President Trump compared himself to some of history’s most brutal tyrants and conquerors during an interview with co-authors Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan of the book Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump.
In the exchange, Trump presented a two-page note he claimed was from an “historian” asserting his power surpassed that of Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong, Genghis Khan, and Attila the Hun due to its global scope. The book reveals this so-called “historian” was actually Gary Player’s longtime caddy.
Trump also referred to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “con man” whom “all the Jews” hated. The book documents a phone call between Trump and Netanyahu in which Trump stated: “Everybody’s sick of you, Bibi… All the Jews are sick of you.”
Additionally, the book describes Trump’s obsession with gold, including an incident where White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt found him clutching a tube of superglue while attempting to affix gold decorations to the marble fireplace mantel. The authors also recount Trump’s vengeful tendencies, noting his fury when a government lawyer claimed there was no fraud in the 2020 election.
The book, resulting from over 1,000 interviews conducted by Haberman and Swan over three years, includes direct quotes attributed to Trump and his staff.