After former President Donald Trump announced he was releasing a book of letters sent to him by fellow celebrities, he seemed to find the humor in how many famous people were effusive in praising him before he became liberal media public enemy No. 1.
“I think they’re going to see a very fascinating life,” Trump told Breitbart about the book, before joking: “I knew them all — and every one of them kissed my a–, and now I only have half of them kissing my a–.”
And now, he’s got them squealing about their displeasure before the book is even released.
According to a Friday report in Newsweek, representatives for both Hillary Clinton and Jay Leno have gone on record saying they didn’t give permission for their correspondence to be used in “Letters to Trump,” set to be published on April 25 — and neither celeb seemed to be happy about it.
“A colorful photo book captures the incredible, and oftentimes private correspondence, between President Donald J. Trump and some of the biggest names in history throughout the past 40 years!” a media release from the book’s publisher, Winning Team Publishing, trumpeted.
The letters come from both Trump’s years in the White House as well as his life pre-presidency, when he was simply an international celebrity, according to Breitbart.
“From President Richard Nixon, to Princess Diana, and from Hillary Clinton, to Chairman Kim Jong Un, no book offers a glimpse into history quite like LETTERS TO TRUMP!”
It’s about to offer a glimpse into the cowardice of celebrity culture, as well, if early returns are any indication.
According to Newsweek, “[Jay] Leno’s representatives were quick to confirm they had not granted Trump permission.”
“Jay did not release, nor authorize any use of any letter to Mr. Trump,” a representative from Leno’s production company stated.
The two had been close in the past, it’s worth noting.
“Leno and Trump were seemingly friends at a point as Leno spoke on Trump’s behalf in January 2007 when Trump received his Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,” Newsweek reported.
“Trump was also a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on several occasions between 1997 and 2010, and he was also a guest on the short-lived The Jay Leno Show.”
It’s unsurprising that Hillary Clinton’s response was a bit more emphatic, considering the two ended up running the most bruising presidential campaigns in recent memory.
Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill said “of course [Trump] didn’t” seek permission to use their correspondence in “Letters to Trump.”
“Nothing says deeply-insecure-has-been quite like publishing private correspondence with the hope that people will believe you once garnered respect,” Merrill told Newsweek.
“Feels like the adult equivalent of when a toddler proudly presents you with what they’ve done on the potty.”
Yeah, and there’s nothing that says maturity like a spokesman for a former first lady and Democratic presidential nominee dismissing a book with a scatological reference.
Clinton’s current bitterness aside, the book is filled with big names, as Trump teased on his Truth Social media platform.
“Wait until you see what President Nixon, Princess Diana and Michael Jackson wrote me,” he wrote in a Tuesday post.
In addition to Clinton, Leno, Nixon, Jackson, Princess Diana, and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, other correspondence in the book includes letters from both Presidents Bush, the late John F. Kennedy Jr. (son of the assassinated president), actor Clint Eastwood, former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal and talk show superstar (and liberal power player) Oprah Winfrey.
In the latter case, according to the Los Angeles Times, Winfrey’s 2000 letter referred to a passage in Trump’s book “The America We Deserve,” where he talked about running for president and how his “first choice for vice president would be Oprah Winfrey.”
“Too bad we’re not running for office. What a team!” Winfrey wrote, according to Axios.
My guess is that, if you added up all the pages in the volumes selected by Oprah’s Book Club, they would still pale in comparison to the size of the excuses and denunciations that Winfrey’s people would prepare for the media release disavowing that line, if they had the time.
And it’d all end up being just as genuine, I imagine, as “A Million Little Pieces.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
