President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that former President Joe Biden left him a “very nice letter’ that he found in the Resolute Desk at the White House on Monday night.
According to Fox News, Trump was asked about Biden’s letter during a press conference regarding the announcement of a $500 billion investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Trump told reporters that Biden wrote him a “nice letter,” which he read on Monday night.
“The letter is sort of a tradition,” Trump said. “You put it in the drawer, especially of the beautiful Resolute Desk, right? And I opened the drawer, and there it was. It said, ‘To number 47,’ and it was a very nice letter. I mean, I could show it because I think it was a nice letter. Maybe I will.”
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Asked about the content of Biden’s letter, Trump told reporters, “It was a little bit of an inspirational-type letter. Enjoy it, do a good job. Important, very important. How important the job is.”
“I think I should let people see it because it was a positive for him in writing it,” Trump added. “I appreciated the letter.”
While Trump was signing executive orders and addressing members of the press on Monday evening at the Oval Office in the White House, Peter Doocy, a Fox News correspondent, asked whether Biden had left him a letter as part of a presidential tradition in the United States.
“He may have,” Trump told Doocy. “Wait, don’t they leave it in the desk? I don’t know.”
After pulling out a drawer of the Resolute Desk, Trump held up a white envelope and said, “Thank you, Peter. It could have been years before we found this thing.”
Trump then teased the White House reporters, saying, “Maybe we should all read it together,” before adding, “Well, maybe I’ll read it first and then make that determination.”
Fox News reported that while the tradition of U.S. presidents leaving a letter for their successor in the White House has continued since 1989, Biden is the first president to have left a letter for someone who was his predecessor but is also his successor.
