Jay Leno and Oprah among celebrities speaking out over Trump using personal letters in his new book

Jay Leno and Oprah Winfrey are among the celebrities to respond to Donald Trump’s new book which includes letters they wrote to him in the past.

The former US president will release a new book next month that features letters from celebrities and politicians written to him through the years.

The book titled Letters to Trump includes private correspondence with former presidents including Barack Obama, George W Bush, and Richard Nixon, along with celebrities such as Winfrey, Leno, and Michael Jackson.

There are also letters from the late Princess Diana, as well as foreign leaders, including former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.

During a CBS interview on Tuesday (14 March), Winfrey spoke about the letter she wrote to trump in 2000.

Winfrey wrote at the time: “Too bad we’re not running for office,” according to Axios. “What a TEAM!”

“I think he’d written a book and said that he wanted me to be his running mate... if he decided to run,” the talk show host said. “And when I heard that this letter is now going to be a part of a book, I thought, ‘Oh, wasn’t that nice of me to write a note.’ That’s what I thought, because I’m always like, ‘Oh, I should write a note. The person did this, or I should write a note.

“So I’m really happy that I wrote a note.”

Winfrey clarified that she no longer thinks she and Trump would be a team.

“I might have thought it back then. I might have thought it 23 years ago,” she told Gayle King. “I’m not thinking it today.”

Leno also responded to Trump’s new book saying that the politician never took his permission to publish the letter that he wrote to him.

“Jay did not release, nor authorise any use of any letter to Trump,” a representative of Leno told Newsweek.

However, the publishing company behind Trump’s book claims that there had been “actual or implied” permission from the letter senders who are private individuals.

Letters to Trump will be released on 25 April. It contains around 150 letters, along with commentary and photos.