White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has revealed Donald’s Trump letter to successor Joe Biden was ‘very long’ and had ‘lovely’ handwriting.
Speaking to actor Rob Lowe’s podcast, Psaki gave the new insight into the private letter left by outgoing President Trump on the Resolute Desk amid a chaotic transition of power.
President Biden has not shared the letter publicly, only describing it as ‘generous’, but the press secretary was able to share details of the moment he first read it after walking into the Oval Office.
‘On my first day before I did my first briefing, I was in the Oval Office, talking with him about the briefing and anything he wanted me to convey or what I expected or whatever,’ Psaki said in an appearance on Literally! with Rob Lowe.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has revealed Donald’s Trump letter to successor Joe Biden was ‘very long’ and had ‘lovely’ handwriting
She told actor Rob Lowe’s podcast Literally! that Biden ‘kind of looked around for the letter and read the letter while I was sitting there, which was just kind of a remarkable moment. No, he didn’t read aloud. He read it to himself’
‘And I said, “You know, I think you’re going to be asked about the letter that the former president left you” and he said, “Oh, did he leave me a letter?”
‘And I was like, am I telling him he was left a letter? I don’t know, OK?
‘So I said, I think so. I think, I think that’s what happened.
‘He kind of looked around for the letter and read the letter while I was sitting there, which was just kind of a remarkable moment. No, he didn’t read aloud. He read it to himself.
‘And he is such a classy guy, whether people agree with his politics or not, that he didn’t even convey it to us in that moment of what the letter said, he kind of read the letter consumed in himself.’
There were questions as to whether Trump would leave a note in the Oval Office (pictured departing the White House for the last time) given the contentious election between him and Biden
Psaki made the revelations to actor Rob Lowe, who portrayed fictional Deputy White House Communications Director Sam Seaborn in the West Wing TV show
Psaki added that while she couldn’t read its contents, the letter was ‘very long in the script’ and had ‘lovely’ handwriting.
In 2021, Biden, during the brief gaggle with reporters to sign executive orders, revealed that Trump ‘wrote a very generous letter,’ but added ‘because it was private, I won’t talk about it until I talk to him. But it was generous.’
He said he would not release the letter’s contents without President Trump’s permission to do so.
Two months later, Trump confirmed he left a letter a ‘couple of pages long’ and that it was ‘from the heart because I want to see him do well.’
Speaking in an interview with Lisa Boothe for her podcast Trump added that he wrote Biden the note because ‘basically I wished him luck’ before going on to bash his successor’s policies on border control.
It has become a tradition for an outgoing president to leave a letter for his successor but there were questions as to whether Trump would do so, given the contentious election between him and Biden.
It is not known if anything inside the letter could convey legitimacy upon Biden, after Trump has spent months claiming widespread election ‘fraud.’
Ronald Reagan’s note to George H.W. Bush said: ‘Dear George, You’ll have moments when you want to use this particular stationery. Well, go to it. George, I treasure the memories we share and wish you all the very best. You’ll be in my prayers. God bless you & Barbara. I’ll miss our Thursday lunches. Ron’
A note that President George H.W. Bush left for his successor, Bill Clinton, set the standard for graceful gestures to a former rival
Bill Clinton’s note to George W. Bush
George W. Bush’s note to Barack Obama
The tradition dates back to at least 1989, when Ronald Reagan left a cartoon for his successor George H.W. Bush with the missive ‘Don’t let the turkeys get you down.’
Four years later, Republican Bush found himself in the different position of writing to his successor Bill Clinton, who had beaten him in the election.
Despite being replaced by an opponent, in one of his last acts as president, Bush wrote a generous, graceful letter to incoming President Clinton.
His note is perhaps the most well-remembered for its warm-hearted ‘Dear Bill’ opening, and for the line: ‘Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you.’
Each letter up to Barack Obama’s slightly colder note for President Trump have since been released.
And Trump’s letter will eventually become public too – all notes outgoing presidents leave for their successors become archived under The Presidential Records Act and go to the National Archives and Records Administration.
