Trump praises Hanson’s book on MAGA movement, says author ‘understands me better’ than himself

Victor Davis Hanson’s book examines Donald Trump’s political comeback and the forces behind the MAGA movement’s rise to power
Trump praised Hanson’s new book and said it explained his presidency and the MAGA movement (Getty Images/Screengrab Fox News)
Trump praised Hanson’s new book and said it explained his presidency and the MAGA movement (Getty Images/Screengrab Fox News)

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump on Sunday, September 6, promoted a new book by historian and longtime Trump supporter Victor Davis Hanson, calling it one of the “best books of the year” and saying Hanson understands him “perhaps better, than I understand myself.”

Trump praised ‘The Counterrevolution: The Fall and Rise of Donald Trump and the MAGA Movement’ in a post on Truth Social, crediting the MAGA movement and its supporters with what he described as a turnaround in the United States.

Trump praises Hanson’s book on the MAGA movement

Trump described Hanson’s book as an explanation of his presidency and the broader political movement surrounding it. He said the United States had gone from being “on the brink of disaster” to “the hottest Country anywhere in the World,” attributing the change to MAGA supporters and what he called “Great American Patriots.”



“New York Times Bestselling Author, Victor Davis Hanson, just wrote what will quickly be considered one of the best books of the year (Maybe the BEST!). Entitled, The counter revolution, he understands me, perhaps better, than I understand myself,” Trump wrote.

“From the brink of disaster, the USA is now the hottest Country anywhere in the World, and it was MAGA, and a lot of Great American Patriots, that got us there. Victor Davis Hanson explains it all, and better than ever before! Get his historically important book, now. Thank you!!!”

President Donald Trump departs after speaking at the David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026, in Garden City, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump departed after speaking at the David Mack Center for Training and Intelligence on August 14, 2026, in Garden City, New York (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Hanson is a classicist and military historian who has become a prominent supporter of Trump. His book examines Trump’s political rise and the MAGA movement as what Hanson describes as a “counter-revolution” against changes that preceded Trump’s return to the White House.

Victor Davis Hanson compares Trump with Ronald Reagan

During a Sunday appearance on Mark Levin’s Life, Liberty & Levin, Hanson also compared Trump with former President Ronald Reagan, whom he described alongside Trump as one of the two greatest Republican presidents of the modern era.



When asked by Levin about similarities between the “Greatest Republican presidents in modern history: Trump and Reagan,” Hanson agreed, saying that Reagan’s presidency represented a broad effort to restore American confidence, strengthen US military power and challenge the Soviet Union while also addressing cultural issues at home.

“Yeah, I do. Reagan is known, you know, as the president that broke the Soviet Union. He said our strategy is simple: we win, they lose,” Hanson said.

circa 1985:  American president Ronald Reagan makes an announcement from his desk at the White House
American President Ronald Reagan made an announcement from his desk at the White House in Washington, DC (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Hanson said both presidents shared ambitions to pursue what he described as a “counter-revolution,” but differed significantly in style. He characterized Reagan as more affable and capable of winning over opponents while describing Trump as more willing to take unpopular measures and act aggressively because he believed the political moment required it.

President Donald Trump speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, Friday, July 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Donald Trump spoke at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Washington, DC, on July 24, 2026 (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

“I think Trump has been more successful only because there was, Reagan was a, I don't know how to say it, but he was a product of a give-and-take Hollywood. He was affable. Everybody loved Reagan. Trump's idea was I've got to take measures that are so unpopular at this eleventh hour that I'm going to be brazen, I'm going to cut to the quick, and I don't care if people don't like me,” Hanson said.

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