Follow-Up: Biden's Memoir Publishes the Handwritten Letter Trump Left Him in 2021, Addressed Simply 'To 46'
Former President Joe Biden has published, for the first time in full, the two-page handwritten letter Donald Trump left for him in the Oval Office in 2021, in his forthcoming memoir Promise Me, America. Biden kept the letter's contents secret for nearly six years. The New York Times first reported its contents on November 10, and the Associated Press has reviewed a photocopy of the letter and confirmed its details.
Written on White House stationery and dated January 20, 2021, Biden's inauguration day, the letter was handwritten in Trump's signature black Sharpie, in an envelope addressed simply "To '46'", for the 46th president. Addressed "Dear Joe", it said Trump believed Biden would be true to himself and to the American people and praised his love of the country, and was signed "Sincerely, Donald". It was written two weeks after the Capitol riot, and left even as Trump declined to attend Biden's inauguration.
Biden told a handful of aides on inauguration day that Trump had left him a note and called it "very generous", but he showed them only the envelope and let no one read it, keeping its contents private for nearly six years. In the memoir he writes that the letter left him feeling "as if there were two Donald Trumps". Biden himself left a letter for Trump when he departed in 2025.
The White House did not deny the letter's authenticity, while attacking Biden's record in office. The 480-page memoir, published by Little, Brown, goes on sale on November 17, three days before Biden turns 84.
Related: Excerpt From Biden's Memoir: What Trump Did on January 6 "Should Follow Him to His Grave"
(Source: Associated Press)
Source: Associated Press
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：白宫北面（资料图）。CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The north facade of the White House (file photo). CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
