Joe Biden gets first look at Donald Trump’s President’s Daily Brief
- Ex-first lady Michelle Obama called the top secret summary of US intelligence and world events ‘The Death, Destruction, and Horrible Things Book’
- The document is tailored to the way each leader likes to absorb information, with Trump preferring short texts and graphics
Joe Biden on Monday got his first look as president-elect at the President’s Daily Brief, a top secret summary of US intelligence and world events – a document former first lady Michelle Obama has called “The Death, Destruction, and Horrible Things Book.”
Biden has already had eyes on at least three different iterations of the so-called PDB, which is tailored to the way each president likes to absorb information.
More than a decade ago, Biden read former president George W. Bush’s PDB during his transition into the vice-presidency. After that, he read Obama’s PDB for eight years. Now, after a four-year break, he is reading President Donald Trump’s PDB.
“The briefers almost certainly will be asking Biden what he prefers in terms of format and style,” said David Priess, author of The President’s Book of Secrets, a history of the PDB. “At a minimum, they’re seeing what seems to resonate most with him so that when they make the book his book, they can tailor it to him.”
Obama’s PDB was a 10- to 15-page document tucked in a leather binder, which he found waiting for him on the breakfast table. Later in his presidency, he liked reading the ultra-secret intelligence brief on a secured iPad.