America Is Great

The most dangerous point in the arc of a nation’s power is when the apogee of its greatness is passed but it is not yet resigned to decline. That’s where Trump’s America is. Which is really, really great.

‘Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success,’ by Michael D’Antonio

This access nonetheless enables D’Antonio to showcase Trump’s tendency to turn any question into a discussion of himself. Asked to name a book that influenced him, he replies: “I would love to read. I’ve had many best sellers, as you know, and ‘The Art of the Deal’ was one of the ­biggest-selling books of all time — that’s really what started this whole thing.” Soon he’s on to “The Apprentice” — “the No. 1 show on television” — but not a book at all.

.. Most of Trump’s claims — to being a great deal-maker, a great athlete, a great businessman — are hard to verify, though there seems little more than a kernel of truth to at least some of them.

.. Much of that wealth comes from the Trump brand rather than deal-making per se. His star turn on NBC’s “The Celebrity Apprentice,” his licensing fees, his books, his speaking engagements, even his men’s wear line, have brought in millions.

.. But he’s hardly another Henry R. Kravis or Carl C. Icahn. Four of his heavily indebted casino companies filed for bankruptcy, stiffing his creditors. Citibank took possession of the ill-fated Trump Shuttle airline. Trump himself narrowly escaped personal bankruptcy. As David Segal of The Washington Post wrote: “The people who know the least about business admire him the most, and those who know the most about business admire him the least.”

.. Trump begins each day with a sheaf of papers detailing where and how often his name has been mentioned in the global press.

.. His father, Fred, was demanding, withholding and a workaholic. “The father was really tough on the kid,” according to Theodore Dobias, a coach and something of a father figure to Trump. “He was very German.”

.. He has tapped into an angry segment of the population that admires the Trump brand, which stands for success, a willingness to fight and a contempt for elites in the media and the political establishment.

.. Based on “Never Enough,” it’s hard to imagine anyone who has less in common with George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt, considered by many scholars our three greatest presidents, than Donald Trump. Among their other virtues, they are revered for their honesty (Washington), modesty (Lincoln) and compassion for the poor (Roosevelt).

Donald Trump Finds Defenders and Detractors Among Conservatives

Still, Frank Luntz, the Republican consultant who was interviewing Mr. Trump in front of the evangelical audience in Iowa when he made the “cracker” comments about communion, said that he believes Mr. Trump’s reputation as a ruthless fighter is something that is appealing to Christian conservatives who believe their way of life is under constant assault.

Even after the “cracker” quip — “You could hear, audibly, shock in the room,” Mr. Luntz said — many people did not seem terribly bothered. “This is the Paul Simon principle of politics: A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest,” Mr. Luntz said, summing up Mr. Trump’s enduring and paradoxical popularity with many Christian voters.