Former President Donald Trump revealed today that Richard Nixon’s “biggest regret” was giving in to GOP pressure to resign during the Watergate impeachment crisis, a move the 45th president said he wouldn’t have made.
“His daughter actually told me that his biggest regret was that he didn’t fight, he should have fought,” Trump said, without identifying which daughter. But, he added, Nixon lacked the public support needed to carry on.
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“I’m not sure that that had an impact one way or the other,” he said, had Nixon resisted.
In a media roundtable to discuss the April 25 release of the president’s second post-presidency book, Letters to Trump, Secrets asked about his relationship with Nixon shown over 25 letters included in the book published by Winning Team Publishing, founded by Donald Trump Jr. and adviser Sergio Gor.
The book, which features nearly 150 letters from celebrities, world leaders, politicians, and sports legends, also includes Trump’s commentary — and on Nixon, he didn’t hold back.
He wrote, “His biggest mistake was that he didn’t fight back when [Sen.] Barry Goldwater and a group of senators and congressmen came to him on that very dark and dreary evening in the White House and said, ‘Mr. President, you have no votes. You’ve got to resign immediately.’ He resigned. It was the regret of his life that he didn’t fight back — and very much unlike the man I knew.”
By comparison, Trump said it was the support he felt that kept him in the White House through two impeachments and the Jan. 6 riot aftermath.
“We had great support,” Trump said in a nod to his MAGA backers. “Nixon didn’t have that support. I don’t think he cultivated the support. He was a rough guy, didn’t cultivate the support. And so I don’t know that it would have helped him too much,” he added.
“I had tremendous support when I had this crooked Nancy Pelosi horrible horror show for the country. You know, they just took their Democrat votes and just voted and I got 100% support from the Republicans. If you remember, Paul, the House voted, I don’t know what 196 or 197 whatever the number was, voted 100% for us, and for me, and it was very good,” said Trump.
In one of the letters provided to Secrets, Nixon sounds very chummy with Trump and even seemed to egg the real estate magnate and TV celebrity to run for office.
The letter was dated Dec. 21, 1987, and came after Trump had appeared on The Phil Donahue Show, which was a hugely popular daytime talk show.
Nixon wrote, “Dear Donald, I did not see the program, but Mrs. [Pat] Nixon told me that you were really great on the Donahue Show. As you can imagine, she is an expert on politics and she predicts that whenever you decide to run for office you will be a winner!”
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Trump talked fondly about the letter and others he received while the former president lived in the New York area and wrote books after leaving the White House.
“His letter was interesting. He’s actually written me numerous letters over the years, and one was that his wife said that if I ever ran for politics, I’d do very well. She sold me on the Donahue show. That’s a long time ago. But she said if I ever ran for politics, I’d do very well. So it was really so. But, I’m just getting a note — 25 letters from Richard Nixon. They’re interesting letters. He was a very interesting guy,” said Trump.
