American Resistance: The Inside Story of How the Deep State Saved the Nation

by David Rothkopf

Overview

It could have been so much worse: a deeply reported, insider story of how a handful of Washington officials staged a daring resistance to an unprecedented presidency and prevented chaos from overwhelming the government and the nation.

Each federal employee takes an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic,” but none had imagined that enemy might be the commander-in-chief. With the presidency of Donald Trump, a fault line between the president and vital forces within his government was established. Those who honored their oath of office, their obligation to the Constitution, were wary of the president, and they in turn were not trusted and occasionally fired and replaced with loyalists.

American Resistance is the first book to chronicle the unprecedented role so many in the government were forced to play and the consequences of their actions during the Trump administration.

From Lieutenant Colonal Alexander Vindman and his brother Yevgeny, to Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, to Bill Taylor, Fiona Hill, and the official who first called himself “Anonymous”—Miles Taylor, among others, Rothkopf examines the resistance movement that slowly built in Washington.

Drawing from first hand testimonies, deep background, and research, American Resistance shows how, when the president threatened to run amok, a few key figures rose in defiance. It reveals the conflict within the Department of Justice over actively seeking instances of election fraud and abuse to help the president illegally retain power, and multiple battles within the White House over the influence of Jared and Ivanka, and in particular the extraordinary efforts to get them security clearances even after they were denied to them.

David Rothkopf chronicles how each person came to realize that they were working for an administration that threatened to wreak havoc—one defense secretary was told by his mother to resign before it was too late—in an intense drama in which a few good men and women stood up to the tyrant in their midst.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781668627686
Publisher:	Hachette Book Group
Publication date:	11/01/2022
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 5.70(h) x (d)

About the Author

David J. Rothkopf, the author of ten nonfiction books, is a journalist and an analyst of political affairs, national security, and foreign policy. He is the founder and CEO of The Rothkopf Group and is also the podcast host of Deep State Radio. He has taught international affairs at Columbia University’s Graduate School of International and Public Affairs, the Georgetown School of Foreign Service, and the Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.

Table of Contents

Introduction: A Word of Thanks to the Deep State 1

1 Walking into a Blast Furnace 25

2 The Snake 47

3 "I Obey, but I Do Not Comply" 87

4 Russia, Ukraine, and Constitutional Patriotism 125

5 We Have to Act Like We're Taking This Seriously 163

6 The Deep State Versus the Dark State 193

7 Bullets and Boomerangs 223

Acknowledgments 247

Index 253

Editorial Reviews

Even if you remember all the Trump scandals he chronicles, you will feel outrage all over again reading this book—along with gratitude to all of the dedicated public servants who tried to do the right thing and shared their stories with Rothkopf.”

New York Times bestselling author Max Boot

A sobering and at times harrowing account…Offers a clarion call for us to remain vigilant against anti-democratic forces and a long-overdue tribute to the often-maligned civil servants who saved us from the worst administration in modern history.”

clinical psychologist and #1 New York Times bestse Mary L. Trump

Finally—the inside story of Trump’s chaotic presidency and the extraordinary measures taken to keep the government from falling apart. A chilling and revealing portrait of how close America came to the brink under Trump.”

Miles Taylor

This deeply researched and finely written story of the Trump presidency functions as the ultimate political cautionary tale… A necessary and riveting book.”

Admiral James Stavridis

09/26/2022

White House officials’ struggle to restrain President Trump is saluted in this insightful study from podcast host Rothkopf (Traitor). Among numerous battles to “keep a dangerous, unhinged, ill-prepared president and his closest allies from doing irreparable damage,” Rothkopf documents Department of Homeland Security officials’ efforts to defang Trump’s ban on travel from Muslim-majority countries; Defense Secretary James Mattis’s success in talking Trump down during late-night phone calls in which he threatened such “wildly irresponsible actions” as an attack on North Korea; and Vice President Mike Pence’s certification of Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. This is a saga of bureaucratic strategizing at its most byzantine, filled with evocative vignettes: “ didn’t know enough to know what to do to keep us from protecting the elections,” recalls a member of an informal election-security group. “It was just another thing he was pissed about, because it had some connection to Russia.” Rothkopf’s anti-Trump animus is not always fair, as when he blames Trump for right-wing vaccine skepticism, and his laudatory portrayal of Deep Staters doesn’t fully consider the role self-interest played in some of their actions. Still, this is one of the most revealing and disturbing accounts of Trump’s presidency yet published. Agent: Esmond Harmsworth, Aevitas Creative Management. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

