- According to Maggie Haberman’s new book, Meadows informed Klain that “no president” was given a daily briefing.
- Haberman outlined how Klain requested for Biden to receive a daily intelligence report in “Confidence Man.”
- “No president does that.” Meadows replied, “That’s never happened,” according to the book.
According to Maggie Haberman’s new book, Trump White House chief staff Mark Meadows said to Ron Klain (incoming Biden White House head of staff) that “no president gets a daily intelligence briefing.” This was after Ron Klain, a long-standing Democratic aide, had informed his GOP counterpart that the incoming President wanted to be briefed daily.
As Trump refused to concede the race to the public, and as his campaign lawyers tried to find ways to reverse the results in swing states, the transition between Joe Biden’s and Donald Trump’s administrations was already rocky.
Meadows, a former GOP congressman representing North Carolina, and Klain (a trusted confidant of Biden) were in contact to help each other navigate the transition process.
Trump’s persistent insistence that Trump had actually won the election complicated matters. The book, “Confidence Man.”
According to the book, Meadows said that he knew the president was saying such things to Klain. “We will make it work.”
However, Biden’s transition staff continued to have problems. They received crucial updates from the Pentagon later than they wanted and had delays getting COVID-19 vaccines for the incoming staffers of the Democratic administration.
However, there was one area where Meadows sought clarity and seemed to be surprised by the response — as it pertained to the President’s daily briefing.
The New York Times, April 2020 reportedTrump did not finish reading intelligence reports in general, according to several intelligence officers who told the newspaper at that time. They also stated that Trump was skilled at diverting attention from other subjects.
According to the Times report Trump avoided reading detailed reports and was attracted to graphs, charts, data-driven visuals.
After Biden’s resignation in November 2020 declaredKlain, who was quoted by almost every major news outlet as the president-elect, informed Meadows that Biden must begin receiving the daily intelligence briefing. Haberman’s account says so.
“How many times a week does Vice President Biden want this daily short?” Meadows inquired, according to the book.
Klain was surprised by the question, telling Meadows that Biden — a former chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his days in the upper chamber — would want to get a briefing on a daily basis.
Biden was also briefed daily during his tenure as vice president under former President Barack Obama, 2009-2017.
Meadows replied, “No president ever does this.” This has never happened.”
Haberman said that Klain’s request “seemed beyond Meadows’s own experience that it was impossible for him to comprehend.”
