Biden Was Shocked By Trump’s Secret Oval Office Letter After Insurrection, New Book Reveals
L: Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images R: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
President Joe Biden was shocked by the secret letter outgoing President Donald Trump left in the Oval Office for him on the heels of the Jan. 6 attack, according to a new book.
President Biden has been tight-lipped about the letter Trump left him in the Resolute Desk, a tradition among U.S. presidents that, in this case, happened to follow an attempted insurrection by a matter of 15 days.
The president has not shared the letter publicly except to say that it was “generous,” and then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki revealed that she was there when he read it. She said “it was long” and that “the script from where I could see was very lovely. But I don’t know what was in the letter.”
The upcoming book “The Fight of His Life” by Chris Whipple contains one more nugget about the letter, according to Politico’s West Wing Playbook. They got a sneak peek at Whipple’s book, which contains direct responses to pre-written questions from President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Here’s the scoop on the letter, as related by WWP’s Alex Thompson, Eli Stokols, and Lauren Egan:
Trump’s letter to Biden
DONALD TRUMP followed a tradition carried out by several of his predecessors and wrote Biden a letter before leaving the Oval Office. Biden’s reaction? “That was very gracious and generous…Shockingly gracious.”
The newsletter delves into other items from the book, including an extensive section on the withdrawal from Afghanistan, several swings at palace intrigue, and this bit that caught their eye:
Klain reads West Wing Playbook!
On Election Day this year, ELI and ALEX reported a story for West Wing Playbook that included administration officials critiquing Klain’s performance. Whipple reports that at 1:16 a.m. on election night, as it became clear Biden would defy the pundits (again), Klain sent him an email: “Maybe we don’t suck as much as people thought… Like maybe the nattering negatives who dumped to POLITICO were wrong!”
Maybe they were! Call me, maybe? We’d love to talk. Regardless, thank you for reading, Mr. Klain.
When reached for comment by Mediaite, Assistant White House Press Secretary Robyn Patterson told us “We respect that there will be no shortage of books written about the administration containing a wide variety of claims. We don’t plan to engage in confirmations or denials when it comes to the specifics of those claims. The author did not give us a chance to verify the materials that are attributed here.”
Ms. Patterson shared that sentiment with WWP as well.
The book comes out January 17, 2023.
