Jill Biden
was born on June 3, 1951, is an American educator who served as the first lady
of the United States from 2021 to 2025, as the second wife of Joe Biden, the
46th president of the United States.
Jill Biden's
new memoir, View From the East Wing was published by Gallery Books on
June 2, 2026. The book covers her four years in the White House during the
presidency of her husband, Joe Biden, including the family's response to the
2024 presidential election and his decision to withdraw from the race.
It is known
that The White House East Wing was demolished in October to make way for Donald
Trump's 90,000-square-foot ballroom. The project also includes a planned
underground military complex and additional upgrades. The president announced
that the project's cost, increased to $400 million, will be funded by private
donors.
Jill Biden reflects
on the destruction of the East Wing, which was demolished to make way for a
Trump administration ballroom project. She writes: "The innards of the
East Wing were spread out for everyone to see, like a rare and precious animal
that had been hunted down and killed." She expressed a deep sense of loss
and grief with every blow from the wrecking ball as her former office space was
torn down.
She
criticizes Trump's decision to to hang a portrait of an autopen in place of her
husband as “too absurd to even dignify.” She also hints that she left a hidden
message for the Trumps, written with her finger in steam on the window of the
White House residence, on the morning of Inauguration Day but declined to share
what it said.
Read more: How Joe Biden and Dr. Jill first met with pics
She writes
sometimes obliquely, sometimes matter-of-factly about Trump, whom she describes
at one point as “some kind of avenging spirit” as he prepared to return to
office. She says she is repeatedly stopped in public by “people telling me
horror stories” about his presidency from their experience losing federal
employment to the cost of eggs.
In the memoirs: President Donald Trump whom she calls “Donald” only once
and otherwise refers to as “Joe’s opponent,” “the former president,” or “the
incoming president” looms large, and his effectiveness in undoing her husband’s
policies during his second term is clearly a continuing source of despair for
the Biden family.
The memoir
describes her interactions with Melania Trump, whom she describes as
"polite and controlled" after a phone call following the 2024
assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but also notes that Trump declined an
invitation to the ceremonial inauguration tea.
Read more: How Donald Trump and Melania first met with pics
“Being first lady could feel like a catch-22,” she writes “You were encouraged to use your platform to do good, but not to be too aggressive in pursuing policy goals, lest you be seen as overreaching. If you knew too little about what you were talking about, then you were an embarrassment. If you knew too much, you were trying to rule the world.”
