Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell had already decided to disinvite Donald Trump from Joe Biden s inauguration, prompting Trump to declare he would not attend to save face, according to the new book Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show .

Author Jonathan Karl, ABC News chief Washington correspondent, reported that after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, McConnell told aides he wanted top lawmakers in Congress to tell the lame-duck leader that he was not welcome at the Jan. 20 ceremony in a letter.

McConnell felt he could not give Trump another opportunity to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power, Karl writes in the new book, according to excerpts shared by ABC on Monday. McConnell wanted to get a letter together from the top four congressional leaders informing Trump that he had been disinvited.

Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy of California opposed the idea but McConnell was determined to disinvite Trump regardless of whether McCarthy would sign the letter, Karl wrote.