Joe Biden to limit White House memoir promotion due to advancing cancer

Joe Biden will undertake only limited promotion of his upcoming White House memoir because of advancing cancer, the former president said in a social media post on Sunday night.

His new book, Promise Me America, which will be published on 17 November, is Biden’s account of a one-term presidency that began in 2021 in the shadow of the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 by supporters of Donald Trump eager to overturn the outgoing Republican president’s defeat by his Democratic rival in the 2020 election.

The deadly invasion of the Capitol as Congress was due to meet to certify Biden’s victory, after a rally near the White House where Trump urged his supporters to go to Congress and “fight” for him, remains a historic shame such that Biden in his book says of the current president that it “should follow him to his grave”.

In the post on X, Biden – who was diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer in May 2025, four months after leaving office – said the number of speaking engagements he can manage in support of his book’s publication will be limited.

“Some days are better than others,” he said. “It hasn’t stopped me. But sometimes it slows me down. What that means is, unfortunately, I won’t be able to do as many conversations about my book as I’d hoped.”

Instead, Biden said: “I’m hopeful the words on the page speak for themselves”. He said he and his wife, Jill, were touched and grateful for the support of the American people since his condition became known.

The memoir takes an extensive look at the deadly violence in Washington DC fomented by supporters of Trump, who was seeking to remain in office after his defeat by Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

“Donald Trump led an insurrection,” Biden wrote.

“The rioters weren’t ‘peaceful protesters’. They came armed to stop the official certification of a legitimate election.”

Noting that Trump later pardoned more than 1,500 of those convicted of offenses related to the January 6 riot, Biden said: “To this day, Trump and his supporters continue to preen and posture like they’re supporters of law enforcement.

“Here’s my view: You don’t get to turn a blind eye to cops being punched, speared, sprayed, and brutalized and call yourself a friend of law enforcement. What Trump did on January 6, 2021, should never be forgotten. It should follow him to his grave.”

Trump’s actions since he returned to office in January 2025 also come under Biden’s scrutiny, including the chaotic creation of the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) that put hundreds of thousands of people out of work but failed to yield touted savings.

“All presidents must confront a feeling that their legacy is vulnerable to the pendulum of politics and the whims of their successors,” Biden wrote.

“In my case, that feeling was magnified by the dismissive and destructive nature of Donald Trump, who seemed unable to tolerate the idea that someone else’s accomplishments might be worth building on rather than tearing down.”

Biden, in the post, said the book explores “the challenges we faced, the decisions I made, and why I made them”, covering a pivotal period in US history including the Covid-19 pandemic, economic troubles and trying to restore alliances and relationships with allies frayed during Trump’s first term.

Biden said he realized as soon as Trump took office again, much of what he had worked to achieve was soon to be dismantled.

“Trump, he said, “took a wrecking ball to our traditions.” Biden previously published a memoir called Promise me, Dad, about the death of his elder son, Beau, from cancer.

The Associated Press contributed reporting