''Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again'' is a non-fiction book by businessman (and later 45th

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

)

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

, first published in hardcover by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

in 2015. A revised edition was subsequently republished eight months later in trade paperback format under the title ''Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America''. Like his previous work ''

Time to Get Tough ''Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again'' is a non-fiction book by Donald Trump. It was published in hardcover format by Regnery Publishing in 2011, and reissued under the title ''Time to Get Tough: Make America Great Again!'' in 2015 to ma ...

'' (2011) did for the U.S. presidential election in 2012, ''Crippled America'' outlined Trump's political agenda as he ran in the 2016 election on a conservative platform. Trump makes his case for why he would be an effective leader of the United States, and reassures Republicans that he upholds

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

values. He criticizes the media's coverage of him while defending his decisions on the campaign trail. ''Crippled America'' stresses that the United States needs to start "winning again"; Trump asserts his business expertise can be translated into governmental success, that his "outsider" status can be utilized to negotiate agreements. On domestic policy issues, Trump recommends stricter border security and repealing the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...

. As for foreign policy, he critically analyzes the impact of China on

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

. The book debuted at number five on The ''New York Times'' Best Seller list.

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

characterized ''Crippled America'' as typical of similar campaign-trail books, providing only a basic outline of Trump's political agenda. A book review from '' On the Issues'' was positive, noting how ''Crippled America'' discredits assertions that Trump has no specific political stances. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reporter

Michiko Kakutani Michiko Kakutani (born January 9, 1955) is an American writer and retired literary critic, best known for reviewing books for ''The New York Times'' from 1983 to 2017. In that role, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998. Early life ...

criticized Trump for boasting about his business ventures while offering a dystopian view of the U.S. Regarding the book's writing style,

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

's Jeremy Diamond described ''Crippled America'' as being centered around "Trump's trademark simple prose, peppered with tangents".

Contents summary

In ''Crippled America'', Donald Trump describes his views on the United States in the past 20 years leading to 2015; Trump claims that career politicians, special interest groups, and

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

s are culpable for the country's decline. Throughout the work, Trump criticizes President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

, as well as the media's portrayal of him—‌that journalists, particularly Megyn Kelly, have written unfavorably about him as a result of his unexpected rise in the polls. Trump also describes the benefit of the media, noting how his outspoken personality and knack for

hyperbole Hyperbole (; adj. hyperbolic ) is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. In rhetoric, it is also sometimes known as auxesis (literally 'growth'). In poetry and oratory, it emphasizes, evokes strong feelings, and ...

attributes to more publicity. Regarding how he has flip-flopped on political views in the past, Trump reassures Republicans he is an ideal

; "I switched years ago, when I began to see what liberal Democrats were doing to our country. Now I'm a conservative Republican with a big heart". Trump outlines his policies on domestic and foreign issues were he to lead the country. On U.S. domestic policy, Trump subdivides the book into chapters on

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

, health care, the

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

social programs Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

, and

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of hea ...

. He supports reform that curtails illegal immigration to the U.S., delineating the American immigration system as a failure that has allowed violent criminals to enter the country. Trump proposes stronger security on the U.S. border with Mexico which would include the construction of a substantial border wall and cutting federal funds to sanctuary cities. An opponent of the

, Trump states he favors repealing and replacing the federal statute with a

free-market healthcare In a system of free-market healthcare, prices for healthcare products and services are set freely by agreement between patients and health care providers, which are subject to the laws and forces of supply and demand and free from any interventio ...

system. The work discusses Trump's support for investing in American infrastructure to help stimulate economic growth. His plan, he argues, would create 13 million jobs and the largest economic boom since

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

's New Deal. With regards to the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Departmen ...

, Trump makes a case to eliminate the department, have schools compete for students, and return educational policy-making to the state level. Trump describes himself as in favor of

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

, is critical of costly alternative energy sources, and is skeptical of man's impact on

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. As for foreign policy issues, Trump discusses critically the impact of China on the U.S. The book refers to China as an "enemy" to American imports, further accusing the Chinese government of

currency manipulation Currency intervention, also known as foreign exchange market intervention or currency manipulation, is a monetary policy operation. It occurs when a government or central bank buys or sells foreign currency in exchange for its own domestic curr ...

and

corporate espionage Industrial espionage, economic espionage, corporate spying, or corporate espionage is a form of espionage conducted for commercial purposes instead of purely national security. While political espionage is conducted or orchestrated by governme ...

. Trump recounts his financial standing with businesses in China, and believes the U.S. requires a firm leader to negotiate international trade deals. He concludes that, despite the complexity of the issue, the Chinese economy relies on trade with the U.S. as much as vice versa. Other significant subjects delved into within the book include Trump's analysis of the Syrian refugee crisis, the wars in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, and the strategy for combating

ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

. ''Crippled America'' mixes Trump's political ideology with personal anecdotes. Trump reflects on his merits as a father as well as his faults as a husband; incidentally he blames himself for the failure of his two previous marriages. The book discusses his time gaining experience and life lessons under the tutelage of his father,

Fred Trump Frederick Christ Trump Sr. (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was an American real estate developer and businessman. A member of the Trump family, he was the father of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. In partnership w ...

. ''Crippled America'' includes an "About the author" chapter which provides an overview of Trump's financial assets and investments in real estate. Trump argues his accomplishments in business make him a model of success, that as a leader he would help the United States start "winning again". More discussion about Trump's transition to politics is provided: Trump asserts his outsider status on the political scene and experiences in the private sector would easily translate to governmental success; his expertise with negotiating global finance deals, he writes, can be utilized to broker diplomatic deals on the international scene.