This deeply researched and finely written story of the Trump presidency functions as the ultimate political cautionary tale. David Rothkopf has spent much of his life sailing the treacherous waters of Washington, and in American Resistance, he brings a sharply observed set of sensible observations and timely prescriptions to help us navigate the roiling waters of our dangerously turbulent republic. A necessary and riveting book.”—Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret.), former supreme allied commander, NATO

“Rothkopf has written the Trump administration story that needs to be told: how close we came to losing our democracy and the public servants who saved us. In American Resistance: The Inside Story of How the Deep State Saved the Nation, Rothkopf expertly explains how the much maligned ‘Deep State’ is actually a cohort of steadfast professionals committed to honoring the oaths they took to uphold the Constitution. This book offers essential insights into a vitally important world too few understand or appreciate.”—Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, USA (Ret.), author of Here, Right Matters

“Finally—the inside story of Trump’s chaotic presidency and the extraordinary measures taken to keep the government from falling apart. A chilling and revealing portrait of how close America came to the brink under Trump. Rothkopf pulls back the curtain of the turbulent Trump presidency in a way others haven’t. Revelatory.”—Miles Taylor, author (as “Anonymous”) of A Warning and former chief of staff, US Department of Homeland Security

“The Deep State is real . . . and thank goodness for it. Rothkopf brings his insight and devout patriotism to a fascinating examination of the honorable, diligent, and skilled public servants who are critical to preventing democracy’s demise at the hands of MAGA authoritarians. This is a must-read if you want to know how government functions and care about America’s future.”—Jennifer Rubin, columnist, Washington Post, and author of Resistance

“With an almost-unparalleled knowledge of the inner workings of our government, Rothkopf has written a sobering and at times harrowing account not simply of how bad things were but of how much worse they could have been during the Trump administration. American Resistance is much more, and much more important than, a post-mortem of the Trump years. Exhaustively researched and bolstered by eye-opening interviews with dozens of experts and former government officials, Rothkopf’s book offers a clarion call for us to remain vigilant against anti-democratic forces and a long-overdue tribute to the often-maligned civil servants who saved us from the worst administration in modern history. In a very crowded field, what Rothkopf has written is not just compelling, it is essential.”—Mary L. Trump, clinical psychologist and author Too Much and Never Enough and The Reckoning

“Rothkopf, host of the invaluable Deep State Radio podcast, pays a long-overdue tribute to the ‘Deep State’ that tried to keep Trump from doing more damage. In the process he offers a powerful corrective to the negative stereotypes of ‘bureaucrats’ that are all too deeply rooted in American culture. Even if you remember all the Trump scandals he chronicles (there are so many!), you will feel outrage all over again reading this book—along with gratitude to all of the dedicated public servants who tried to do the right thing and shared their stories with Rothkopf.”—Max Boot, columnist, Washington Post, and senior fellow, the Council on Foreign Relations

“One of the biggest debates during the Trump years concerned those who went to work for him in all branches of the government. Were they serving the public by ‘saving’ the country from the worst of Trump’s excesses? Or were they ambitious careerists taking the jobs available while pretending that their service was in the nation’s best interests? Rothkopf’s fascinating, well written, and carefully researched book is essential reading for those interested in how the ‘Deep State’ performed in the Trump years—a topic that could well become worryingly relevant again.”—Robert Kagan, senior fellow, the Brookings Institution, and author of The Jungle Grows Back

