist. In the days after his friend Charlie Kirk was shot and killed, Vance reportedly fell down such a conspiracy rabbit hole that his wife had to intervene. This is truly bizarre—I can’t understand how a man so close to the levers of power somehow still believes in shadowy, elaborate conspiracy theories. Either Vance is a total idiot, or he’s experiencing a mental health crisis.
But in the end, Regime Change is just more of the same. Did you know that the president is an addled, moronic narcissist surrounded by some of the most damaged and evil human beings living in America right now? If you didn’t know that, welcome to Hell and here’s your copy of Regime Change to get you up to speed.
Everyone else: Please disregard. As you were.
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