Biden Says Trump Should Be Haunted By January 6 In Explosive New Memoir

Former President Joe Biden has delivered a scathing assessment of Donald Trump, accusing him of attempting to cling to power after losing the 2020 presidential election and condemning his handling of the January 6 Capitol attack.

In his forthcoming memoir, Promise Me, America, Biden says Trump's actions surrounding the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol should remain part of his legacy.

"What Trump did on January 6, 2021, should never be forgotten. It should follow him to his grave," Biden writes.

The former president also criticizes Trump's decision to issue sweeping pardons and clemency to people charged or convicted in connection with the Capitol attack on his first day back in office. He further takes issue with the absence of a formal ceremony recognizing the law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol.

The remarks appear in excerpts from Biden's memoir published Monday by The Atlantic. The book, scheduled for release November 17, examines his presidency, major policy decisions and his departure from the 2024 presidential race.

Biden also provides an account of his November 2024 Oval Office meeting with Trump, describing an unexpectedly warm exchange between the two politicians just eight days after the presidential election.

Biden Describes Surprising Meeting With Trump After 2024 Election

Biden writes that Trump greeted him with an unusually friendly attitude during their nearly two-hour meeting at the White House in November 2024.

"Trump was immediately chatty and surprised me by adopting a tone so friendly that I thought he might be putting me on," Biden recalls.

According to the memoir, Trump suggested that their relationship could have been different without the political rivalry.

"You know, Joe, if it weren’t for politics, I believe we’d be good friends," Trump reportedly told him.

Biden says he was "too stunned to respond" as Trump continued the conversation.

The president-elect reportedly added, "Yes, if it weren’t for politics, we’d spend all our time golfing together."

Biden also recalls Trump praising his record on job creation, describing it as "extraordinary." He says Trump appeared "relieved he didn’t have to run against me."

The former president writes that he eventually redirected the conversation toward matters of government, offering Trump an extensive overview of issues awaiting his administration.

However, Biden says Trump appeared more interested in discussing the personalities of international leaders than the policy matters he was presenting.

"As if we were sharing gossip about people at a dinner party, not discussing issues of global significance," Biden writes.

Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 2024 election after Biden withdrew from the presidential race in July.

Biden Accuses Trump Of Undermining American Institutions

Biden's criticism extends beyond the January 6 attack to Trump's actions during his second administration.

The former president says Trump's "lies" have continued since returning to the White House, beginning with what Biden describes as the "utterly discredited claim that he had defeated me in 2020."

He also criticizes Trump's approach to presidential traditions and institutions, writing that the administration had taken a destructive approach to the country's established systems.

"And they gained momentum as Trump took a wrecking ball to our traditions and institutions—at times literally, as when he tore down the East Wing of the White House (after promising that he would not)," Biden writes.

Biden acknowledges that incoming presidents routinely reverse policies established by their predecessors. However, he argues that Trump's approach went beyond ordinary political disagreements.

He writes that the experience was intensified by "the dismissive and destructive nature of Donald Trump."

Biden also takes issue with Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accords, expand oil drilling on public lands, end support for electric vehicles and cancel wind and solar energy projects.

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He argues that these policy changes could make it more difficult for the United States to compete with China.

Recalling Trump's announcement of the policies, Biden writes:

"Trump announced these policies at a rally as, at a five-star hotel across from the White House, oil and gas executives sipped champagne and nibbled on Pop-Tarts emblazoned with his image."

The memoir also criticizes the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, Trump's decisions involving federal funding to Democratic-led states, cuts to nonprofit organizations and the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization.

"It was clearly going to be a crueler government," Biden writes.

Biden Raises Concerns Over Immigration And Racial Tensions

The former president also criticizes Trump's immigration policies and what he describes as an increase in racial tensions under the administration.

"It was also going to be a government that stoked racial tensions instead of calming them," Biden adds.

He points to the administration's efforts to end birthright citizenship protections under the Fourteenth Amendment, alongside expanded immigration enforcement operations targeting communities across the country.

"The new administration would launch a campaign to end the birthright-citizenship protections of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, a proud legacy of the Civil War. ICE officers would comb American cities, using expanded police powers to round up brown and Black people and detain them far from the courts and local police."

Biden further writes that the country would become less tolerant, citing the spread of conspiracy theories and Trump's social media activity.

"We would be a less tolerant society, with raging conspiracy theories actively promoted by the White House and Trump’s constant and increasingly unhinged social-media feed."

Biden Condemns Supreme Court Presidential Immunity Ruling

Biden also revisits the Supreme Court's July 2024 decision granting former and sitting presidents immunity from criminal prosecution for certain official acts.

The ruling established that presidents have absolute immunity for actions within their exclusive constitutional authority, presumptive immunity for other official acts and no immunity for unofficial acts.

Biden strongly disagrees with the decision, questioning its constitutional foundation and implications for presidential accountability.

"There was no precedent for that ruling," he writes. "Common sense didn’t support it. There was no constitutional basis for it. It was inexplicable. Indefensible. And a death knell for accountability."

The former president concludes his criticism with a warning about the importance of character in presidential leadership.

"No nation can survive character-free leadership for long," Biden writes, adding that the United States is "no exception to that rule."

Promise Me, America is scheduled to be published by Little, Brown and Company on November 17, 2026. The memoir offers Biden's account of his four years in the White House, including his administration's major policy decisions, his 2024 reelection campaign and his eventual withdrawal from the race.