Composition and publication

''Crippled America'' served as a promotional mechanism displaying Trump's conservative views during the

2016 U.S. presidential campaign The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial United States presidential election, presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of businessman Donald ...

. Prior to his work on ''Crippled America'', Trump published two earlier political books, ''

The America We Deserve ''The America We Deserve'' is a book about public policy written by American businessman (and later, 45th U.S. President) Donald Trump and author Dave Shiflett. It was published in January 2000, while Trump was considering running for president ...

'' (2000) and ''

'' (2011): the former for the 2000 presidential campaign platform and the latter for the 2012 presidential campaign. The book demonstrated to Trump's opposition that he had legitimate political stances and sought to reassure Republicans that he was a staunch conservative. While no co-author is formally credited, Trump was helped by prolific

ghostwriter A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often ...

David Fisher. The '' New York Daily News'' quoted a witness to the collaboration who considered it a haphazard affair: "He (Donald) got this done on the road with a series of phone calls and snippets from campaign speeches." Fisher, discussing the book in 2021, said Trump showed no interest in the contents; instead, "what was most important to him, more than anything, was the pictures." Trump said in 2015 about the book's gloomy title, that a cover photo shot inspired it: "there was one picture that was just mean. It was a horrible, horrible, mean picture. Like a nasty-looking guy. ... I said, 'We're going to call it, 'Crippled America.' Because that's what it is. It's 'Crippled America." Conversely, according to the preface of the book, the title determined the choice of photo. In any event, over the course of numerous promotional appearances, Trump limited discussion of the book to its cover. ''Crippled America'' was first published in 2015 in hardcover format by

. An ebook format followed by an

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

voiced by Jeremy Lowell were released the same year. During the 2016 presidential campaign, the book was reissued in trade paperback format under the title ''Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America'' with a new foreword and rosier cover portrait. The book is also published in Danish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, and Vietnamese.

Sales and reception

To launch the work, Trump held a press conference and book signing at Trump Tower in New York City on November 3, 2015. He plugged the book on such disparate shows as ''Good Morning America'', ''Fox & Friends'', ''Live with Kelly & Michael'', ''Hannity'', ''Morning Joe'', and ''Infowars''; mentioned it at rallies throughout October and November; and tweeted about it 31 times. Reflecting back in June 2016, Trump said, "I didn’t promote it, I didn’t do anything, and it still did great." ''Crippled America'' debuted at spot number 5 on the hardcover nonfiction section for ''

The New York Times Best Seller list ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

'' on November 12, 2015—‌one placement behind Republican candidate

Ben Carson Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American retired neurosurgeon and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. A pioneer in the field of neurosurgery, he ...

's book '' A More Perfect Union''. In total, Trump's book spent 13 weeks on the ''Times bestseller list. According to

Nielsen BookScan BookScan is a data provider for the book publishing industry that compiles point of sale data for book sales, owned by The NPD Group in the United States and the Nielsen Company in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, Sou ...

, ''Crippled America'' outsold all other books published by 2016 political candidates, selling out of stock in the paperback version and an additional 199,000 hardcover copies by March 2016. Trump reported the same year he received between $1 million and $5 million in income from total sales of the book. Trump falsely promised all proceeds would go to charity. ''

'' wrote that ''Crippled America'' "doesn't exactly break new ground," and is comparable to other campaign-trail books which function "less sa literary work and more a political tool." Chris Townsend of '' King's Review'' described the book with a direct quote from the work: "there's very little that is subtle or sophisticated about this book." Townsend observed that the book, like Trump's earlier work '' The Art of the Deal'' (1987), portrays "Trump as the businessman who will get the best deal for America." He further assessed ''Crippled America'' as "first and foremost, a business book," translating the themes of his preceding books on a national scale. ''On the Issues''s Jesse Gordon gave the book a favorable review, writing that ''Crippled America'' demonstrates to Trump's opposition his political stances; "Trump lays out specific policy choices," Gordon attests, "in his own inimitable style, with real specifics and real substance, and he elaborates on how he came to the conclusions he did." Michiko Kakutani, a reporter for ''

'', criticized the book for boasting about Trump's business ventures, while articulating a grim, dystopian view of the U.S. Kakutani adds "In many respects, Mr. Trump’s own quotes and writings provide the most vivid and alarming picture of his values, modus operandi and relentlessly dark outlook focused on revenge." ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughou ...

'' writer John R. Coyne highlighted Trump's blunt nature against "today’s carefully choreographed campaign

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is though ...

." Coyne points out the mutually beneficial relationship between Trump and the media, regarding the statements in ''Crippled America'', that "They get reported and amplified. Mr. Trump benefits. And so does the media." Jeremy Diamond of

noted that, much like Trump's campaign speeches and rallies, the book is written in "Trump's trademark simple prose, peppered with tangents." Although the content is familiar to those who followed his campaign, Diamond explained, it does "shed some light on Trump, the man, and how he plans to frame the future as he presses his bid for the Republican nomination."

References

{{Trump media 2015 non-fiction books American political books Books about conservatism Books about the 2016 United States presidential election Books by Donald Trump English-language books Simon & Schuster books Trumpism

Contents summary

Composition and publication

Sales and reception

See also

References