Trump's aides avoided him during his final weeks in office, report says

• Some Trump aides avoided the president in his final weeks in office, The New York Times reported.
• Trump was fixated on overturning the 2020 election results at the time.

During President Donald Trump's final weeks in the White House, many of his aides were busy trying to help him stay in office and overturn the 2020 election results, while others avoided him altogether, according to a New York Times report published Monday.

In the waning days of Trump's presidency and in the wake of the January 6 Capitol riot, several top administration officials resigned from their positions. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, and a slew of national security officials left their posts.

Other aides who remained in the administration spent their final days avoiding the president, the Times reported, as Trump spent most of that presidential transition period fixated on overturning the election.

Reuters reported a week before Trump left office that some aides who used to "enjoy" checking in on him at the Oval Office stopped doing so to avoid getting pulled into efforts to overturn the election.

Some aides were also frustrated with Trump's treatment of Vice President Mike Pence, according to Reuters. Trump had falsely declared that Pence had the power to overturn the results on January 6, and criticized him in a tweet as rioters had started to storm the Capitol that day.

Many aides also spent their last days in the Trump administration away from the White House, either working from home or job searching, according to the Washington Post. Several campaign officials also distanced themselves from Trump at the time, the Post reported.

Upon leaving the White House, Trump took 15 boxes of White House documents, gifts, and materials to his Mar-a-Lago resort and residence in Florida that he was legally obliged to leave with the federal government, according to The Times.

The Times and Washington Post on Monday reported that Trump returned those items, some of which included a letter he received on his inauguration from former President Barack Obama, a correspondence from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and a hurricane map that he drew on with Sharpie, to the National Archives last month.

In a separate issue, Trump sought to prevent the House select committee investigating the January 6 riot from obtaining White House records for its probe. The Supreme Court last month rejected Trump's request, allowing the congressional panel to obtain troves of documents from the National Archives.

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.