Leibovich slips onstage with these characters, off to one side, usually with other reporters such as his colleagues from The New York Times, where he worked before joining The Atlantic as a staff writer. The scene is regularly crowded with acolytes of varying status, all anticipating a chance to see Trump and be seen by him and by others waiting to see him. The framing image for Thank You is not the White House but the lobby of the Trump Hotel, the true citadel of the Trump administration a few blocks away down Pennsylvania Avenue. House of Representatives) and dismisses Trump's best-known spokespersons as 'C-listers bumped up temporarily to B-list status by their proximity' to the president. In the same paragraph, Leibovich refers to 'Trump leg-humpers from the House' (meaning the U.S. (Elsewhere, Giuliani will be described as 'the master creature of the Trump swamp.') Two pages into the new book's prologue, the author refers to 'Trump's usual collection of pet rocks' mentioning as examples Rudy Giuliani and former campaign strategists Steve Bannon and Corey Lewandowksi. His frequent eviscerations of major figures range from subtle to scabrous. He comes at his interviewees with a skewer in one hand, a scalpel in the other and a glint in his eye. If it is possible to set partisanship aside in these tribal times, the main attraction to Leibovich's work is his wicked satirical talent. Republicans abound in that book, too, but Democrats and their media favorites were arguably its first focus.īy contrast, the cover of Thank You for Your Servitude features cartoon caricatures of Trump staffers, prominent Republicans, conservative media personalities and a recognizable January 6 rioter with buffalo horns on his head. This Town was about the first five years of the Barack Obama phenomenon in America. Critics at the time spoke of too much snark and gossip, but the book was also widely praised for exposing the incestuous, meretricious power elite of Washington.Īn added selling point for some is that this time the acerbic Leibovich trains his fire on one party - Trump's Republicans. People remember Leibovich's earlier take on the nation's capital - This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral - Plus, Plenty of Valet Parking! - in America's Gilded Capital - which topped The New York Times bestseller list for three months in 2013. That is why Thank You for Your Servitude: Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of Submission will likely find a place alongside all those other tomes trashing all things Trump. The nation's readers may not be crying out for yet another book about former President Trump and his era, but many will make an exception for a book by Mark Leibovich.

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