The White House symbolizes democracy, patriotism, and duty, and its history dates back to eons. It has housed many great Presidents from Abraham Lincoln to John F. Kennedy and is presently the home of POTUS Joe Biden . A lesser-known detail, however, was the legendary Presidential Bunker, also known as the ‘PEOC’ [Presidential Emergency Operations Center] hidden deep in the White House with its location unknown.
Well, until someone leaked the location in 2020. At the time, former President Donald Trump was in office and the whereabouts were disclosed to be underneath the East Wing of The White House. Understandably, Trump wasn’t elated about this becoming public knowledge, as per CNN . According to Michael C. Bender’s book, Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story Of How Trump Lost , Trump acted erratically in response to the leak.
It all began in 2020 when massive protests broke out in the State after the unfortunate demise of George Floyd. At the time, for the safety of then-President, Trump, his wife Melania , and their youngest son Barron , were escorted to the famous underground bunker for a brief time until the situation was resolved. In his work, Bender detailed what transpired post-Trump’s time in the bunker— intense meetings with law officials, West Wing advisors, and top military officials where Trump strongly voiced his concerns and remained very disgruntled throughout.
Bender wrote, “Trump boiled over about the bunker story as soon as they arrived and shouted at them to smoke out whoever had leaked it.” The author insinuated that the Republican leader was suspicious that someone who was present at the meeting had leaked it given it was a well-guarded secret with only people with special clearance having knowledge of the same.
Bender continued, “It was the most upset some aides had ever seen the President.” In his state of fury, Trump blurted out something rather harsh and drastic. Bender penned that Trump had asserted, “Whoever did that, they should be charged with treason! They should be executed!” The former President remained angry and obsessed for days to find the person responsible for the leak. Shortly after Bender’s book hit the shelves, Trump and his administration were questioned about if his claims were true. Trump’s Chief Spokeswoman, Liz Harrington, denied the accusations in an official statement. She declared that Trump “never said this or suggested it to anyone.” The former President personally denied ever suggesting such a drastic move. The identity of the person remains yet to be known.
“[the former guy] was furious after reports last year said he and his family hid in the White House bunker and he wanted the leaker executed, according to Michael Bender’s new book.” As authoritarian dictators do… #bunkerBitch pic.twitter.com/SltyHHzOUi
— Robs John Muir 🐀 (@RobsMuir) July 13, 2021
On November 5, having won the presidential elections alongside VP pick J.D. Vance, Trump recently secured his return to the White House for a second term. He won over his Democratic opponent and Vice President Kamala Harris with a whopping margin of 301 electoral votes (so far) as opposed to Harris’ 226, as per The New York Times .
This article originally appeared 11 months ago.