Biden Memoir Reprints Trump’s 2021 Oval Office Letter Addressed “To ‘46’”

Oval Office letter disclosed

President Donald Trump left President Joe Biden a handwritten two-page letter in the Oval Office in January 2021, and the Associated Press reviewed a photocopy of the note addressed "To '46,'" on White House stationery. Trump wrote in the letter, "Many presidents have come and gone who simply governed as Republicans or Democrats," and he added, "This will not happen to you because I know how much you love the American people." The New York Times obtained an excerpt of Biden's forthcoming book "Promise Me, America" and a copy of the letter, and the book reprints the letter in full.

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Biden had told reporters in his first week in office that Trump left him a "very generous letter" but declined to disclose its contents until the memoir excerpt. The White House communications director Steven Cheung responded to the disclosure by calling Trump "a disgrace" and saying he "should have heeded the President’s wise words."

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Warm tone versus public feud

The letter dated Jan. 20, 2021, struck a different tone than Trump's public statements after losing the 2020 election, and the New York Times said Trump did not criticize Biden or challenge the results of the election in the note.

Trump wrote, "Not only are you joined by the past, but you carry the hopes and dreams of the entire nation on your shoulders," and he told Biden, "Their ambitions and aspirations are the reason you are here."

Biden wrote in "Promise Me, America" that it was "as if there were two Donald Trumps," and he described Trump's private language as "warm language that sounded like it was coming from an old friend."

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Biden also wrote that Trump "deeply destabilized our democracy" and that Trump had "not offered the traditional meeting between presidents," according to The New York Times.

Steven Cheung said in a statement that 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."

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Memoir release and political fallout

Biden's memoir "Promise Me, America" is scheduled for release Nov. 17, and the letter's inclusion has been framed as newly disclosed contents from the 2021 transition.

The Associated Press said Biden showed the note to some members of his staff after his inauguration in 2021 but did not let anyone read it, describing it later that day as "very generous" while saying he considered it to be private.

The New York Times reported that the letter was written on White House stationery with Trump's signature black Sharpie and left in an envelope addressed "To '46,'" referring to Biden's status as the 46th president.

The Associated Press said Trump had opted out of other presidential traditions, including attending Biden's inauguration or hosting the incoming president and first lady for tea at the White House.

Steven Cheung told reporters that Biden "tried to destroy this country and weaponize the justice system against his political enemies," and he added, "Biden is a disgrace, and America is better off with him no longer as president."

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