"An engrossing look at the Trump cabinet: the scandals, the incompetence, the assault on the federal government, the bungled attempts to impose order on an administration lost in a chaos of its own making. Donald Trump promised a return to national greatness, but each day of his presidency seems to bring a new crisis, a deepening sense of national unease. Why, and how, has he failed his supporters? And how has he, on occasion, bested his detractors? [This book] takes complete measure of the Trump administration in order to clarify the president's intentions, and how those intentions are being carried out--or subverted--by the people he has hired. Alexander Nazaryan argues that the 'deconstruction of the administrative state' promised by Steve Bannon in early 2017 never materialized. What the American people got instead was Wilbur Ross hauling his tennis pro to confirmation hearing preparations; Scott Pruitt running away from rattlesnakes; Reince Priebus enduring insults from junior White House staffers. And yet, bungling as Trump's cabinet members have been, they have managed to either damage or arrest many of the gears that make government run. They have given away public lands to oil companies and allowed corporate lobbyists to make decisions about what is best for the American people, and have done it all while flying on private jets and dining at the finest restaurants, at taxpayers' expense. Meticulously reported and enthrallingly told, The Best People takes readers inside the federal government under Trump's control, a government assailed by the very people charged to lead it, a government awash in confusion and corruption."--Jacket.;Prologue: "Get the hell out of here now" ; Preface: The end of something ; Introduction: The best people -- Part one: The siege. The accidental victor ; "I wipe my ass with their thing" ; The strongest men of the party ; Free commercials ; Alligators and lily pads ; "Kind of a rough start" ; The shitshow strategy ; Better people -- Part two: The occupation. Turbulence ; Fellow travelers ; The possum ; The cowboy ; Attendant lords ; Advancing God's kingdom -- Conclusion: Some people.