Trump: The Hidden Halo

‘Trump was stupid. Trump was racist. Trump was sexist. Trump was dangerous. Trump debased the office of US President, embarrassed his country and brought America to the brink of civil war.’

Such is the orthodoxy about the 45th President of the United States: billionaire businessman, TV personality and the most controversial American President in history. Throughout his administration, the contempt in which he was held by the establishment and political left across the western world near enough silenced any alternative view. And yet he came within inches of re-election and would almost certainly have won a second term if not for the global coronavirus pandemic.

Undeterred by the establishment’s noisy vilification, large sections of the American public formed their own view of this extraordinary character - and they liked what they saw.

In a quest to redress the balance in what is usually a hopelessly partisan debate, author Simon Dolan looks behind the media hyperbole to offer a very different take on Donald J. Trump, exploring the achievements and traits that appealed to voters in their millions.

Trump: The Hidden Halo sets out Trump’s remarkable economic record and reveals the real impact on jobs and wages of the ‘America First’ approach. Drawing on interviews with political, diplomatic and military figures, it outlines his foreign policy achievements in the Middle East and beyond, taking in his historic dealings with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and his tough stance towards China and Iran. Most of all, it investigates his astonishing ability to overcome the weight of establishment disapproval, connecting with tens of millions of ordinary American voters.