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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Kelly Rissman

Trump’s ‘lazy’ $99 coffee table book includes 10 pages of him with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un

Getty Images

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Donald Trump made a handsome profit from the sales of his last two books — so he’s released another, which critics are calling “lazy” and “glorious gibberish.”

“Save America” — a 300-plus-page photo book that promises to provide an “unparalleled look into his four years” and a “roadmap for the future” — offers little new insight into the Trump administration, but instead relies on familiar ground to relay his usual talking points, reviewers say.

“Save America” is also the name of Trump’s super-PAC, and the captions mimic the wording and sentiments — including awkward capitalization — of his Truth Social messages. New York Magazine decried the photo book as “lazy” while the Washington Post described the captions as akin to a “fascist Emily Dickinson.”

In one familiar refrain, Trump focused on crowd size in a caption beside a photo of his inauguration: “Democrats tried to disparage Crowd size, knowing that this was the Largest Inaugural Crowd EVER — See for yourself!”

Trump also appeared to use some phrases nearly verbatim from his campaign rallies when discussing immigration.

“The entire World is emptying out their Prisons, Insane Asylums, and Mental Institutions — America is being turned into a DUMPING GROUND for the Hannibal Lecters of the Third World. We have to stop it now,” he wrote.

At a Wisconsin rally last week, Trump told the crowd: “You take a look at the crime statistics, you take a look at the jail statistics, the jails are being emptied out. The mental institutions are being emptied out and insane asylums…A representative of people that are coming into our country. Dr Hannibal Lecter, he will have you for dinner.”

Trump also has a lot to say about his international friends and enemies in his book. “Save America” explains how the former president “often appears more at ease with America’s adversaries than its allies,” the New York Times wrote.

The book, Save America, is at Barnes & Noble store earlier this month in Austin, Texas. Former president Donald Trump released the self-authored book detailing events from his term in office and the years following his presidency. (Getty Images)

Ten pages are dedicated to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, despite his and Trump’s infamous Twitter war threatening nuclear weapons on each other’s country.

Also included is a strange tangent about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — and his mother.

“His mother was beautiful and wild,” Trump wrote. “In the 1970s, she would go ‘clubbing’ with the Rolling Stones, but she was also somehow associated with Fidel Castro. She said he was ‘the sexiest man I’ve ever met,’ and a lot of people say that Justin is his son. He swears that he isn’t, but how the hell would he know! Castro had good hair, the ‘father’ didn’t, Justin has good hair, and has become a communist just like Castro.”

Then there’s Trump’s musing on leaders at home. Trump includes photos of himself in the Oval Office smiling beside prominent Republicans Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom sat on the Jan 6 House Select Committee investigating the former president and his allies after the Capitol riot.

He accused Cheney of coming into the White House “asking for ‘baskets of goodies.’ Ultimately, I said ‘NO.’”

He also referred to the ex-Illinois Representative as “Cryin’ Adam Kinzinger” because “other than a child, I’ve never seen anyone cry so much!”

Trump also takes on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the tome, promising to throw the tech mogul behind bars if he “does anything illegal” during the 2024 election.

Trump wrote: “Mark Zuckerberg would come to the Oval Office to see me. He would bring his very nice wife to dinners, be as nice as anyone could be, while always plotting to install shameful Lock Boxes in a true PLOT AGAINST THE PRESIDENT.”

He continued: “He told me that there was nobody like Trump on Facebook. But at the same time, and for whatever reason, steered it against me. We are watching him closely, and if he does anything illegal this time he will spend the rest of his life in prison — as will others who cheat in the 2024 Presidential Election.”

In a post on X this weekend, Trump similarly promised prosecution and “long term prison sentences” for those who “CHEATED” in the 2020 election. There have been no findings of voter fraud during the 2020 election.

After flipping through the massive book, the Washington Post brutally concluded: “Any suspicion that Trump didn’t write this book himself should be allayed by the presence of such glorious gibberish.”

“Save America” is published by Winning Team Publishing, a conservative literary outfit founded in 2021 by Sergio Gor and Donald Trump Jr.

Winning Team has also published books by former Trump aide, Peter Navarro, conservative pundit Charlie Kirk, and rightwing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.

“Save America” comes after financial disclosures revealed that Trump earned significant royalties from his books, “Letters to Trump” and “Our Journey Together”, which raked in just under $5m. The books retail for $90 and $50, respectively. While “Save America” retails for $99, signed copies are going for $499.

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