"They describe Trump's unpredictability, his favoring of gut over hard data, his deliberate and almost reflexive ignoring of advice and counsel as simply who he is and how he operates. For some, this may provide comfort. For others, it might heighten the alarm. As with so much else about this president, he is what people want to believe about him."
In The Madman Theory, Jim Sciutto provides a worthy follow-on to his excellent 2019 book, The Shadow War. Where The Shadow War was focused on Chinese and Russian activity in the gray space between the white of peace and black of conventional war, this outing sees Sciutto consider President Trump's foreign policy mindset. Specifically, Trump's apparent replicating of President Richard Nixon's effort to convince the North Vietnamese that he was capable of doing anything, however irrational or "mad" it might appear. Although well-timed for the upcoming election, readers should not assume this to be a hit piece on the president. This is a careful examination of Trump, in which the CNN anchor and chief national security correspondent takes significant effort to give voice both to the president's supporters and his critics.
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