First published 2020
Award-winning investigative journalist Andrea Bernstein exposes how the Trump and Kushner families transformed from immigrants into American oligarchs. Her investigation spans generations, from the Klondike Gold Rush through Nazi-occupied Poland to the modern gilded age. Bernstein reveals how both families exploited New York and New Jersey political machines to secure tax breaks and federal programs. She documents the Trump Organization's turn to international capital after American banks denied credit. The book uncovers new details about Charles Kushner's prostitute scheme against his brother-in-law and how the Kushners used a New York newspaper to expand their empire. Drawing on over 200 interviews and 100,000 pages of documents, Bernstein shows how both families broke rules repeatedly, then used secrecy and intimidation to escape consequences. The result traces their path to the White House while revealing how their rise embodies the nationalism and inequality pushing America toward oligarchy.
Genres: biography, business, american, non-fiction, 21st-century, investigative-journalism, current-affairs, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: corruption, deception, exploitation, family-drama, power-dynamics
Setting: New Jersey, New York
Period: Gilded Age, Nazi-occupied Poland, Modern Era
496 pages · Hardcover · W. W. Norton Company