Those in government and industry tasked with protecting American information systems face a daunting task that requires trust, communication, and collaboration. On 20 January 2017, these individuals wondered how their complicated and sometimes chaotic world was about to change. Charlie Mitchell’s book Cyber in the Age of Trump provides a detailed journalistic account of the ways in which one of the most polarizing and disputatious leaders in American history influenced the progression of the nation’s efforts to secure its information technology.

Mitchell sets the stage by painting a picture of an existential threat to democracy and an incoming administration disinterested in driving the cybersecurity debate, preoccupied by other policy issues, and consumed with defending the validity of the 2016 election. Despite this, Mitchell notes, the early days of the Donald Trump administration were hopeful as “cyber-savvy” appointees took control of the government institutions most relevant to developing sound policy. Mitchell subsequently reviews the major policy pushes that received White House attention—including a new cybersecurity framework, addressing the blight of botnets, securing cyber supply chains from compromised Chinese products, and the elevation of the U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) to full unified combatant command st