# Trump's recommended books **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 17, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442 "2017-03-17T22:02:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/1 "2017-03-17T22:02:25Z")
Putting this in the Pit as I have a feeling it will end up there anyway. 🙂 [Trump’s list of recommended books](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/03/17/trump-doesnt-have-time-to-read-but-if-you-do-heres-what-he-recommends/) makes Obama’s, published a couple of months ago, look like high art. I always thought that Trump had the intellect of a squirrel (and yes, I backed him anyway for reasons I’ve explained elsewhere) but couldn’t one of his aides, and surely there have to be _some_ Ivy League alumnis among them, have quietly told him that the list made him look like a moron? (Phrased a little more diplomatically of course.) I mean seriously, half the damn books are on him! A couple of interesting reads there but I have to believe that they were slipped in by one of the above-mentioned aides. I realize that the days of the well-read leader versed in the classics and able to quote Horace or Virgil with ease is over but this is just ridiculous. Here’s the list: 1. The Bible (of course) 2. Trump: The Art of the Deal (by guess who) 3. Trump: Surviving at the Top (guess who again) 4. Clinton Cash by Peter Schweitzer 5. Unlikeable: The Problem with Hillary by Edward Klein (I’m sure this and the previous book are well-thumbed and dog-eared, probably Trump’s favorite night-time reading) 6. The Field of Fight by Michael Flynn (now where have I seen that name before? I’m sure it’ll come to me) 7. The Conservative Case for Trump by Phyllis Schlafly (I’m sensing a pattern here) 8. Green Card Warrior by Nick Adams (Trump calls it a ‘must read’; the columnist calls it a ‘must groan’) 9. Wake Up America! by Fox News’ Eric Bolling (as if the country could sleep with the infernal din of the last 18 months in its ears) 10. Adios, America! The Left’s Plan to Turn Our Country into a Third World Hellhole by Ann Coulter (if only Coulter were really saying Adios, America I think the book would sell like hot cakes) 11. In Trump We Trust by Ann Coulter (Annie again in another typically self-effacing choice by Trump) 12. Unprecedented by CNN staff. (All about a politician’s campaign for the Presidency. Oh look, the politician is Donald Trump. Now there’s a surprise) 13. Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800 by John Ferling (this book actually looks interesting. It was given to Trump by one of his competitors on the campaign trail and Trump picked it off his desk while showing ABC’s David Muir the Oval Office. Of course it wasn’t left there on purpose, you cynics you!) 14. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. (Great book which Trump may have actually read sometime. Or saw the movie perhaps) So there we have it. The intellectual leisure-time pursuits of the President. Excuse me while I barf. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/2 "2017-03-17T23:18:24Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > I always thought that Trump had the intellect of a squirrel (and yes, I backed him anyway for reasons I’ve explained elsewhere) but couldn’t one of his aides, and surely there have to be _some_ Ivy League alumnis among them, have quietly told him that the list made him look like a moron? (Phrased a little more diplomatically of course.) I mean seriously, half the damn books are on him! > . But you see, President Squirrelbrain could not risk the chance some Unfair Media asking him about what is in the book. They already got him on his favorite Bible verse once. ---
**Author:** ![Debillw3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Debillw3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debillw3)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/3 "2017-03-17T23:22:07Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > 1. Trump: The Art of the Deal (by guess who) I mean, I can try to guess, but I don’t know the answer off-hand. I want to say Peter something? Oh, wait, no–I Googled it: Tony Schwartz. Not sure why I thought his name was Peter. > [@aldiboronti](#): > > 1. Trump: Surviving at the Top (guess who again) I still don’t know. Is there a point to this game? ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/4 "2017-03-17T23:25:14Z")
Trump’s Presidential library will be an airport bookstore. ---
**Author:** ![Debillw3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Debillw3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debillw3)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/5 "2017-03-17T23:27:05Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Trump’s Presidential library will be an airport bookstore. I get the joke, but you are aware that Presidential Libraries aren’t “libraries” in the common vernacular, right? ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/6 "2017-03-17T23:28:54Z")
Can this So-Called president read without moving his lips? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/7 "2017-03-17T23:47:48Z")
Wait, this is the guy who was described by close advisers as “Mr. Trump doesn’t read books; he likes to watch TV.” I’m doubting he has read any of those, even the ones he supposedly wrote. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2017, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/8 "2017-03-17T23:56:16Z")
There’s a SF writer by the name of Michael Flynn. Not sure if it’s the same guy or not. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/9 "2017-03-18T00:03:48Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Wait, this is the guy who was described by close advisers as “Mr. Trump doesn’t read books; he likes to watch TV.” I’m doubting he has read any of those, even the ones he supposedly wrote. All Quiet On The Western Front is available as a [Classics Illustrated](http://www.kelvi.net/books/comics/index.php?album=classics-illustrated%2FAll+Quiet+on+the+Western+Front) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/10 "2017-03-18T00:08:14Z")
What is the special appeal to him of All Quiet? It’s as if he never read it, because G-d knows he never took it to heart. I mean, unless it encouraged his draft-dodging. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/11 "2017-03-18T00:16:06Z")
Maybe someone can slip him a copy of Yertle the Turtle. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/12 "2017-03-18T00:40:10Z")
> [@Debillw3](#): > > I get the joke, but you are aware that Presidential Libraries aren’t “libraries” in the common vernacular, right? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Debillw3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Debillw3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debillw3)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/13 "2017-03-18T00:41:29Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Yes. Ok, just making sure–you’d be surprised what some people think. Carry on! ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/14 "2017-03-18T00:43:15Z")
He didn’t read any of those fucking books, and he didn’t write any of them either. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/15 "2017-03-18T00:45:26Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > All Quiet On The Western Front is available as a [Classics Illustrated](http://www.kelvi.net/books/comics/index.php?album=classics-illustrated%2FAll+Quiet+on+the+Western+Front) It was also required reading in my High School English class so color me unimpressed. No way he read one word of the Adams v Jefferson book. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/16 "2017-03-18T01:38:35Z")
I can just see a reporter asking him questions about _All Quiet…_ Trump; "There weren’t supposed to be any hard questions! “Why would you ask me questions about that?” Reporter; “Well you know, based on your documented history of lying about, well, everything”. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/18 "2017-03-18T02:03:56Z")
> [@scarlet2520](#): > > The Art of the Deal was a book that was mostly written by his ghostwriter, a journalist called Tony Schwartz, not him personally, if I recall. > > It is a pretty good read, though. It’s even better as kindling. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/19 "2017-03-18T02:27:07Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > 1. Unprecedented by CNN staff. (All about a politician’s campaign for the Presidency. Oh look, the politician is Donald Trump. Now there’s a surprise) He did say CNN was fake news. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/20 "2017-03-18T04:07:49Z")
One of Trump’s less believable claims was that he had never heard of David Cay Johnston (the reporter who Trump’s 1040 was leaked to). Johnston wrote a biography of Trump, _The Making of Donald Trump_, last year. You know there’s no way Trump is unaware of a book that’s about him, even if he doesn’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2017, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442/21 "2017-03-18T04:41:09Z")
This man has never read any book cover to cover. He has the attention span of a gnat and the attitude of an infant. I think if you’re talking about a book he doesn’t like, just put a rag over the book in question. He’ll think it disappeared and change the subject. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-recommended-books/782442.md?page=2)