President Donald Trump revealed the contents of the letter left by President Joe Biden upon leaving the Oval Office earlier this week, exclusively to Fox News on Wednesday.
The letter, which Trump discovered inside the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office with assistance from Fox News Senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy, is addressed "Dear President Trump" and reads as follows:
"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." The letter was signed "Joe Biden" and dated Jan. 20, 2025.
Trump discovered the letter on Monday, a white envelope addressed to "47", after Doocy asked if Biden had left him a letter while he was signing a flurry of executive orders in the Oval Office, with reporters present.
"He may have. Don’t they leave it in the desk? I don’t know," Trump said before finding the letter. "Thank you, Peter. It could have been years before we found this thing."
On Tuesday, Trump addressed further questions from Doocy regarding the contents of the letter.
"It was a very nice letter," Trump remarked. "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 positive, for him, in writing it," Trump added. "I appreciated the letter."
The tradition of leaving a letter to their successor began in 1989 when President Ronald Reagan left the White House after two terms, passing the baton to George H. W. Bush. Since then, it has been a practice carried on by Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden.
However, Biden found himself in a unique situation, writing a letter to both his successor and to the predecessor who left him a note four years ago. Trump became the first president to serve nonconsecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s.
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