With the deep state trying — again — to deep-six the Trump administration, it’s fair to ask a few key questions.
Why did Donald Trump decide to run for president in the first place?
Why did he make the momentous decision to set aside his multi-billion-dollar global business and put himself in the crosshairs of the Clinton machine, the Democratic Party, academia, the media and the increasingly left-wing popular culture?
Why go through all this for a job he isn’t even accepting a salary to do?
A book hitting the stands in late November this year sheds light on a number of Trump’s decisions — including his most pivotal: the choice to seek the White House.
“Trump’s Triumphs: The Real Story of Donald J. Trump’s Presidency” by Doug Wead, a conservative writer and a New York Times best-selling author (who served as an adviser to two American presidents) includes interviews with members of the Trump family, some of his closest advisers — and Trump himself.
The conversations shared in the book paint a comprehensive and inside picture of how Trump makes his decisions, what motivates him — and how he responds to the opportunities and burdens of the most powerful job in the world.
Returning to the question above, “Trump’s Triumphs” reveals a surprising answer to the question of why he sought the job in the first place. Trump had three men in mind when he made up his mind to run.
The first, says his son Don Trump Jr., was the “forgotten man,” according to early excerpts from the book.
“You remember all of this talk about the forgotten man?” Don Jr. is quoted as saying in the book. “Well, that’s why he ran for president. He hadn’t seen change in decades. He hadn’t seen anyone step up and correct the obvious. Politicians would make promises and then not even try to deliver on them. It was so blatant.”
Related: Trump and the RNC Raise a Stunning $125 Million in One Quarter
Donald Trump wanted the forgotten man remembered — and those forgotten people include the coal miner threatened by the Left’s draconian energy policies, the textile workers threatened by NAFTA, the middle class family members who have had less and less of a voice in the policies that affect them. Trump wanted them all remembered as politicians crafted and craft the policies and laws they then ignore — while the rest of us have no choice.
Trump wanted to beat the system and to spark positive change for them.
The other two men who motivated Trump were previous occupants of the White House — a building and office Trump knows he will occupy for a short time only and have only a limited amount of time to do big, bold things.
One is George W. Bush — who frustrated Trump over a number of his policy choices, particularly on war and trade.
The other is Barack Obama, specifically for making a bad deal that offended the author of “The Art of the Deal.”
As an excerpt from “Trump’s Triumphs” makes clear, son Eric Trump recalled seeing his father frustrated, for years, by presidents who made one poor decision after another.
He would read or watch the news and roll his eyes in disgust at the failures of the entire political class.
But Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran sticks out as one that frustrated and motivated citizen Trump the most.
Trump saw himself as the man who could and would bring an approach different from that of both Bush and Obama because he wasn’t a politician captive to a party.
“This frustration was especially evident when Obama gave $150 billion to Iran — including $1.7 billion in cash,” as the book makes clear that Eric Trump said. “I can still see him sitting there reading a newspaper. He was shaking his head and saying, ‘What are these stupid people doing? This country doesn’t like America, they do not care about our people, they hate our way of life. What do you think is going to happen to the money?’”
Several reports indicated that part of the cash Obama handed to Iran ended up in the hands of Iranian-backed terrorists.
As Trump saw immediately, this was a bad deal for America.
Related: Hillary Clinton Is Still Complaining About Losing the 2016 Election
Trump saw himself as the man who could and would bring an approach different from that of both Bush and Obama because he wasn’t a politician captive to a party.
His life experience was about making connections and deals, seeing all angles, creating jobs and succeeding in the real world — not the world of phony rhetoric and putting party above the people.
He knew how to read people and he knew how to surprise, beguile and lead.
These were experiences and qualities recent presidents had not brought to bear for America — and why the “forgotten man” had been forgotten for decades.
Donald Trump decided he would seek the White House, correct the problems his predecessors created, remember the “forgotten man” — and make America great again.
“Trump’s Triumphs: The Real Story of the Donald J. Trump Presidency” is due out on November 26.
Mark Anthony is a TV and radio commentator. He is a political strategist, former Silicon Valley executive, and host of “The Patriot and Preacher Radio Show,” which relaunches this fall.
The opinions expressed by contributors and/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of LifeZette.
Join the Discussion
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.