Trump You caught my attention first because I was teaching online for various universities when Trump started his ill-fated university. I remembered the buzz about the online school he was starting, but there's been little in any of the coverage from higher education publications that I might have expected. Cohen's book helps me understand why. This is a story of a university that never was--not even in terms of other for-profit schools that were big at the time like University of Phoenix.

Cohen starts the book mentioning how he felt embarrassed and ashamed that he fell for Trump's ploy; it's clear, though, that he now realizes that the entire country fell for it during the 2016 election. Even before Trump won the nomination, though, Cohen got to see behind the curtain. During a hot mic session during a deposition break, Cohen witnessed Trump saying things that showed his racist statements about Mexicans were not just mistakes or poor wording, for instance, and that he values no one but himself.

Part of what is amazing is that Cohen's story about his "enrollment" at Trump U, the subsequent lawsuit, and the aftermath is that mainstream media didn't jump on his story. He relates that even with a recording of the hot mic incident that major news outlets passed on the story. Similarly, he wound up independently publishing this book, as agents and publishers told him it wasn't a big enough story, that people were burned out on Trump, that it wouldn't sell.

Perhaps one of the best things about this book is the way Cohen draws parallels between Trump's behavior in relation to the lawsuit and Trump's behavior on the campaign trail, while in office, through both impeachments, and at the January 6 insurrection. In addition to an exhaustive summary of the case, the book includes a variety of notes linking to videos and articles that compliment the text and provide clear factual basis for his claims. The timeline at the end and the various photographs shared in the book are also a nice touch.

A solid read that sheds light on not only for-profit "education," the slowness of the class-action process, and on Donald Trump's behavioral patterns.