“Regime Change” Reveals Trump’s Unconstrained Second Term: The “Most Powerful” Claim and the Golf Caddy’s Document
“Regime Change” Reveals Trump’s Unconstrained Second Term: The “Most Powerful” Claim and the Golf Caddy’s Document
The book, “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump,” is based on more than 1,000 interviews and provides a deeply sourced narrative of a presidency operating on grievance, instinct, and an unshakeable belief in its own power .
The Document That Stunned Reporters
One of the book’s most talked-about moments occurred during an interview with the president in the Oval Office. When asked about his power, Trump instructed an aide to retrieve a two-page document and proudly showed it to the reporters .
The document was an essay arguing that Donald Trump is the most powerful person to have ever walked the earth. It ranked him above historical figures known for their ruthless conquest and authoritarian rule, including Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Stalin, Mao, and Hitler .
Trump began reading the names aloud, explaining how each of these titans fell short of his own power because they lacked the global reach and modern military might he commands as president . “[T]hey didn’t have airplanes, right? You couldn’t travel around,” Trump said, according to the authors .
Haberman, recounting the experience on MS NOW, described hearing him recite the names—including Hitler and Stalin—as "jarring" . Swan noted that there was no discussion of a moral dimension to the comparison; it was all about raw power, and Trump was clearly "relishing it" .
The Author: A Golf Caddy, Not a Historian
When Haberman and Swan investigated the document's source, they discovered that the author was not an academic historian, as Trump had suggested .
The essay was written by Dave King, a longtime caddy and personal confidant of Hall of Fame golfer Gary Player, whom Trump had met at a golf event . King, who is also a former chairman of the Rangers Football Club in Scotland, shared his assessment with Player and later with Trump directly while playing golf in Florida .
Despite this revelation, Trump later posted the document on Truth Social, calling King a "Presidential Historian" .
Key Themes from “Regime Change”
The book, released Tuesday, paints a broader picture of a presidency where traditional checks and balances appear ineffective.
A Culture of Fear and Impunity
Haberman and Swan depict a White House where dissent is crushed. As political consultant and Trump ally Chris LaCivita bluntly put it in the book: “When you do oppose, you get your fucking head kicked in” . This culture has enabled a significant expansion of Trump's power, with a compliant Republican majority in Congress and tech moguls rushing to pay homage .
The Pursuit of Vengeance
A “hunger for vengeance” is a central theme. The president is portrayed as consumed by settling scores, at one point struggling to remember the name of a former official he wanted to have investigated before the White House issued an executive order to do just that . He reportedly revelled in watching tech leaders like Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, who had previously scorned him, now try to ingratiate themselves .
Obsession with Image and Control
The book also reveals a president fixated on legacy and aesthetics, reportedly decorating the White House with super glue to ensure his mark is permanent . The administration was also intensely focused on managing the fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, with aides even discussing sending the vice president or the acting attorney general to a podcast to control the narrative .
Gut Instinct over Expert Advice
The authors describe a president operating on "pure gut," often disregarding expert advice. This was starkly illustrated in the lead-up to the war with Iran, where Trump ignored warnings from his top military advisers about potential consequences and casualties, believing the war would be over quickly .
What This Means for America
The picture painted by "Regime Change" is of a presidency undergoing a fundamental transformation. The authors describe Trump as a leader who believes he is above the norms that have traditionally constrained executive power, a belief reinforced by a system that, for the moment, appears unwilling or unable to push back .
As Haberman told MS NOW, the book is a story of "hubris and buying into the idea that this one person actually could do things that nobody else could," serving as a crucial first draft of history for a truly unrecognizable presidency .
