Former President Joe Biden disclosed the full text of the private, surprisingly gracious letter Donald Trump left him in the Oval Office in January 2021, writing in an upcoming memoir that the note felt “as if there were two Donald Trumps.”
The revelation comes from an excerpt of Biden’s book, “Promise Me, America,” which was obtained by The New York Times and published Tuesday ahead of its Nov. 17 release date. The Associated Press reviewed a photocopy of the two-page document, which was written in black marker on official White House stationery and addressed “To ’46.'”
In the note, Trump struck an encouraging and affectionate tone, according to the excerpt. “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 wrote.
Trump added that while many past leaders governed strictly along party lines and were “swept along in its relentless tide,” the same fate would not befall Biden. “This will not happen to you because I know how much you love the American people,” Trump wrote, concluding with, “May God bless you and Jill, and may God bless America!”
Private Warmth and Public Feuds
The cordiality of the note startled Biden, who took office shortly after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Trump had contested the 2020 election outcome, boycotted Biden’s inauguration and broken with the tradition of hosting the incoming first family for tea at the White House. On his first day in office, Biden privately showed the letter to a few aides and described it publicly as “very generous,” though he withheld its contents for nearly six years.
In his memoir, Biden reflected on the contradiction between Trump’s public behavior and his private correspondence, noting that the letter sounded “like it was coming from an old friend.” In a 2023 interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump had called the message “a nice note” and remarked that he “took a lot of time in thinking about it.”
A similar dynamic played out during their post-election meeting in 2024, according to an excerpt highlighted by The Atlantic. Biden recounted that Trump arrived in an extraordinarily upbeat mood that “bordered on fawning.” Trump told him that “if it weren’t for politics, I believe we’d be good friends” and suggested they would spend their days playing golf together.
Sharp Rebukes and Administration Reaction
Despite noting Trump’s moments of personal warmth, Biden delivered blistering assessments of his rival elsewhere in the memoir. The Atlantic reported that Biden accused Trump of working to “tear down institutions and inflame hatreds.” Focusing on the Jan. 6 riot, Biden wrote that Trump “led an insurrection” to hold onto power and declared that Trump’s conduct that day “should follow him to his grave.”
The current administration pushed back forcefully against the excerpts. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital 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.” Cheung added that Biden was “a disgrace.”
With Biden’s memoir arriving in bookstores next week, the newly disclosed letter provides a rare glimpse into a private exchange during one of the most turbulent handovers of power in modern American history.
