Kurt Andersen has revealed details of his upcoming satirical novel "The Breakup," which imagines President Donald Trump dying in 2035. The novel is set in 2035, with Trump celebrating his 89th birthday at Trump Tower. As he descends his famous golden escalator, he suffers a "massive brain stroke," leading to immediate pandemonium and conspiracy theories of a "deep-state assassination."
Plot Details and Real-World Parallels
The crowd erupts in protest, leading to a "true right-wing uprising, terrorist uprising" a year later, Andersen said. He began writing before Trump's 2024 reelection but darkened the story as the second term unfolded. Andersen noted, "[It] certainly required me to go through and darken the backstory... more horrible and nightmarish than I had had them in the earlier draft."
According to podcast host Joanna Coles, the book represents the "breakup of America." The story follows a 23-year romantic relationship falling apart, mirroring the country's breakdown. Andersen explained, "In the last year and a half, in the last three years since I was began writing this book, it has become much less far-fetched than it seemed when I began."
Trump's Health Concerns in Second Term
Andersen's novel emerges at a time when the president's physical condition has remained a persistent topic. New details from the book "Regime Change" by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan surfaced, providing previously unrevealed details about the second Trump presidency. According to Haberman and Swan, throughout his first year back in office, the president was "almost entirely housebound."
Not only would he predominantly move between his "comfort zones," the White House or one of his clubs, but he also purportedly informed his staff that following the 2024 election, he was "done with rallies, done with campaigning."
The book discloses that while the president had grown increasingly security-conscious after two assassination attempts, there was another explanation. "He had spent four years of the Biden presidency mocking his successor's age and clearly diminished stamina," Haberman and Swan wrote. "But the fact that Trump had followed Biden by becoming the oldest man ever sworn into the office of the President did not mean he felt compelled to provide frequent health updates of his own. That he had aged since he last lived in the White House was obvious."
Aides grew concerned for a number of reasons. Beyond repeated bruising—which the White House first attributed to extensive handshaking before blaming his aspirin treatment—staff observed him nodding off during mid-afternoon meetings, alongside indications of slight hearing impairment. Haberman and Swan note that the president regularly asked reporters to repeat their questions, positioning his hand behind his ear. Meetings with foreign leaders started occurring in the Oval Office rather than the East Room, "in part because the acoustics were better, and he didn't have to stand for an hour."
