'They should be executed!': How Trump 'boiled over' after news of his stay in the White House bunker was leaked


After the press reported details of his trip to the White House bunker during Black Lives Matter protests last spring, former President Donald Trump reportedly screamed at aides to find whoever leaked the story, and claimed he or she should be "executed" and "charged with treason," CNN reports via the new book Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost.
In the days that followed Trump's trip underground, the ex-president reportedly called a "tense" meeting with top military, law enforcement, and West Wing advisers to lament the press leak.
He then "boiled over about the bunker story as soon as they arrived and shouted at them to smoke out whoever had leaked it. It was the most upset some aides had ever seen the president," writes the book's author and Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender. "Whoever did that, they should be charged with treason!" Trump reportedly yelled. "They should be executed!"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows "repeatedly tried to calm the president," telling his boss, "I'm on it. We're going to find out who did it." Those who heard Trump obsess over Meadows' efforts in the days to come reportedly viewed his outburst "as a sign of a president in panic."
Trump later told Fox News radio he was only down in the bunker to "inspect" it, something he had done "two and a half times" before.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
The NCAA is a 'billion-dollar sports behemoth' that 'should not be a nonprofit'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump picks conservative BLS critic to lead BLS
speed read He has nominated the Heritage Foundation's E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics
-
Trump takes over DC police, deploys National Guard
Speed Read The president blames the takeover on rising crime, though official figures contradict this concern
-
Trump-Putin: would land swap deal end Ukraine war?
Today's Big Question Ukraine ready to make 'painful but acceptable' territorial concessions – but it still might not be enough for Vladimir Putin
-
Israel: Losing the American public
Feature A recent poll finds American support for Israel's military action in Gaza has fallen from 50% to 32%
-
Unmaking Americans: Trump aims to revoke citizenship
Feature Trump is threatening to revoke the citizenship of foreign-born Americans. Could he do that?
-
Trump: Redesigning the White House
Feature Donald Trump unveiled a $200 million plan to build a White House ballroom
-
Texas gerrymander battle spreads to other states
Feature If Texas adopts its new electoral map, blue states plan to retaliate with Democrat-favored districts