- Trump tweeted on Jan. 8 that he was skipping Biden's inauguration.
- A new book says he actually made the announcement after learning of plans to disinvite him.
Then-President
The outlets cited excerpts from "Betrayal," ABC News correspondent
Trump had announced on Twitter on January 8 that he would not attend the ceremony: "To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20," he wrote at the time.
The tweet turned out to be his last before Twitter barred him from the platform over messages that were seen to have encouraged the Capitol riot.
But according to Karl's book, Trump had caught wind of a plan by then-Senate Majority Leader
"McConnell felt he could not give Trump another opportunity to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power," Karl wrote, ABC News reported.
"McConnell wanted to get a letter together from the top four congressional leaders informing Trump that he had been disinvited."
But then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, also a Republican, tipped Trump off about the plan, and the former president made the announcement he wouldn't be attending, Karl's book said.
"Trump apparently wanted people to think it was his decision alone to become the first outgoing president after an election to fail to attend an inauguration since Andrew Johnson skipped the inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant in 1869," Karl writes in the extracts published by ABC.
Insider has contacted Trump's office for comment on the claims.
Instead of attending Biden's inauguration, Trump departed the White House on the morning of January 20 on Marine One to fly to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.