The title refers to a phrase Trump has repeatedly used to describe himself, starting in January 2018 when a book, Fire and Fury, raised questions about his mental stability.[1] Responding in a series of tweets, he said "Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart" and that his achievements in life qualified him as "not smart, but genius....and a very stable genius at that!"[2] He continued to describe himself as "a very stable genius" on multiple subsequent occasions.[2][3][4]
Rucker and Leonnig have suggested that A Very Stable Genius is an effort to make sense of conflicting images of Donald Trump as "a success, a master in some ways, and also a chaotic, undisciplined, impulsive leader".[5] The book draws on more than 200 interviews with sources, who are not named in the book.[5][6] The authors requested an interview from Trump, but he declined their request.[7]
