Trump is a ‘vulgar misogynistic sexual predator’: new book lists allegations and accusations of misdeeds

All the President’s Women examines allegations about Trump’s behaviour towards various women in his life

While most accusations have already been covered by the media, the anecdotes leave the reader feeling tainted

Reading Time:4 minutes

A new book on Donald Trump lists allegations and anecdotes about his attitudes toward and treatment of women. All the President’s Women leaves the reader feeling tainted. Photo: AP/Jeff Bottari

Published: 7:00pm, 27 Oct 2019Updated: 7:00pm, 27 Oct 2019

All the President’s Women: Donald Trump and the Making of a Predator, by Barry Levine and Monique El-Faizy, Hachette

Ew. That’s really the only way to describe the experience of reading All the President’s Women: Donald Trump and the Making of a Predator, a deep dive into the many allegations that depict Trump’s relationships with women as vulgar, misogynistic, demeaning, sometimes violent and always puerile. The accusations wash over a reader like a tidal wave of sewage until you are thoroughly caked in muck and light-headed from the stink.

Somewhere between the descriptions of casual groping and the lengthy investigation of Trump’s possible involvement in a threesome with an underage girl, you long to scrub your memory bank with bleach, to douse yourself with disinfectant.

And yet. Even though the book elicits disgust and anger, it never shocks. It never shocks you that the man sitting in the Oval Office is the person accused of such vile behaviour. That’s because so many of the book’s central anecdotes and allegations already have been discussed in the media: the affair with Karen McDougal, the sex with Stormy Daniels, the sexual intimidation of Ivana Trump, the gutter talk with Howard Stern, the ogling of half-dressed Miss Universe contestants, and the personal insults hurled at women ranging from Megyn Kelly and Rosie O’Donnell to former beauty queen Alicia Machado.

Karen McDougal with Donald Trump in an image she posted to Twitter in 2015, but later deleted. Photo: Twitter

Nothing in All the President’s Women is shocking because this is the president the public has come to know. All of it, however, is exhausting.

Trump is a ‘vulgar misogynistic sexual predator’: new book lists allegations and accusations of misdeeds

All the President’s Women examines allegations about Trump’s behaviour towards various women in his life While most accusations have already been covered by the media, the anecdotes leave the reader feeling tainted

All the President’s Women examines allegations about Trump’s behaviour towards various women in his life

While most accusations have already been covered by the media, the anecdotes leave the reader feeling tainted