UPDATE: After thoughtful consideration, and out of general caution for COVID-19, this event has been cancelled.
Join Pulitzer Prize-winning co-authors Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker as they sit down in conversation with Nicolle Wallace, host of MSNBC's "Deadline: White House," to discuss their topical book A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America.
“I alone can fix it.” So went Donald J. Trump’s march to the presidency on July 21, 2016, when he accepted the Republican presidential nomination in Cleveland, promising to restore what he described as a fallen nation. Yet over the subsequent years, as he has undertaken the actual work of the commander in chief, it has been hard to see beyond the daily chaos of scandal, investigation, and constant bluster. It would be all too easy to mistake Trump’s first term for one of pure and uninhibited chaos, but there were patterns to his behavior and that of his associates. The universal value of the Trump administration is loyalty–not to the country, but to the president himself–and Trump’s North Star has been the perpetuation of his own power, even when it meant imperiling our shaky and mistrustful democracy.
Leonnig and Rucker, with deep and unmatched sources throughout Washington, D.C., tell of rages and frenzies but also moments of courage and perseverance. Relying on scores of exclusive new interviews with some of the most senior members of the Trump administration and other firsthand witnesses, the authors reveal the forty-fifth president up close, taking readers inside Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation as well as the president’s own haphazard but, ultimately, successful legal defense. Here for the first time certain officials who have felt honor-bound not to publicly criticize a sitting president or to divulge what they witnessed in a position of trust tell the truth for the benefit of history.
This peerless and gripping narrative reveals President Trump at his most unvarnished and exposes how decision making in his administration has been driven by a reflexive logic of self-preservation and self-aggrandizement–but a logic nonetheless. This is the story of how an unparalleled president has scrambled to survive and tested the strength of America’s democracy and its common heart as a nation.
The event will be introduced by Mark Lipton, professor of management at the Milano School of Policy, Management, and Environment at The New School.
Presented by the Milano School of Policy, Management, and Environment at the Schools of Public Engagement and Strand Bookstore.
Free for New School students, faculty, staff and alumni who RSVP via their newschool.edu email address.
$20 for General Admission; $35 for General Admission and a signed copy of the book. Tickets may be purchased through Strand Bookstore.
Carol Leonnig is a national investigative reporter at The Washington Post, where she has worked since 2000 and covers Donald Trump's presidency and other subjects. She won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on security failures and misconduct inside the Secret Service. She also was part of the Post teams awarded Pulitzers in 2017, for reporting on Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, and in 2014, for revealing the U.S. government's secret, broad surveillance of Americans. Leonnig is also an on-air contributor to NBC News and MSNBC.
Philip Rucker is the White House Bureau Chief at The Washington Post, leading its coverage of President Trump and his administration. He and a team of Post reporters won the Pulitzer Prize and George Polk Award for their reporting on Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. Rucker joined the Post in 2005 and previously has covered Congress, the Obama White House and the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaigns. He serves as an on-air political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in history.
Nicolle Wallace is an NBC News political analyst and host of MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House,” which airs weekdays at 4 p.m. ET. Wallace frequently appears on NBC News’s “TODAY” and “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” to analyze the latest developments from the White House and across the political landscape, while serving as a fill-in host for MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour with Brian Williams.” Before joining NBC News as an analyst, Wallace served as a co-host of ABC’s “The View.” Previously, she was White House Communications Director to President George W. Bush. She also served as senior adviser to the McCain-Palin campaign in 2008. Wallace is a California native and graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She is also a best-selling author of Eighteen Acres, It’s Classified, and Madam President.
Want to learn more about events like this one? Click here to sign up for the Schools of Public Engagement newsletter.
Committed to amplifying diverse voices, The New School offers more than a thousand public programs and events each year, providing fresh perspectives and unique learning opportunities. These lectures, exhibitions, concerts, and performances feature prominent and emerging artists, activists, and thought leaders.
To receive updates about public programs and events at The New School, subscribe to our mailing list. Visit our Livestream and YouTube channels to watch select events live and recorded.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum sagittis mi eu elementum malesuada. Maecenas arcu felis, suscipit vitae mi in, posuere ultricies nunc. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut ante velit, condimentum eget erat a, suscipit porttitor nisl. Pellentesque in semper nunc. Duis ultricies lacus nec dolor elementum efficitur. Cras congue neque et ipsum egestas, tincidunt tempor magna elementum. Maecenas in rhoncus ante, ac mattis lectus. Donec pulvinar nulla a varius malesuada. Ut auctor enim mi, mollis laoreet eros aliquam eget. Proin lectus tellus, ullamcorper nec neque a, ornare facilisis tellus. Proin in eros sit amet diam imperdiet varius. Duis tincidunt dolor nibh, ac interdum odio molestie vel. Cras dignissim enim at mi varius aliquet.