Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland...

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Salena Zito

Butler

The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland...

Salena Zito

$49.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

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English

LITTLE BROWN US
28 October 2025

History; Elections & referenda

""Salena Zito is the journalist who knows Trump-and his voters-better than anyone."" - The Free Press

From the acclaimed journalist standing only a few feet away from the stage when the gunshots began is this gripping first-hand account of the near assassination of Donald Trump - and the inside story of Trump's heartland-fueled victory.

That day in Butler, had the wind gusted less, had Trump's head turned in a slightly different direction, or had the adrenaline-fueled heart of the shooter beat slower, America would have been plunged into chaos, possibly even civil war. As a local reporter with deep ties to the area, Salena Zito had been invited by the president to interview him at the Butler Farm Show Grounds. She was standing only four feet away from the presidential podium when the bullets started to fly. A campaign staffer tackled her to the ground.

Throughout it all, Salena never stopped reporting. She spoke by phone to Trump several times in the immediate aftermath and was granted access to community members, rally participants, family members and local law enforcement officials. ""I rarely look away from the crowd,"" Trump told her in one of several of those conversations. ""Had I not done that in that moment, well, we would not be talking today, would we?""

Known for her on-the-ground reporting on populism and rural America, Salena zooms out to tell the fascinating story of the battle for America's heartland and the issues that actually motivate voters. To understand how and why Trump won the 2024 election, you have to understand places like Butler. Big cities like Los Angeles, New York and D.C. don't decide who wins election cycles, but people in places like Butler, Pennsylvania sure do. President Trump gave the author extraordinary access for this book, including to his top aides, to his running mate JD Vance, to billionaire supporter Elon Musk, and even his security detail.

There are moments that define America. The late afternoon hours of July 13, 2024 was one of them. This book is a narrative of that fateful day, the people of the heartland and the untold story of how the president found his way back into the heart of the electorate.

By: Salena Zito
Imprint: LITTLE BROWN US
Country of Publication: United States [Currently unable to ship to USA: see Shipping Info]
Dimensions: Height: 228mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 30mm
Weight: 453g
ISBN: 9781546009146
ISBN 10: 1546009140
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 28 October 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Salena Zito is a veteran political reporter with more than twenty years of award-winning experience in print and broadcast journalism. With her trusty Jeeps that have clocked well over 400,000 miles on their odometers and a refusal to travel on interstates, Zito is a reporter who harkens to an older generation of journalism, one who listens to the stories of everyday Americans in places far outside the artificial bubbles of Manhattan and the Beltway. One of the last scribes of middle America, she famously popularized the root cause of their failed coverage and underestimation of Donald Trump by the phrase coined by Brad Todd saying, ""The press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally."" Zito is a national political reporter for the Washington Examiner, and a special contributor to the Washington Post. She has been a columnist for the New York Post and has contributed to The Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

Reviews for Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland

""Salena Zito has written a powerful new Book, BUTLER: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland. Salena was an eyewitness to that terrible day, and understands the unbreakable Spirit of our Movement to FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT. The Future of our Nation resides in the Hearts and Souls of the People of this Country, and Salena knows we will not rest until we, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. Preorder your copy today.""--President Donald J. Trump ""There isn't a journalist in America who gets everyday Americans like Salena Zito does. She puts the miles on her Jeep and wears down the soles of her boots to get the stories that her colleagues in the media ignore, and every page of this book shows it. A masterpiece of a narrative that explains why the 2024 election went the way it did.""--Ainsley Earhardt ""This is a powerhouse of a book. Salena Zito is out there in the heartland, uncovering the truth about the 2024 fight for America's soul like only she can. This is vintage Zito, delivering the unfiltered pulse of the people with grit and brilliance--trust me, you won't put it down!""--Sean Hannity