Let Trump Be Trump
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing |
| Parent | Hachette Book Group |
Let Trump Be Trump: The Inside Story of His Rise to the Presidency is a memoir that chronicles the victorious 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump. Released on December 5, 2017, by Center Street, a division of Hachette Book Group, the book was co-written by Corey Lewandowski, who served as Trump's initial campaign manager, and David Bossie, leader of Citizens United and Trump's last deputy campaign manager. This publication represents the first firsthand narrative from principal figures within the Trump campaign team.
Content
Let Trump Be Trump presents a collection of behind-the-scenes stories from the campaign, highlighting Trump's well-known fast food choices—specifically two Big Macs, two Filet-o-Fish sandwiches, accompanied by a chocolate milkshake from McDonald's. The authors characterize Trump's leadership approach as unpredictable, noting that "Eventually, everyone working for Donald Trump encounters a side of him that makes you question why you accepted the position initially." The memoir also discloses that on election night, Chris Vlasto, then-executive producer of Good Morning America, reached out to Bossie at 5:01 PM with preliminary exit poll results. Following this revelation, ABC News confirmed Vlasto acknowledged sharing the data and faced disciplinary action from the network.
Reviews
In the New York Times, Maggie Haberman characterized Let Trump Be Trump as "...a mix of extravagant praise for [Lewandowski's and Bossie's] candidate, fond recollections of triumphant moments and favored aides, alongside settling scores with adversaries—most notably Paul Manafort, whose entry into the campaign marked the beginning of Mr. Lewandowski's eventual ousting." She described it as "a fairly standard campaign memoir." Meanwhile, David Frum in the Washington Post criticized the work as "...alternately naive, deceptive, and oddly careless." The New Republic's Alex Shephard remarked, "The book fails to offer anything compelling to either critics or supporters of Trump—providing little value to readers overall."
More positive assessments included one from Jeffrey Lord in the American Spectator, who praised the book as "A serious 'we were there' account of a candidate and campaign that surprised many and, if mainstream media coverage is any indication, angered even more," adding that "political books rarely get much better than this."