President Joe Biden plans to leave a letter for Donald Trump in the Oval Office, just as the new president did for him four years ago.
Before Biden leaves the White House for the final time today, Trump will leave a letter on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, sources told CNN.
Trump, who declined to attend Biden's 2021 inauguration, followed the presidential rite of passage by writing a letter to Biden.
The contents of Trump's letter were never publicly revealed, but Biden, who considered the note private, did say it was a “very generous letter.”
Trump was reportedly more fascinated by the letter than Barack Obama left it when he first took office in 2017.
Obama, who campaigned vigorously against Trump in 2016, congratulated him on his “remarkable achievement” and offered some reflections on his eight years as president.
It was clear that Trump was so touched by the gesture that he immediately called Obama after reading it. However, Obama was on a flight to California and the pair were unable to connect.
The presidential letter is a relatively modern tradition, dating back to President Ronald Reagan who, after two terms as president, left a note to congratulate his vice president and successor George HW Bush on his appointment as commander in chief.
Joe Biden, following a tradition dating back to Ronald Reagan, will leave a letter in the Oval Office for Donald Trump – just as the incoming president did for him four years ago
The contents of Trump's letter were never publicly revealed, but Biden, who considered the note private, did say it was a “very generous letter.” The couple is pictured walking through the White House colonnade on November 13, 2024
Biden will welcome Trump back to the White House this morning at a tea reception before escorting him to the Capitol for the inauguration.
Before leaving the presidential residence, the Democrat will leave a note for Trump, his successor and the predecessor who left a note for him.
Little is known about the contents of the “generous” note that Trump – who refused to accept his 2020 election defeat – left for Biden four years ago.
Biden showed the note to some members of his staff after his 2021 inauguration, but did not let anyone read it.
Others described Trump's note as long and handwritten, and Biden was said to have been surprised at how kindly he thought the letter emerged from the animosity between the political rivals.
When Biden was asked about the note later that day, he said it was private and that he would not talk about it until he had a chance to talk to Trump.
Trump said he thought it was up to Biden to share the letter. “It was a nice comment,” he said during a September 2023 interview with NBC's Meet the Press, adding, “I spent a lot of time thinking about it.”
Biden will now be the first president to write a presidential letter to the same person from whom he received one.
When Trump takes office today, he will be the first president to serve non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in the late 19th century – when the tradition of letter writing did not yet exist.
The tradition of letter writing began when Ronald Reagan (L) left a letter in the Oval Office desk drawer for George HW Bush, (R) his successor and vice president for eight years. The pair are pictured in an Oval Office during a trade meeting in 1988
The tradition began when Reagan left a letter in the Oval Office desk drawer for George HW Bush, his successor and vice president for eight years.
Reagan was inspired to write to Bush, who had become a friend during their eight-year partnership. He chose a sheet of playful stationery illustrated by cartoonist Sandra Boynton featuring an elephant — also the Republican Party's mascot — surrounded by turkeys and the phrase, “Don't let the turkeys get you down.”
“Dear George,” the fortieth president wrote in January 1989, opening the two-paragraph note. “There will be times when you want to use this particular stationery. Well, go there.'
Reagan wrote that he cherished the memories they shared and “wished you all the best.” He concluded with, “I will miss our Thursday lunches,” and signed it, “Ron.”
The tradition was then taken to the next level when the elder Bush handed over the presidency after one term, while Bill Clinton was denied a second term in the 1992 election.
Bush used his note to wish Clinton “good luck here” at the White House. He warned of difficult times that will be made even more difficult by criticism that Clinton will find unfair, and he advised the man who defeated him “just not to let the critics discourage you or throw you off course.”
'Your success now is the success of our country. I'm rooting for you,” Bush wrote.
“It's just a very bipartisan, genuine reflection of, I think, the character of George HW Bush,” said Matthew Costello, chief education officer at the White House Historical Association, during an online program on inaugural traditions.
At the end of his two terms, Clinton told the younger Bush that the new president was embarking on the “greatest adventure, with the greatest honor, that can happen to an American citizen,” and wished him “good luck and good luck.”
'The burdens you now bear are great, but often exaggerated. The sheer joy of doing what you believe is right is unspeakable,” Clinton wrote.
Trump was reportedly more fascinated by the letter than Barack Obama left it when he first came to power in 2017. Obama congratulated him on his “remarkable achievement” and offered some reflections on his eight years in office. Obama (R) and Michelle Obama (L) welcome Trump (2nd-R) and his wife Melania to the White House in 2017
Eight years later, Bush congratulated Obama on opening a “fantastic chapter in your life,” but warned of the difficult moments ahead, with critics who “rage” and “friends” who will disappoint.
“But you will have an Almighty God to comfort you, a family to love you, and a country to pull for you, including me,” George W. Bush wrote.
Obama also left a congratulatory note for Trump. He told him that they were both blessed with good fortune, that American leadership is “truly indispensable” in the world, that they are the “guardians” of democratic institutions and traditions, and that family and friends will see him through the “inevitable difficult times” pilots'. .'
“Millions have pinned their hopes on you, and all of us, regardless of party, should hope for greater prosperity and security during your time in office,” Obama wrote.
Some previous outgoing presidents wrote letters to their successors, but not on Inauguration Day and not always with congratulations in mind.
Earlier notes were often written with invitations to visit or dine at the White House or to pass on information, which President John Adams did in a February 1801 letter to inform incoming President Thomas Jefferson about transportation.
