Journalist Jacob Weisberg’s book presents portraits of eight prominent Americans who initially “recognized the danger Trump posed to American values” but in 2025 nevertheless capitulated to him: Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who led the court in issuing decisions that gave immunity — and in effect impunity — to Trump’s lawless behavior; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who voted to acquit Trump at his second impeachment trial, thus enabling him to run for another term. Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, who shut down the paper’s planned endorsement of Kamala Harris, and in other ways knee-capping the paper after purchasing it with a promise to protect it. Former President George W. Bush, who refused to speak out against Trump. These and lesser-known figures either surrendered to his authoritarian demands directly, or in other ways contributed to the degradation of American democracy.
Cowardice may not be the predominant trait for each figure in “Profiles in Cowardice: A Study of Collaboration in the Trump Era” (Penguin Press, 285 pages). Some are bold in their hypocrisy (former journalist Megyn Kelly); one is depicted as a lifelong opportunist (billionaire businessman Stephen A. Schwarzman.) But the aptness and irony of the book’s title is apparent from the very first cast study, that of Brad Karp, the chairman of Paul, Weiss, the century-old progressive law firm that was the first to surrender to Trump’s campaign of political retribution and financial extortion. An idealist, Karp began his career at the firm he eventually chaired after being recruited by Paul Weiss senior partner Ted Sorensen, who had ghost-written John F. Kennedy’s “Profiles of Courage.” Weisberg shrewdly adapts the title and the structure of JFK’s Pulitzer-winning book as a point of comparison. Indeed, the author makes sure to include in each chapter contrasting examples of those who didn’t capitulate. One of the most disheartening chapters (excerpted in the New York Review of Books) tells the story of Sian Bellock, who spoke out forcefully for academic freedom and diversity when she was president of Barnard, but when she became president of Dartmouth, kept her head down and failed to support other universities under file. The author contrasts her inaction to the presidents of Princeton, MIT, and Wesleyan who emerged as “sector-wide defenders” who spoke out for more vulnerable schools.
“Profiles in Cowardice” is a short book, but each profile is a rich, well-written mix of biography, historical context and analysis, its insights invoking the wisdom of everybody from Freud to Kant to Hannah Arendt, as well as Weisberg’s own personal experiences. He doesn’t just condemn; he tries to explain, with a level of nuance and sometime even compassion, elaborating at some length on the five main reasons why these figures failed in their civic responsibility– peer pressure, fear of violence, fear of ostracism, money (or loss of a living), and institutional self-preservation.
Some of his analysis might feel like a stretch; all of it is worth considering. One vivid example is the case he makes for George W. Bush indeed speaking out – obliquely – through his new hobby, painting. One of Bush’s projects was a series of positive portraits of immigrants at exactly the time when Trump was cracking down. This was ““neffectual by design… For Bush, painting is a way to say what he can’t say, to express feelings that include rejection, frustration, and anger while pretending not to have those feelings and abiding by his official discipline of silence.”
If “Profiles in Cowardice” is not a definitive study, it holds great value even just for summing up succinctly where we are right now, especially the damage that Trump has done to the United States in his second term:
“Trump himself hadn’t changed. But he was better prepared, filling his administration not with seasoned officials or policy experts but with sycophants, henchmen and media personalities.
“The year 2025 felt like 1989 in reverse. Instead of liberal heroes leading peaceful, democratic revolutions, an illiberal cabal was deploying the full authoritarian playbook. Trump declared “emergencies” at will—nine in his first month alone—covering the southern border, drug cartels, cybersecurity, trade with Canada and Mexico, and the International Criminal Court. By proclamation and executive order, he claimed unprecedented, virtually unlimited powers to abridge the rule of law, militarize American cities, order regime-change strikes in Venezuela and Iran without congressional warrant, and direct the economy, all while corruptly enriching himself and his family. He plastered his face on the exterior of Washington, DC, buildings and onto coins, while engraving his name on the Kennedy Center and the currency. He knocked down the East Wing of the White House to make way for a gargantuan ballroom that would dwarf the rest of the presidential residence.”
Recent polls indicate that two of these infractions have been primarily responsible for turning Trump supporters into Trump detractors – – the economy and the Iran war. Weisberg ends his book with the hope that “free and fair elections in 2026 and 2028” will be the start of surviving and ultimately recovering from the current “grievous assault on American democracy.” But that will not be enough. “I believe it will also require accountability.” This book might help with that.
