WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump told his successor, President Joe Biden, "I know you will be true to yourself and the American people" in a handwritten note that Trump left in the Resolute Desk before the end of his first White House term in 2021.
The letter is included in Biden's upcoming book, "Promise Me, America," which is set for release Nov. 17. After taking office in 2021, Biden told reporters that Trump left him a "very generous letter", but he declined to reveal the contents of the letter.
A source familiar with Biden's memoir confirmed the details of the note, written in a black Sharpie, after they were first reported by The New York Times ahead of the book's publication.
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The letter, which is addressed "Dear Joe" and signed "Sincerely, Donald," is written in a remarkably warm tone given Trump's years of hostility toward Biden publicly. Biden found the letter in the Oval Office's Resolute Desk only weeks after Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters.
"You now have the opportunity to choose your place in history, and I know you will be true to yourself and the American people," Trump says in the letter. "Many presidents have come and gone who simply governed as Republicans or Democrats. Largely, they did not change history, they were just swept along in its relentless tide. This will not happen to you because I know how much you love the American people."
Trump adds in the letter that "you carry the hopes and dreams of the entire nation on your shoulders."
Despite the personal note, Trump attacked Biden relentlessly during the Democrat's one term in office and has continued to do so during his second White House term. Trump often calls Biden the worst president in U.S. history. And he mocked Biden by using a photo of an autopen instead of a portrait of Biden in a presidential walk of fame Trump installed at the White House.
“Joe Biden should have heeded the President’s wise words, but instead he tried to destroy this country and weaponize the justice system against his political enemies," Steven Cheung, White House communications director, said in a statement on the release of the letter. "Biden is a disgrace, and America is better off with him no longer as president.”
Biden also left Trump a letter in the Resolute Desk before leaving office in 2025. Trump has not disclosed what it said.
Below is the full letter Trump left for Biden in 2021:
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump wished Biden well in warm 2021 letter left inside White House desk
