President Joe Biden said that former President Donald Trump left him a “very generous letter” before departing the White House.
Biden, speaking from the Oval Office after signing Day One executive orders, said he would not immediately reveal the contents of the letter out of respect for Trump.
“The President wrote a very generous letter,” Biden told reporters. “Because it was private, I will not talk about it until I talk to him, but it was generous.”
According to a senior Trump aide, the letter was as a “personal note” that prays for the success of the country and the new administration to care for the country.
The aide added that writing the letter to Biden was one of the many items on Trump’s list in the Oval Office Tuesday night.
Writing a letter to their successors is a modern tradition for outgoing presidents.
Additionally, a source has said that Trump did not show the note he left Biden to many of his aides.
In a press briefing on Wednesday night, White House press secretary Jen Psaki declined to tell more details on what’s inside the letter.
“This is a letter that was private, as he said to you all, it was both generous and gracious, and it was just a reflection of him not planning to release the letter unilaterally,” Psaki told reporters.
In Trump’s farewell address on Wednesday, he did not mention or named Biden, but said he wished the “new administration great luck and great success.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence also left a letter for Vice President Kamala Harris.