US President Donald Trump has compared himself to some of the most feared leaders in history, including Mao Zedong, Stalin, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Napoleon and Hitler, he revealed in a book published by a New York Times reporter.Trump told a New York Times reporter that he received a two-page document from “a historian” that argued that other leaders “did not have global influence” and that Trump’s power was “not” local. It turns out the document was authored not by a historian but by golfer Gary Player’s longtime caddy, who had shared his assessment of Florida golf with Trump.“These leaders maintain power through fear,” Trump said, according to the book. “Who would do something like this? Right?”
Trump calls Netanyahu a ‘liar’
The book reveals Trump’s hot-and-cold feelings for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump told an Israel skeptic in the early months of his administration that he didn’t want “any part” of Netanyahu’s war with Iran. He told another adviser that Netanyahu was a “liar.”Trump has since reportedly added “fucking crazy” and “no fucking judgment” to his list of insults against the Israeli leader.According to the book, during a White House Situation Room meeting in February, Netanyahu laid out the case for Israel to go to war with Iran, and Trump ultimately decided to support the idea.
Other excerpts
The book also writes about Trump’s suspicion of Ukraine and its leader, Volodymyr Zelensky. The book claims that after a high-profile Oval Office altercation between Trump, Zelensky and Vice President Vance, Trump decided the confrontation was “better than The Apprentice.”Trump’s vitriol toward his cabinet has also been documented. In April 2025, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick tried to convince Trump that tariffs would not put U.S. automakers at a significant disadvantage. Trump told Lutnick that he “used to be tough” but had become “soft.”“Howard, you were a killer,” Trump said. “Now you have a beautiful wife and a big house and you’re weak. And you’re awesome.”The book details the actions Trump took to make life miserable for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. At a staff meeting in July, Trump said of Powell: “I want to blow his balls off… Can we stop construction? I just want to blow his balls off.” Fuck him. “Trump aides then hatched a plan to appoint Trump allies to the National Capital Planning Commission to target the Federal Reserve building renovations.During a meeting with Trump, Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson in the Oval Office, Musk was “stunned” by a gold pager that Netanyahu presented to Trump to commemorate Israel’s 2024 bombing pager attack against Hezbollah. Trump “showed them” graphic details of the damage and wounds caused in that attack, including “mutilated genitals and missing hands,” the book said.
