(A7) Former US President Donald Trump repeatedly told aides in the days following his 2020 election loss that he would remain in the White House rather than let incoming President Joe Biden take over, says a forthcoming book by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, excerpts of which were quoted by CNN on Monday.

“I’m just not going to leave,” Trump told one aide, according to Haberman’s book.

“We’re never leaving,” Trump told another. “How can you leave when you won an election?”

Haberman’s book, “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America,” is due to be released on October 4.

Haberman writes in the book that in the immediate aftermath of the November 3 elections, Trump seemed to recognize he had lost to Biden. He asked advisers to tell him what had gone wrong. He comforted one adviser, saying, “We did our best.” Trump told junior press aides, “I thought we had it,” seemingly almost embarrassed by the outcome, according to Haberman.

At some point, she writes, Trump’s mood changed, and he abruptly informed aides he had no intention of departing the White House in late January 2021 for Biden to move in.

He was even overheard asking the chair of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, “Why should I leave if they stole it from me?”

Trump’s vow that he would refuse to vacate the White House had no historical precedent, Haberman writes, and his declaration left aides uncertain as to what he might do next.

Haberman also writes that Trump couldn’t decide which path to follow after his 2020 defeat and that he quizzed nearly everyone about which options would lead to success – including the valet who brought Diet Cokes when Trump pressed a red button on his Oval Office desk.