Tipsheet

Here's How Biden’s Team Reacted When a New York Times Reporter Got His Phone Number

Madeline Leesman
Madeline Leesman  |  July 08, 2025 1:15 PM

In an upcoming book written by three political reporters, it is reportedly revealed that President Joe Biden’s aides blocked a journalist from The New York Times from contacting him after he left office. 

According to Axios, Tyler Pager got a hold of President Biden’s phone number earlier this year. He decided to ring the former president to ask him questions for a book, considering that President Donald Trump answers random calls from reporters. 

Pager rang Biden one time this past March. Biden answered the phone and said he’d call back the next day before getting on a train. After their conversation, Biden’s aides flew off the handle and blocked Pager’s number (via Axios):

How it's going: Pager got hold of Biden's cellphone number and reached him on March 25, when he'd been out of office just over two months. Trump answers random incoming calls from reporters. It worked with Biden this one time.

  • "Biden said he would be willing to speak for this book the next day," the authors write. "The next morning, he answered and said he was running late to catch a train. He said he had a 'very negative' view of Trump's second term ... 'I don't see anything he's done that's been productive,' he said. Asked if he had any regrets about dropping out of the presidential race, he said, 'No, not now. I don't spend a lot of time on regrets.' He quickly hung up to get on the train."

  • "After the first call," the book continues, furious Biden aides "repeatedly called and texted [Pager]. After the brief second call, his aides blocked the reporter's calls to the former president. Two days later, a message from Verizon Wireless replaced Biden's voicemail: 'The number you dialed has been changed, disconnected, or is no longer in service.'"

In May, Biden shocked the world when he revealed that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.