“Rothkopf has been a strong and thoughtful critic of Trumpism from the start because he cares passionately about democratic institutions. American Resistance turns the idea of the ‘Deep State’ on its head, using it to describe the committed civil servants and policy experts who—imperfectly, but also, in key moments, courageously—worked to block or disrupt some of Donald Trump’s most dangerous initiatives. Rothkopf’s provocative insight: the Deep State is often the last line of defense against the dark state.”—E.J. Dionne Jr., coauthor of 100% Democracy and One Nation After Trump

“It’s the best work yet on how federal employees, military as well as civilian, helped preserve democracy from the ‘dark state’ during the gravest constitutional peril the U.S. has faced since 1860…A searing yet optimistic account of how true constitutional patriots preserved American democracy.”—Kirkus, starred review

“[T]his is one of the most revealing and disturbing accounts of Trump’s presidency yet published.”—Publishers Weekly

“This book is a worthy companion to recent books by Marie Yovanovitch (Lessons from the Edge) and Alexander Vindman (Here, Right Matters). It is an unrelenting indictment of Donald Trump’s abuse of the presidency.”—Library Journal

“The result is an eye-opening account of the Trump administration and a chilling snapshot of America on the brink.”—Celadon Books

“[A] fascinating new book.”—Gillian Tett, Financial Times

From the Publisher

10/07/2022

The phrase "deep state" has become a shorthand term for a sinister, out-of-control bureaucracy within the U.S. government. Political analyst Rothkopf (National Insecurity: American Leadership in an Age of Fear), who also hosts the podcast Deep State Radio, is a champion of dedicated, selfless bureaucrats. The focus of his new book is on the government employees, including many appointed by the Trump administration, who, in his view, placed the Constitution and the interests of the country first and above loyalty to an individual. Through more than 100 interviews, Rothkopf relates how highly competent civil servants triumphed over the gross ineptitude at the top of the Trump administration. This book provides chapter-length case studies on immigration policy, Trump's relationship with the military, Ukraine, and Vladimir Putin, plus the mishandling of the COVID pandemic and the insurrection of January 6, 2021. Heroes that emerge from these accounts include Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Chief of Staff John Kelly, and Secretary of Defense James Mattis, all who either resigned or were fired by Trump. VERDICT This book is a worthy companion to recent books by Marie Yovanovitch (Lessons from the Edge) and Alexander Vindman (Here, Right Matters). It is an unrelenting indictment of Donald Trump's abuse of the presidency.—Thomas Karel

Library Journal

★ 2022-09-08
A revealing book about how government professionals—the so-called “deep state”—kept the Trump administration from wreaking even more havoc than it did.

While bound to be taken in some circles as an apology for Democrats, this close-up report of the chaotic Trump presidency is a solid, well-reported record of applied American patriotism. From numerous interviews as well as evidence already publicly available, political scientist Rothkopf, author of Traitor: A History of American Betrayal From Benedict Arnold to Donald Trump, among other books, builds an unchallengeable case that a host of government officials “worked together to keep a dangerous, unhinged, ill-prepared president and his closest allies from doing irreparable damage to the United States, its people, our allies, and to the planet as a whole.” It’s the best work yet on how federal employees, military as well as civilian, helped preserve democracy from the “dark state” during the gravest constitutional peril the U.S. has faced since 1860. As with the Watergate crisis, whose full story took a half-century to be known, the history of the Trump presidency will remain incomplete for decades. Yet while this can’t be a full treatment, Rothkopf adds useful texture as well as new, sometimes striking, details to what’s already known about how Republican, Democratic, and nonpartisan officials worked in the shadows to limit damage from the Trump administration’s incompetence and corruption. In the most striking chapter, the author offers astonishing new evidence about how senior military officers, such as James Mattis and Mark Milley, accepted orders but slow-walked them to uselessness to prevent the corruption of both the military command structure and its ethos at the hands of amateurs, opportunists, and what witnesses termed “morons” and “cowards.” Rothkopf also rescues the reputations of some officials, such as Kirstjen Nielsen, secretary of homeland security, while further lowering those of White House advisers Stephen Miller and Jared Kushner.

A searing yet optimistic account of how true constitutional patriots preserved American democracy.

Kirkus Reviews