What were Biden’s words to Trump in his farewell letter?

On Monday, US President Donald Trump revealed a letter left for him by his predecessor, Joe Biden.

The letter, tucked away in a drawer of the Resolute Desk, was part of a long-standing tradition where outgoing presidents leave notes for their successors.

Now, the contents of Biden’s letter have come to light.

“As I take leave of this sacred office, I wish you and your family all the best in the next four years,” Biden wrote. “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 [it] 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.”

The letter, dated January 20—the day Biden left office—was signed simply, “Joe Biden.”

On Trump’s first day as president, reporters asked if Biden had left a note. “He may have. Don’t they leave it in the desk? I don’t know,” Trump responded. He then rummaged through the drawers of the Resolute Desk, eventually pulling out a white envelope addressed to the 47th president.

“Thank you for asking that question,” he told a Fox News reporter. “It could have been years before we found this thing.”

The following day, Trump commented on the letter during a press briefing in the Roosevelt Room. “It was a very nice letter,” he said. “It was a little bit of an inspirational-type letter. Enjoy it, do a good job. Important, very important. How important the job is.”

The tradition of presidents leaving letters dates back to 1989 when President Ronald Reagan left a note for George H.W. Bush, his vice president and successor. Reagan’s letter, written on stationery adorned with illustrations of turkeys climbing on an elephant, included the advice: “Don’t let the turkeys get you down.”

“I treasure the memories we share, and I wish you all the very best,” Reagan wrote, adding, “You’ll be in my prayers.”

Despite refusing to attend Biden’s inauguration in 2021 amid his claims of election fraud, Trump upheld this tradition and left a letter for Biden.

“The president wrote a very generous letter,” Biden later revealed. “Because it was private, I will not talk about it until I talk to him, but it was generous.”