The words departing President Joe Biden left for President Donald Trump have been revealed, with the Democrat telling Trump, “I wish you and your family all the best in the next four years.”
The letter, left for Trump inside the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, read:
“As I take leave of this sacred office I wish you and your family all the best in the next four years. The American people – and people around the world – look to this house for steadiness in the inevitable storms of history, and my prayer is that in the coming years will be a time of prosperity, peace, and grace for our nation. May God bless you and guide you as He has blessed and guided our beloved country since our founding.”
Peter Doocy reads the letter Biden left in the draw for President Trump pic.twitter.com/Y6dnRHimTG
— Karli Bonne’ 🇺🇸 (@KarluskaP) January 22, 2025
The contents of the letter, signed by Joe Biden and dated January 20, 2025, were shared with Fox News.
Trump had been asked in the Oval Office Monday night by Fox News’ Peter Doocy whether he had found a letter left behind by his predecessor.
The tradition of leaving a letter for the incoming president by the outgoing one was started by Ronald Reagan in 1989 when he left one for George H.W. Bush.
Every succeeding president since then has left a letter for the president that followed them.
“He may have. Don’t they leave it in the desk? I don’t know,” Trump told Doocy.
Trump discovered the white envelope addressed to “47” inside the desk, after which he told Doocy, “Thank you, Peter. It could have been years before we found this thing.”
Trump told reporters on Tuesday about the letter, “It was a very nice letter. It was a little bit of an inspirational-type letter. Enjoy it, do a good job. Important, very important. How important the job is. It was a positive, for him, in writing it. I appreciated the letter.”
