Max’s best-selling biography of Ronald Reagan, Reagan: His Life and Legend, has been selected by the New York Times as one of the 10 best books of 2024. It has also made best-of-the-year lists at The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Economist, and Air Mail. The New York Times describes it as a “landmark work.” The New Yorker calls it the “definitive biography.” The Washington Post calls it “magisterial.” You can purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your local bookstore.

Trump is addicted to military force. Congress knows what is missing.

A dilemma confronts the Trump administration in Iran. It needs the U.S. soft power it eviscerated.

By MAX BOOT

Washington Post
January 19, 2025

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair that President Donald Trump, despite being a teetotaler, has an “alcoholic’s personality.” The president himself agreed that he has an “addictive type personality.” What Trump seems to be addicted to, at the moment, is the use of military force.

Even before the stunningly successful Delta Force raid to seize Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 3, Trump had already attacked as many countries (seven) in 2025 as he did during his entire first term. After the Maduro operation, which the president said he watched “like ... a television show,” he has threatened to take military action in many more places, including Iran, Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, Greenland — and now Minnesota.

Like many of his predecessors, Trump is likely to learn there are sharp limits to what even the fabled U.S. armed forces can achieve. Many problems around the world are more effectively addressed with soft power, but Trump has decimated America’s ability to persuade and attract people around the world, and it will take a long time to undo the damage.