What Biden *really* says about Trump behind closed doors

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President JOE BIDEN has a reputation for salty language behind closed doors. But it nearly slipped out in public during his speech at Valley Forge last month to mark the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Animated and angry, he derided DONALD TRUMP and his followers for drawing glee from political violence.

“At his rally, he jokes about an intruder, whipped up by the Big Trump Lie, taking a hammer to Paul Pelosi’s skull,” Biden said.

“And he thinks that’s funny,” the president continued. “He laughed about it. What a sick …”

Biden let his voice trail off as the crowd cheered and chuckled.

In private, he doesn’t stop short.

The president has described Trump to longtime friends and close aides as a “sick fuck” who delights in others’ misfortunes, according to three people who have heard the president use the profane description. According to one of the people who has spoken with the president, Biden recently said of Trump: “What a fucking asshole the guy is.”

The White House declined to comment.

The epithets may cut against the image Biden often projects as someone eager to take down the level of incivility and acrimony in politics. But they also illustrate a core anger he has developed toward the man he ousted from office and may very well face again.

Biden has long been troubled by what he has perceived as Trump’s encouragement of political violence, which the incumbent believes is a direct threat to the nation’s democracy and deeply un-American, according to the three people familiar with his private conversations, who were all granted anonymity to describe them. His disgust toward Trump has never been a secret but has only grown in recent months as the former president tightens his grip on the GOP nomination.

The Trump campaign chided Biden for his remarks.

“It’s a shame that Crooked Joe Biden disrespects the presidency both publicly and privately,” said CHRIS LACIVITA, a senior Trump campaign adviser. “But then again, it’s no surprise he disrespects the 45th president the same way he disrespects the American people with his failed policies.”

Biden believes Trump has grown only more loathsome with time. The ex-president’s jokes about the attack on PAUL PELOSI, the 83-year-old husband of former House Speaker NANCY PELOSI, particularly gall Biden.

A hammer-wielding man who was radicalized by right-wing conspiracy theories broke into the Pelosi family’s San Francisco home in October 2022 looking for the former speaker. He attacked her husband, fracturing his skull. In the aftermath of the assault, a series of salacious rumors about the encounter took hold on the hard-right, which Trump used as laugh lines for his rallies.

“We’ll stand up to crazy Nancy Pelosi, who ruined San Francisco — how’s her husband doing, anybody know?” Trump said to a raucous crowd of California Republicans at a state party convention in September. “And she’s against building a wall at our border, even though she has a wall around her house — which obviously didn’t do a very good job.”

Paul Pelosi’s attacker was convicted of attempted kidnapping and assault. That incident is not the only one which has prompted Biden to privately spit expletives about the likely Republican nominee.

Biden’s fury has also been triggered, according to the people who spoke to him, by accounts of Trump cheering on the Jan. 6 rioters from the comfort of his private dining room off the Oval Office. In addition, Trump’s declaration that there were fine people on “both sides” of the racist clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, as well as his warm words toward VLADIMIR PUTIN have been known to set off the president.

Biden grew particularly incensed by reports of Trump refusing to visit a military cemetery in the rain and by stories that he has mocked the sacrifices of fallen American soldiers. Biden believes his son BEAU died of brain cancer that developed after being exposed to burn pits while serving in Iraq. And, as with the case of the Valley Forge speech, his fury on this front has spilled out into public view, including last weekend in South Carolina.

“[Trump] referred to those heroes, and I quote, as ‘suckers’ and ‘losers.’ He actually said that. How dare he say that. How dare he talk about my son and all like that,” Biden said. “Look, I call them patriots and heroes. The only loser I see is Donald Trump.”

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POTUS PUZZLER

Which president was the first to perform the Super Bowl coin toss?

(Answer at bottom.)

The Oval

PURE MICHIGAN: The president was still riding high on his recent endorsement from the United Auto Workers Union during Thursday’s trip to Warren, Michigan, but throughout his swing in the Detroit suburb, there were signs of his shaky standing in the state, our ADAM CANCRYN reports.

Protesters gathered outside the union hall where he spoke. And in nearby Dearborn, residents outraged by Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war called for a ceasefire, while activists vowed to expand an “Abandon Biden” effort taking hold in the state’s Arab-American community.

“The discord reflected the depth of the fury toward Biden in the Arab and Muslim communities that voted overwhelmingly for him in 2020, yet now hold him responsible for encouraging an offensive in Gaza that’s killed thousands of civilians — including the friends and family of countless Palestinian-American residents in southeast Michigan and beyond,” Cancryn writes.

PRAYERS FOR PEACE: President Biden spoke Thursday morning at the annual National Prayer Breakfast on Capitol Hill, where he called for the rejection of hate and prayed for the lives lost in Israel and Gaza. “We value and pray for the lives taken and for the families left behind, for all those who are living in dire circumstances,” Biden said. “Not only do we pray for peace, we’re actively working for peace, security, dignity for the Israeli people and the Palestinian people.”

During ANDREA BOCELLI’s rendition of “Amazing Grace,” both Biden and Speaker MIKE JOHNSON, seated next to each other, wiped away tears.

