Donald Trump Shares Details of Joe Biden's Letter to Him

During a Tuesday afternoon press conference, President Donald Trump shared some information regarding the letter that former President Joe Biden left in the Oval Office desk upon his departure.

"It was a little bit of an inspirational-type letter, you know, enjoy it, do a good job. Important, very important, how important the job is."

Trump said that he may release Biden's letter publicly.

But I may - I think it was a nice letter. I think I should let people see it because was a positive for him in writing it. I appreciated the letter. I appreciated the letter."

Trump made the remarks during questions from reporters after he was joined by three major business leaders — SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Oracle Corp. Chairman Larry Ellison — to announce the creation of a new company called Stargate.

US President Donald Trump holds up outgoing President Joe Biden's letter as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the WHite House in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. AFP/Getty Images

Every president since Ronald Reagan has written a note congratulating his successor and left it in the Oval Office desk drawer after their term as president.

Trump curiously continued this rite of presidential passage by writing a letter to Joe Biden, even as he opted out of attending Biden's inauguration.

"This will mark the first time that a president who has received a letter from an outgoing president may well be writing a letter to the same person who's the incoming president," said Mark Updegrove, president and CEO of the LBJ Foundation, to The Associated Press. "So, this is a highly unusual situation, as so many things are in modern day Washington with Donald John Trump."

More to follow.

Update: 1/21/25, 6:25 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.