Trump wanted to reveal Superman shirt after leaving hospital for COVID care, new book says

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Former President Donald Trump wanted to wear a shirt with a Superman logo and reveal it after seeking medical care for COVID-19, according to a coming book from New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.

Trump planned to be wheeled out of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he went after testing positive for COVID-19 in 2020, before standing up and opening his button-down shirt to reveal the Superman logo, according to Haberman’s book “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America.” Axios reported on Haberman’s book's coverage of the incident, and the Times initially reported calls made about the appearance in 2020.

Trump called a campaign aide to purchase the shirts, according to Haberman. The New York Times’ senior political reporter also writes that Trump was inspired by the singer James Brown, who tossed a cape off onstage.

Trump and former first lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19 in October 2020. Trump spent several days at Walter Reed, located in Bethesda, Maryland, for treatment while he was sick.

USA TODAY has reached out to Trump for comment.

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Haberman’s book is set to be released Tuesday. In the book, she also reported that, when Trump saw congressional staffers of color at the White House, he assumed they were waiters at a January 2017 reception.

CNN also obtained a copy of “Confidence Man,” and the network reported that Haberman wrote in the book that Trump almost fired his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Both served as senior White House aides during his administration.

The book also says White House staff during the Trump administration discovered wads of printed paper clogging a toilet, which led some to believe that Trump flushed documents, according to an excerpt of the book published by Axios.

Contributing: Merdie Nzanga and Matthew Brown, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump wanted to wear Superman shirt after COVID hospital stay