At the 2024 Democratic National Conference (DNC), Oprah Winfrey made a surprise appearance in support of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris , the now-Democratic nominee for president.
" Now, there's a certain candidate that says if we just go to the polls this one time, that we'll never have to do it again," she said to the crowd in a jab at Republican nominee Donald Trump .
Donald – I received the book excerpt. I have to tell you, your comments made me a little weepy. It's one thing to try and live a life of integrity – still another to have people like yourself notice.
Thank you,
Oprah
Too bad we're not running for office, what A TEAM!
On March 9, 2023, Axios reported that the letter was published in a 2023 book titled "Letters to Trump" that included letters from world leaders such as North Korea's Kim Jong-un and former U.S. President Bill Clinton to celebrities such as Liza Minnelli and Jay Leno.
Ultimately, we rated this claim "True" because Winfrey herself also confirmed she wrote the letter. While speaking on "CBS Mornings " in March 2023, the news outlet's Gayle King brought up the topic of Trump's book featuring the letter, and their interaction was as follows, according to a story on the network's website:
King: Donald Trump has released a book where he's published letters that he's received over the years. One of your letters is front and center–
Winfrey: I heard about that.
King: Okay back in 2000, you wrote him: "Too bad we're not running for office, what a team."
Winfrey: I think he'd written a book and said that he wanted me to be his running mate–
King: If he decided to run.
Winfrey: Yeah, if he decided to run. And when I heard that this letter is now going to be apart of a book, I thought "Oh wasn't that nice of me to write a note," that's what I thought, because I'm always like "Oh I should write a note, the person did this, or I should write a note. So I'm really happy that I wrote a note.
King: Yeah, it just shows you have good manners, but you're not thinking you and Donald Trump would be a team.
Winfrey: No. Well, I might've thought it back then, I might've thought it 23 years ago, yes.
King: Are you thinking that today?
Winfrey: No I'm not thinking that today, you want to clear that up, right?
Winfrey wrote the letter to Trump in response to a mention of her in his 2000 book "The America We Deserve," in which he wrote:
Another, as I also mentioned, is Oprah Winfrey. She is enormously successful in an incredibly competitive field. Not only has she overcome huge obstacles to reach the very top, but she's also gone well beyond ordinary celebrity status as an entertainer to become a major cultural influence on our times and a remarkably successful businesswoman. Oprah never forgets what it important, and she never stops encouraging Americans to reach for the stars ... Oprah exemplifies the leadership I'm interested in – she doesn't strike poses. Instead she poses striking questions: Are you doing your best? If not, why not?
On multiple occasions leading up to Trump's 2000 bid for presidency under the Reform Party, he publicly praised Winfrey and while speaking to Larry King on CNN in October 1999, said that she would be his top pick for vice president.
"Oprah, I love Oprah, Oprah would always be my first choice," he said in response to King asking him if he had vice presidential candidate in mind.
In sum, because the book "Letters to Trump" featured the letter and Winfrey herself later confirmed for a journalist she wrote the note and was "happy" with it, we rate this claim "True."
We reached out to spokespeople for both Winfrey and Trump as well as the publisher of "Letters to Trump" – Winning Team Publishing (co-founded by Trump himself) – seeking comment, and will update this story if we receive a response.
Sources:
Allen, Mike. 'Exclusive: Trump Publishing Private Letters from Oprah, Other Celebrities'. Axios , https://www.axios.com/2023/03/09/trump-book-oprah-private-letters-celebrities.
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