Praise be: how cycle of sycophancy boosts books about Trump

The Donald Trump book club is about to gain its newest and perhaps most inevitable member.

Trump’s eldest son, Don Jr, has struck a book deal with Center Street Press, a Hachette imprint, for a title likely to be published later this year. He will reflect on the “great achievements” of his father’s administration, a press release said.

Sign up for the US morning briefing

If past is prologue, it is fair to assume the book will be plugged by President Trump to his 60 million followers on Twitter, offering the kind of publicity that money can’t buy. This is likely to result in a bump in sales, an enhanced profile and perhaps a job offer or two.

Such is a bizarre publishing ecology that has developed during the Trump administration. In a sort of literary version of his Fox News feedback loop, authors write paeans to the president, who in turn champions their work, giving a boost to their bank balances and careers and perhaps even their hopes of landing that most coveted prize of the times: a cable news gig.

“There’s a Trump deal: you praise me, I praise you,” said Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota. “We’ve never seen this before. In another administration, it would have been seen as discrediting. The people trying to kiss the ring would have been mocked.”

Jacobs added: “In the past people have written books to make the case for the president, but there’s a level of obsequiousness and overstatement about these books that’s without parallel. How much truth-speaking can there be when the currency of the Trump court is praise?”

Related: The Mueller Report by the Washington Post review – the truth is out there… somewhere

The latest potential beneficiary is Mark Levin, a lawyer and rightwing broadcaster who defends and describes Trump as “the most abused president in American history”. After his media-bashing book, Unfreedom of the Press, shot to No 1 on Amazon’s charts, Trump tweeted: “Wow, Mark Levin’s new book opened at #1. It is great – keep it there for a long time!”

Along with fame and sales, there are other benefits. Last week Conrad Black, author of the glowing Donald J Trump: A President Like No Other, received a full pardon from the president on charges of fraud and obstruction of justice.

Chris Whipple, the author of The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency, said: “The abuse of the pardon power is really troubling.”

Trump, an avid golfer at weekends, has previously claimed “I don’t have time” to read books and is notorious as a non-reader even of simple briefing documents. Whipple asked: “Where does he find the time to become the blurber-in-chief?”

Indeed, last year alone Trump endorsed at least a dozen books written by cheerleaders, commentators and former staff.

Sean Spicer, who was Trump’s first press secretary, wrote a memoir called The Briefing that was careful to avoid criticisms of the president. Trump commented: “A story told with both heart and knowledge. Really good, go get it!”

Sebastian Gorka’s book, Why We Fight, warning of existential threats to Judaeo-Christian civilisation, earned this accolade: “A very talented man who I got to know well while he was working at the White House, has just written an excellent book … much will be learned from this very good read!”

Spicer and Gorka are building careers as pro-Trump broadcasters and pundits. Also angling for attention is Anthony Scaramucci, who was White House communications director for just 11 days, and went on to write Trump: The Blue Collar President.

Other books that caught Trump’s eye last year included Liars, Leakers and Liberals by Judge Jeanine Pirro, a broadside against his perceived enemies in the “deep state”, Hollywood and the media. The president’s response: “Our great Judge Jeanine Pirro is out with a new book … which is fantastic. Go get it!”

Then there was Mad Politics: Keeping Your Sanity in a World Gone Crazy by Gina Loudon, claiming to have scientific evidence that Trump is “the most sound-minded person to ever occupy the White House”. The president urged his followers: “Go out and get your copy today – a great read!”

The Russia Hoax: The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump by Gregg Jarrett, a Fox News analyst, railed against the former secretary of state and her supposed deep state collaborators. Trump wrote: “It is indeed a HOAX and WITCH HUNT, illegally started by people who have already been disgraced. Great book!”

And The Faith of Donald J Trump: A Spiritual Biography by David Brody and Scott Lamb made the improbable case that Trump has discovered God. “A very interesting read,” the president commented. “Enjoy!”

But there is another side to the story. Former White House staffers Omarosa Manigault Newman and Cliff Sims wrote unflattering tell-all memoirs of their times in the west wing, portraying chaos, infighting and a cult of personality. Journalists Michael Wolff and Bob Woodward and others have also delivered scathing accounts. Trump has used Twitter to lash out at them, inadvertently boosting their profile and sales too. In the world of Trump publishing, it seems, almost everyone wins.

Kurt Bardella, a former spokesperson for Breitbart News and congressional Republicans, said: “When you write a book supportive or critical of him, he’s going to tweet about you. He hate-tweets books he doesn’t like, which contributes to sales.”