In the early days of the Trump presidency, the people who work in the institutions that make America America saw Trump up close in the Oval Office and became convinced they had to stand up to an unbound president. These officials faced a situation without parallel in American history: What do you do, and who do you call, if you are the only one standing between the president, his extraordinary powers, and the abyss? Michael S. Schmidt tells the dramatic, high-stakes story of those who felt compelled to confront and try to contain the most powerful man in the world as he shredded norms and sought to expand his power. Drawing on secret White House documents and confidential sources inside federal law enforcement and the West Wing, Donald Trump v. the United States is vital journalism recording the shocking reality of a presidency like no other, a riveting contemporary history, and a lasting account of just how fragile the institutions of American democracy really are.