USING THE PEN: President Biden on Thursday signed an executive order targeting Israeli settlers who have been attacking Palestinians on the West Bank, our NAHAL TOOSI and ALEXANDER WARD report. As part of the roll out, the president imposed sanctions on four individuals who have committed violence that has killed or displaced Palestinians. The order comes as Biden is under growing pressure to be tougher on Israel over its reaction to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by USA Today’s KEN ALLTUCKER, who reports the Biden administration on Thursday gave its initial offers to drug companies to make 10 of the drugs used most widely by older Americans more affordable. The move tees off what will be six months of Medicare-related drug negotiating between the government and pharmaceutical companies, with agreed-upon maximum fair prices announced by Sep. 1.

Communications director BEN LABOLT and deputy communications director HERBIE ZISKEND shared the piece on X.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This piece by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s ALIYA SCHNEIDER and JULIA TERRUSO. They write the president won’t be able to rely on the “Vote blue no matter who” slogan of years past, as young people continue rallying against him for his stance on Israel. The duo found mounting frustration with Biden among young people across the Philadelphia area, as all but one of the dozens of people the Inquirer talked to expressed their disapproval for his handling of the Israel-Hamas war.

CAMPAIGN HQ

CASH BUMP: The Biden campaign spent more money in the final three months of 2023 than in the first nine combined, our ZACH MONTELLARO and ELENA SCHNEIDER report. In total, the DNC and their joint fundraising committees raised over $97 million in the final three months, a $26 million improvement quarter-over-quarter.

Biden’s three political arms — the campaign, DNC and a trio of joint fundraising committees — reported having a collective $117 million on hand. As Montellaro and Schneider write, it gives them a significant leg up over their likely GOP opponent Donald Trump, who’s campaign and affiliated fundraising committees have $42 million in reserves.

RINGING THE BELL: The Biden campaign on Wednesday night announced key hires in their Pennsylvania reelection efforts, Philadelphia Inquirer’s Julia Terruso reports. NIKKI LU, a Biden appointee in the Department of Labor and 2020 Biden campaign alum who served as deputy state director for Pennsylvania, will serve as the state campaign manager.

BRENDAN MCPHILLIPS, who led Biden’s campaign in Pennsylvania in 2020 and was the campaign manager for Sen. JOHN FETTERMAN’s 2022 Senate campaign, will be a senior adviser. KELLAN WHITE will also join the campaign as a senior adviser, while also working on Sen. BOB CASEY’s reelection campaign.

OBVIOUSLY EVERYONE KNOWS THIS: In yesterday’s edition (and playlist), we included “The Adventure” by ANGELS & AIRWAVES. We also wrote that campaigns need to carefully vet the songs they use “to make sure they aren’t featuring any problematic artists.” So, to that point, clearly Biden’s team wouldn’t have included a song from Angels and Airwaves’ front man TOM DELONGE, who as one of our beloved readers CAITLIN LEGACKI pointed out, “is both a UFO truther and was briefly canceled for being one of those ‘jet fuel doesn’t melt steel beams’ guys.”

We were also notified last night by another reader that we missed a major opportunity to include a TAYLOR SWIFT hit after the focus of Tuesday’s edition.

THE BUREAUCRATS

SORRY, BOSS: Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN on Thursday apologized for the way that he handled the communication surrounding his prostate cancer and diagnosis, our MATT BERG and LARA SELIGMAN report. “I should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis. I should have also told my team and the American public, and I take full responsibility,” Austin said at a news conference, adding that he personally apologized to the president.

FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: The Treasury has a raft of new political appointees, our DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. HARIS TALWAR, who was most recently regional communications director at the White House, is now spokesperson in the office of public affairs.

— MILTON PATCH is now special adviser in the office of intelligence and analysis, and was most recently a special assistant at the Department of Homeland Security.

— EMMANUEL BRANTLEY is now a scheduling and advance associate. Brantley was most recently an advance associate at the White House.

— ANNA BROZYCKI, an alum of the National Economic Council working on industrial policy, is now a special assistant in the office of the executive secretary.

— TYLA EVANS is now a press assistant; she most recently was a special assistant for Rep. KWEISI MFUME (D-Md.).

MORE PERSONNEL MOVES: AMANDA FINNEY, deputy director of public affairs at the Department of Energy, has been promoted to director of public affairs after DAVID MAYORGA left the DOE for a role at Princeton University. CHARISMA TORIANO, DOE press secretary, will be promoted to deputy director of public affairs and chief spokesperson.

Agenda Setting

FOR REAL THIS TIME? After months of talks among bipartisan negotiators and the White House, Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER said the Senate will vote next week on the national security supplemental, which will include a bipartisan deal on new border and immigration restrictions, our URSULA PERANO and BURGESS EVERETT report. Schumer said text would be released as soon as Friday or as late as Sunday — with a vote no later than Wednesday.

IN OTHER IMMIGRATION NEWS: A new amicus brief was filed today with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the legality of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The brief had a number of major U.S. companies sign on, outlining a case for why DACA recipients’ ability to work in the U.S. has helped the economy across industries. Among the 56 signatories were Apple, Verizon, Amazon, Google, Meta, Ernst & Young and Yelp.

What We're Reading

What it’s like to be endorsed by Taylor Swift (POLITICO’s Kelly Garrity)

In Arizona, these young Native American voters seize their political power (NPR’s Ximena Bustillo and Elena Moore)

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

RONALD REAGAN. For Super Bowl XIX on Jan. 20, 1985, Reagan performed the coin toss on the same day he privately took the oath of office for his second term. He did not travel to California for the game, but instead was shown on TV at the White House as he flipped the coin tails up, according to the White House Historical Association.

A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it!

Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.