Obama’s Letter To Trump — Just How Did ‘Someone’ Obtain A Copy?
The buzz about the content of Obama’s letter that was penned to Trump is saturating the news today, but if Donald Trump didn’t offer up the letter, how did it get online? Maybe the more important question is why is it online today? The theories are rife from both sides of the aisle on the reasons behind throwing Obama’s advice to Trump in this penned letter out there to the masses today.
Barack Obama penned a personal letter to Donald Trump during his last hours as the nation’s president and he put that letter inside an envelope and left it for the new president in the Oval Office. It is a presidential tradition that’s done during the changing of the guard; a personal hand-written letter is left from the outgoing president for the incoming president.
It is also an unofficial tradition that the content of the letter becomes a piece of history, as the most coveted seat in the land is passed between the president who is leaving and the president taking their place. Last year. the archived letter written to Bill Clinton from the outgoing George H.W. Bush was analyzed by the media suggesting Bush’s letter offered a lesson in “dignity and respect,” that Trump should heed.
According to an archived article from Today, this was regarding Trump as a Republican nominee twice refusing “to say he would accept the election outcome if he loses the race.” The letter was used as a comparison at the time during Trump’s campaign when many thought Trump was going to lose.
As it ended up, he didn’t need to show dignity and respect when losing because he won, but that letter was used as a comparison, much like some are using Obama’s letter when it comes to Trump today. This letter is deemed as the last known correspondence between these two men. It is also pointed out that it is considered unprecedented that the two men have not communicated as the incoming and outgoing presidents since Trump took office.
Trump has shown the letter from Obama to various visitors in the Oval Office and to visitors to his personal White House living quarters as well. According to CNN, which is the news media site that reportedly obtained a copy of this letter, Barack Obama didn’t show the letter to even his closest personal aides.
"We are just temporary occupants of this office." Obama's letter to Trump on Inauguration Day: https://t.co/KzsXQ8jeKS
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 3, 2017
During his first week in office, Trump told ABC News in an interview that “It was long. It was complex. It was thoughtful,” when asked about the penned letter from Obama. He also said, “And it took time to do it, and I appreciated it.”
At that time, Trump took the letter from the envelope and showed it to the news crew, but it wasn’t read aloud. Today that entire 275-word letter appears online, word for word. According to News.com au, Barack Obama’s letter to Trump on Inauguration Day was “leaked.” While CNN reports that Trump has let his visitors take a look at the letter, they didn’t report that any copies of the handwritten letter were handed out to anyone. So how did someone obtain a copy of this letter?
Obama warned @realDonaldTrump not to undermine 'international order', new letter reveals | US news | The Guardian https://t.co/RqfauDgL5R
— Dump Trump (@StopTheDonald1) September 3, 2017
Mashable claims, “Trump has reportedly treated the letter as a sort of trophy, showing it off to White House visitors. That’s how CNN got the text of the letter; one of those White House visitors shared it with the cable network.” There was nothing said about handing out copies of this letter, Trump “showed it to people,” so did this person memorize the letter? Was the letter leaked? Folks across the social media sites are asking these questions today.
Depending on the political aspirations of the people writing about the letter today, there are several theories on why it happened to hit the news at this point in time. The letter has been called everything from what the Daily Edge reports as “classy” to being nothing but a bunch of “BS platitudes,” which is what The Wrap reported in their article about this letter to Donald Trump. It has also been compared to things that Trump hasn’t done, as Mashable suggests the letter is full of “unheeded advice.”
You can read Obama’s letter to Trump here on CNN, where it was originally published.
[Featured Image by Rob Carr/AP Images]
