Topline
Former President Donald Trump will publish a new book in April featuring 150 private letters that major celebrities and political figures have sent to him over the past few decades, Axios first reported Thursday—though the book could face potential legal issues if not all the letters’ authors have given consent for them to be published.
Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida in 1995.
Key Facts
Letters to Trump is described as a “colorful photo book captur[ing] the incredible, and oftentimes private correspondence” between Trump and major celebrities over the past 40 years, and will be published by the right-wing Winning Team Publishing, which is co-run by Donald Trump, Jr.
The book will include letters from Oprah Winfrey, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Princess Diana, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Kim Jong-un, Mario Cuomo, Arnold Palmer, Jay Leno, Liza Minnelli and Regis Philbin, among others, according to Axios, along with commentary from Trump about the letters.
In Winfrey’s 2000 letter to Trump, which Axios published, she said his praise of her in his book The America We Deserve “made her a little weepy” and it meant a lot “to have people like yourself notice” her integrity, adding, “Too bad we’re not running for office. What a team!”
North Korean leader Kim’s letters to Trump have already been made public—and were reportedly later found at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate—with Trump describing them at the time as “love letters.”
There may be an issue if not all the celebrities have given their permission for their private letters to be published, Politico journalist Josh Gerstein first noted on Twitter, as court precedent has held that the people who write letters usually hold the copyright, rather than the person who receives them.
Winning Team Publishing has not yet responded to a request for comment on whether the publisher got permission to publish the letters in the book, and Forbes has approached representatives for celebrities named by Axios, including former President Clinton and Minnelli, about whether they gave consent for their letters to be published.
What To Watch For
Letters to Trump will be released on April 25, according to the publisher, and will retail for $99 or $399 for a signed copy. It still remains to be seen whether any celebrities in the book could take action should their letters have been published without their consent.
Key Background
Letters to Trump will mark Trump’s second book since leaving office, with the first being his photo book Our Journey Together, though the ex-president has still not yet followed in other presidents’ footsteps with a memoir. Our Journey Together grossed $20 million in the two months after it was released in November 2021 as the ex-president’s fans snapped up hundreds of thousands of copies, CNN reported, and it marked the only book to have been published at that point by Winning Team Publishing.
Tangent
Federal courts held in Salinger v. Random House that author J.D. Salinger had grounds to sue when unpublished letters he wrote were quoted in a biography of him, and even paraphrasing his letters did not constitute fair use that would justify them being published.
Further Reading
Exclusive: Trump publishing private letters from Oprah, other celebrities (Axios)
Donald Trump quietly making millions from coffee table book (CNN)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2023/03/09/trump-plans-book-with-letters-celebrities-including-oprah-hillary-clinton-nixon-kim-jong-un-sent-him/