Biden Reveals Weird Secret Letter Trump Left in Oval Office
After months of insulting Biden, Trump left him a baffling letter full of warmth and encouragement in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden has revealed the existence of a letter—marked by a surprising degree of courtesy—that Donald Trump left for him in the Oval Office.
Relations between Trump and Biden had reached an all-time low by the time the outgoing president penned the message on January 20, 2021.
Instead of attending Biden’s inauguration ceremony that day, Trump broke with tradition, leaving the White House to head directly to Palm Beach. He had spent the preceding months launching relentless personal attacks against Biden, followed by attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Yet, Trump left Biden a note imbued with remarkable warmth—a stark contrast to his vitriolic public statements. This is revealed in Biden’s upcoming book, titled Promise Me, America, which includes the full text of the letter.
In the message, Trump—then 74 years old—wrote, according to excerpts from the book reported by The New York Times: “You now have the opportunity to choose your place in history, and I know you will remain true to yourself and to the American people.”
He added: “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.”
The letter contained no attacks on Biden—then 78 years old—nor any challenges to the election results. Instead, he focused on the nature of the presidency and offered words of encouragement to his successor.
Trump wrote: “I hope you take a moment every single day to take stock of where you are and the people who came before you, the titans who shaped the course of human events,” he wrote. “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—who had previously labeled Biden the “worst candidate” in U.S. history—added: “Your strength, and your deepest reserve of energy, come from the knowledge that millions of people are counting on you. Their ambitions and aspirations are the reason you are here, and many place their hopes in your success.”
Biden, now 83, writes in his book that these remarks from Trump gave him the impression “that there were two Donald Trumps.”
Biden notes that Trump “deeply destabilized our democracy” and failed to “not offered the traditional meeting between presidents,” yet adds: “But here he was, offering his best wishes in warm language that sounded like it was coming from an old friend.”
In the public sphere, Trump continued his attacks after Biden took office, even intensifying their vitriol as the two men headed toward a rematch in the 2024 election.
However, in an excerpt published by The Atlantic magazine, Biden recounts that Trump was remarkably friendly during their meeting in the Oval Office following Trump’s victory in the 2024 election—a gesture of courtesy that Trump himself had refused to extend to Biden four years earlier.
Biden writes: “Trump was immediately chatty and surprised me by adopting a tone so friendly that I thought he might be putting me on,”
“You know, Joe, if it weren’t for politics, I believe we’d be good friends,” Trump told him, according to his book. “Yes, if it weren’t for politics, we’d spend all our time golfing together.”
When asked about this, Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, told The Daily Beast: “Joe Biden should have followed the President’s wise advice. Instead, he tried to destroy this country and weaponize the justice system against his political opponents. Biden is a disgrace, and America is better off now that he has left the presidency.”
Meanwhile, Biden—who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has metastasized to his bones since leaving office—stated on the platform X on Sunday that his treatment would limit his public appearances to promote his book.
“Some days are better than others. It hasn’t stopped me,” he wrote. “But sometimes it slows me down. What that means is, unfortunately, I won’t be able to do as many conversations about my book as I’d hoped. However, I’m hopeful the words on the page speak for themselves.”
