Into the Wood Chipper: A Whistleblower's Account of How the Trump Administration Shredded Usaid

— —

Nicholas Enrich Atul Gawande

Into the Wood Chipper

Name: Into the Wood Chipper
Price: 60.95 AUD
Availability: OutOfStock
ISBN: 9781668226957

A Whistleblower's Account of How the Trump Administration Shredded Usaid

Nicholas Enrich, Atul Gawande

$60.95

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We will update you on expected arrival time to us. If this delay is too long, please let us know within 2 business days and we can give you options regarding cancelling or adjusting your order. More details on cancelling your order can be found in our Terms of Trade.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

SUMMIT GROUP
14 April 2026

Biography: historical, political & military; History; Political leaders & leadership; Central government; Political corruption

""A gripping page-turner that doubles as both a warning and an inspiration."" --Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Problem from Hell

A civil servant discovers his breaking point when the Trump administration's cruelty and indifference threaten to violate the oath he swore to uphold.

Nicholas Enrich had finally achieved his lifelong dream: becoming USAID's lead official for global health. But that dream turned out to be a nightmare in the tumultuous time after President Trump's second inauguration.

In the months that followed, USAID became the first target of Elon Musk's newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The mission to which Enrich had dedicated his career was being dismantled before his eyes--even the name of the agency was removed from the building's facade. Enrich witnessed firsthand the Trump administration's lies, how it systematically prevented USAID from providing lifesaving foreign aid, and the death and suffering around the world that resulted from careless decisions. Finally determining he could no longer keep quiet, and risking the career that he loved deeply, Enrich released a set of whistleblowing memos exposing the administration's illegal and destructive actions.

Enrich was put on administrative leave, yet his memos went viral and had a sustained impact. In the days following their release, hundreds of canceled aid projects were revived, and the documents were cited in a Supreme Court case on the legality of USAID's dissolution. While his memos were too late to save USAID, Enrich was one of the first government officials to publicly blow the whistle on DOGE's reckless destruction, sounding an early alarm bell for other federal agencies that would soon find themselves in the crosshairs.

Urgent and profoundly human, Enrich's story offers an astonishing behind-the-scenes look at a federal agency under siege, from the early days when Enrich and his team were unaware of what was to come to the shockingly ignorant, callous, and bigoted conversations they witnessed. Enrich reveals in this detailed, no-holds-barred account what was truly at stake when DOGE set out to dismantle one of America's most effective humanitarian institutions, and how millions of lives hung in the balance.

By: Nicholas Enrich
Foreword by: Atul Gawande
Imprint: SUMMIT GROUP
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 15mm
Weight: 349g
ISBN: 9781668226957
ISBN 10: 1668226952
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 14 April 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

NICHOLAS ENRICH is a former civil servant who worked at USAID under four administrations. He served as the Bureau of Global Health's director of policy, programs, and planning until January 2025, when he was designated as USAID's acting assistant administrator for global health. On March 2, 2025, he was placed on administrative leave for exposing the Trump administration's illegitimate and dangerous dismantling of USAID.

Reviews for Into the Wood Chipper: A Whistleblower's Account of How the Trump Administration Shredded Usaid

""Nicholas Enrich never set out to become an author, but he has written a gripping page-turner that doubles as both a warning and an inspiration. In revealing the behind-the-scenes story of the dismantlement of an agency that was saving millions of lives, Nick offers rich character portraits and eye-witness evidence that have never before come to light. He reveals not only the chilling indifference of the architects of USAID's destruction, but also the quiet heroism of the public servants who refused to give up on their ability to do good. Generations from now, people will read this book to understand one of the greatest blunders in American history, and to seek inspiration from those who tried to prevent it."" --SAMANTHA POWER, winner of the Pulitzer Prize