Donald Trump's new book perfectly embodies his presidential campaign, cover to cover
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Even the book jacket was in line with the Trump brand and his campaign theme, "Make America Great Again."
His book-jacket bio noted that he is "the very definition of the American success story, continually setting the standards of excellence."
It concluded: "Mr. Trump has more than seven million followers on social media and is passionate about fixing America."
The book itself is dedicated, "importantly, to the people who are ready to Make America Great Again!"
In addition to relentlessly promoting the Trump brand and campaign theme, the book was essentially Trump-the-candidate packed into fewer than 200 pages. As Trump himself does on a regular basis, chapters would sometimes veer off on tangents to attack the media, defend his lack of specific policy proposals, and brag about his own fortune.
'Winning matters'
The very first chapter of the book - titled "Winning Again," the first sentence of which is, "America needs to start winning again" - stressed how successful Trump is.
"Donald Trump builds buildings. Donald Trump develops magnificent golf courses. Donald Trump makes investments that create jobs," Trump declared. "Winning matters. Being the best matters."
Trump's book contained a number of sections that would rarely be found in most political tomes, including a personal-finance statement assessing his wealth at $8.7 billion. And even though independent analyses have pegged Trump's net worth at roughly half that number, Trump included a two-page explanation about why he's worth far more.
"My net worth has increased since I released (at my presidential announcement) the attached financial statement which is dated as of June 2014. The value of my real estate in New York, San Francisco, Miami, Washington DC, Europe, and many other places has gone up considerably. I have very little debt, and even that is at low interest rates. My current net worth is more than ten billion dollars," Trump wrote.
"I was very pleased to file this disclosure and proud of what I've accomplished."
In the glossy-paged middle of the book - where memoirs typically feature photos of the writer throughout the years - roughly half the photos were of the grandiose properties he owns.
And then there was the 17-page "About the Author" section, which culminated in a three-page listing of all of his biggest hotels, resorts, golf clubs, buildings, ice rinks, planes, and helicopters.
Attacking the media
Almost every single Trump speech is filled with complaints about the "horrible" political press, which he blasts for being unfair to him and masking his huge crowd sizes.
Accordingly, large segments of the book were dedicated to his various beefs with the media. The second chapter was titled "Our 'Unbiased' Political Media" and hit Fox News host Megyn Kelly by the second paragraph.
"At the first Republican debate, Fox journalist Megyn Kelly was clearly out to get me," he wrote.
Trump also went after conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, who stumped Trump when he asked the candidate specific foreign-policy questions, such as the names of terrorist leaders and the difference between Hezbollah and Hamas. Trump raged against Hewitt at the time, but tensions cooled and Trump has since done multiple interviews on Hewitt's show.
"I can't really blame Hugh Hewitt for doing what he did. Just like Megyn Kelly, he figured out that the best way to get attention is to attack Donald Trump. This guy got more headlines from our little exchange than he probably every got in his whole career. It wasn't the name of the terrorist leaders that he cared about - it was his own name," Trump wrote.
Trump gave his overall opinion of the political press in the chapter, as well.
"I've definitely met people at both the very top as well as the lowest end of the food chain. I mean, the very bottom," he wrote of the media. "They are horrible human beings, they are dishonest. I've seen these so-called journalists flat-out lie. I say that because incompetence doesn't begin to explain the inaccurate stories they have written."
'There's nobody like me'
Trump also used the book to outline the policies that are interwoven in his stump speeches.
A chapter apiece was dedicated to building a big wall along the Mexican border, having a tough military, reforming education, mocking global-warming hysteria and backing energy exploration, repealing Obamacare, rebuilding US infrastructure, growing the economy, and continuing to support the Second Amendment.
And at multiple points, he explained why he didn't go into more detail for his policy proposals.
"Tipping your hand is one of the dumbest mistakes you can make in a military confrontation. I've read a lot of history and I don't recall reading that General George Washington made hotel reservations in Valley Forge, or that he sent ahead his best wishes to the Hessians in Trenton," Trump wrote in one chapter.
"At lot of times when I speak, people say I don't provide specific policies that some pollster has determined are what people want to hear. I know that's not the way the professional politicians do it - they seem to poll and focus group every word. But there's nobody like me. Nobody," he wrote in another.
Trump even provided a "conservative scorecard" for his critics on the right to judge him. The list: healthcare, gun rights, the Iran nuclear deal, religious freedom, taxes, immigration reform, and "anchor babies."
"So the next time someone questions my conservative credentials," Trump urged," show them this list!"