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President Donald Trump on Tuesday he described the letter former President Biden left for him on Resolute’s desk in the Oval Office as “inspiring” and teased reporters that he might release the “very nice” note at some point.
Trump was asked about the letter, which he found on the Resolute desk Monday with a little help from Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy, during a news conference announcing a $500 billion investment of dollars in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
“It was a very nice letter,” Trump told reporters. “It was a somewhat inspirational letter. Enjoy it, do good work. Important, very important. How important work is.”
The president added that he valued the letter so much that he can make it known to the public.
President Donald Trump holds the letter former President Joe Biden left for him at the Resolute Desk as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“It was positive, for him, to write it,” Trump continued. “I appreciated the letter.”
Trump found the letter — addressed to “47” — after Doocy asked if President Biden left him a letter while signing a series of executive orders in the Oval Office on Monday in front of a group of reporters.
Trump found the letter at the Resolute Desk after Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Peter Doocy asked if Biden had left him a note. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“He might have. They don’t leave it on the desk? I don’t know,” Trump told Doocy before discovering the white envelope. “Thanks, Peter. It could have been years before we found this thing.”
Trump had then teased reporters that they should read it together before retiring the reigns. He said he would open the letter later Monday night.
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The presidential tradition of leaving a letter to his successor began in 1989 when President Ronald Reagan left the White House after two terms in office, with former President George HW Bush taking over.
Handwritten letters of former presidents left by their successors are pictured Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, in Washington. Every president since Ronald Reagan has left a note for his successor. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
Bush continued the tradition despite losing the White House to the former president bill clinton after a single term. The tradition has continued to this day through Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Trump and Biden.
Biden, however, was the first president to find himself in the unique position of writing a letter to someone who is both his successor and the predecessor who left him a note four years earlier. Trump became the first president to serve non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s.
Biden has said Trump left him a “very generous letter,” but has so far refused to share the content of what Trump wrote, considering it private.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
