President Donald Trump exclusively told Fox News on Wednesday what was in the letter that former President Joe Biden left him when he departed the White House earlier this week.
“Dear President Trump” is the address of the letter, which Trump discovered inside the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office with some assistance from Fox News Senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy.
As noted by Fox News, here’s what the letter said: “As I take leave of this sacred office I wish you and your family all the best in the next four years. The American people – and people around the world – look to this house for steadiness in the inevitable storms of history, and my prayer is that in the coming years will be a time of prosperity, peace, and grace for our nation. May God bless you and guide you as He has blessed and guided our beloved country since our founding.”
The letter was signed “Joe Biden” and dated Jan. 20, 2025.
During the peaceful transition of power that this country observes every four or eight years, it has long been customary for the departing commander-in-chief to pass a private letter to the successor.
Until Fox News Senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy questioned him about it during a press conference on Monday night surrounding Trump’s signing of dozens of executive orders in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump seemed to have forgotten that President Joe Biden had left him a letter.
“President Trump, did President Biden leave you a letter?” Doocy asked amid a gaggle of reporters covering Trump’s signing of orders.
“He may have,” Trump replied without looking up, before saying, “Don’t they leave it in the desk,” and opening the drawer to find the said letter.
“Ooooh!” Trump exclaimed as he found the letter. “Thank you, Peter. It could have been years before we found this. Thank you.”
“Can you read anything on the outside?” Doocy pressed, to which Trump tease,d “Maybe we should all read it together. Well, maybe I’ll read it first and then make that determination.”
WATCH:
While signing several executive orders in the Oval Office, reporters asked Trump about several major topics. Trump issued roughly 1,500 pardons and commuted the sentences of 14 people in connection with the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“I was going to talk about the J6 hostages, but you’ll be happy because, you know, it’s action, not words that count, and you’re going to see a lot of action on the J6 hostages,” Trump said.
“I was going to talk about the things that Joe did today with the pardons of people that were very, very guilty of very bad crimes, like the unselect committee of political folks,” he added, referring to the Jan. 6 panel.
Hours before leaving office, then-President Joe Biden issued historic preemptive pardons for former NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, House Jan. 6 committee members, and others.
“Why are we doing this? Why are we trying to help a guy like Milley? Why are we helping Liz Cheney?” he asked. “I mean, Liz Cheney is a disaster. She’s a crying lunatic and crying, crying.”
Republicans argued that the pardons signaled an admission of guilt and that the investigation was corrupt.
“Proves they know she’s guilty,” Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) said, referring to Cheney, who was one of many officials who received a pardon from Biden on his way out of office Monday morning.
