OPINION:
Decades before he became the most powerful man on Earth, former (and likely future) President Donald Trump was an influential person, popular with reporters and celebrities alike. A new book, “Letters to Trump,” published by Winning Team Publishing, provides a lively look at what famous people were saying to him as Mr. Trump soared, gliding from successful businessman to star of “Celebrity Apprentice” to his time as head of state. This volume is a natural follow-up to the collection of photos from Mr. Trump’s presidency, “Our Journey Together.” It is likely to top the bestseller list soon.
The collection of letters to and from Mr. Trump provides a good view of the man before he became the subject of daily media attacks. The letters from past decades show Mr. Trump’s depth and breadth. Readers will sympathize with the man who has been the subject of vicious attacks from the media day after day. Reporters parse Mr. Trump’s every statement (yes, New York Times, crime in your city is getting worse, despite what your “fact checker” says) while treating Joe Biden to glowing profiles that never seem to note his frequent contradictory statements.
“Letters to Trump” is much fairer than today’s media. It shows a view of the man before the media turned many Americans against him.
This glimpse behind the curtain shows the private conversations, through the mail, between Mr. Trump and friends, sports figures, world leaders, entrepreneurs and royalty. He spent decades cultivating relationships with leaders in the business and political world.
One letter was sent by former President Richard Nixon on Dec. 21, 1987, where he wrote about Mr. Trump’s appearance on Phil Donahue’s talk show that Nixon’s wife had watched and said to the former president, “whenever you decide to run for office, you will be a winner!” Nixon underlined the word “great” when describing his wife’s reaction to Mr. Trump’s appearance on the show. There are many more letters like that one that will give Americans a glimpse into how Mr. Trump was regarded as a potential political winner back in the 1980s.
The letters also show that as a private citizen, Mr. Trump was popular among many who denounced him when he became a candidate and then president.
For example, there is the glowing letter from Oprah Winfrey dated Jan. 11, 2000. She wrote in response to something Mr. Trump wrote about her, telling him that “it’s one thing to try and live a life of integrity — still another to have people like yourself notice.” She ended with “too bad we’re not running for office, what a team!”
Ms. Winfrey clearly had great respect for Mr. Trump’s integrity and saw him as somebody she might someday be willing to serve with as vice president. That she stopped speaking to Mr. Trump after he announced for president says more about her than it does about him. This letter allows readers to see how Ms. Winfrey acted in public versus what she said in private.
The way Ms. Winfrey now treats Mr. Trump is a great example of how cancel culture and woke leftists are destroying America. Although we have a First Amendment that recognizes the natural rights of people to express political thoughts, it doesn’t shield us against the scathing attacks that screaming leftists launch anytime anyone shares a conservative thought.
Those on the left subject conservatives to bullying tactics and heckling, then shift and cry about their rights if even one leftist is arrested when violently protesting the existence of the police. The left practices the mantra “freedom for me, but not for thee.” Mr. Trump has been one of the more prominent victims of cancel culture.
We should expect the Trump haters to scream the loudest about this new book. We should also expect the book to get the cancel culture treatment by the mainstream media. People who would once have written friendly letters to Mr. Trump, such as Joe Scarborough, the virtue-signaling, self-righteous host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” will probably engage in the functional equivalent of shouting down this book when it is released on April 25.
But those shouts won’t slow book sales. They might help.
Indeed, we should all buy it. To own the libs, and to own a piece of American history. It is a chance to enjoy learning more about the most interesting politician of our lifetimes.
· Brian Darling is former senior communications director for Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
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Letters to Trump
Donald Trump
$99
Winning Team Publishing, April 25, 2023, 320 pages
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