Biden’s memoir pairs criticism of Trump with a January 6 accusation
A two-page letter Donald Trump left for Joe Biden when he left office in January 2021 praised the incoming president, with Trump writing that Biden “will be true to yourself and the American people.” The Associated Press reviewed a photocopy of the note and reported that Biden showed it to some members of his staff after his 2021 inauguration but did not let anyone read it.
The inclusion of the letter in Biden’s “Promise Me, America,” his White House memoir scheduled for release Nov. 17, was first reported Tuesday by The New York Times. Its release will place a private note of praise alongside Biden’s sharper account of Trump’s presidency and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
The Associated Press said it had reviewed a photocopy of the note, handwritten in Trump’s trademark black Sharpie on White House stationery and addressed “To ‘46,’” denoting Biden’s place as the 46th U.S. president. Biden described the letter later on inauguration day as “very generous” while otherwise saying he considered it to be private.
Trump wrote, “Many presidents have come and gone who simply governed as Republicans or Democrats,” and said, “Largely, they did not change history, they were just swept along in its relentless tide.” He added: “This will not happen to you because I know how much you love the American people.”
At the time of the transition, Biden was said to have been surprised by how gracious he thought the letter was, given the animosity between the political rivals. Trump had opted out of other presidential traditions, such as attending Biden’s inauguration or hosting the incoming president and first lady for tea at the White House. The private praise also came after Trump spent years disputing his 2020 election loss and publicly decrying the result as stolen by Democratic forces.
Trump later said sharing the letter was Biden’s decision. In a September 2023 interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he called it “a nice note” and added, “I took a lot of time in thinking about it.”
The note provides a private counterpoint to the first excerpt from Biden’s memoir, published Monday by The Atlantic. In that excerpt, Biden wrote of the deep damage Trump has inflicted, describing an administration determined to “tear down institutions and inflame hatreds.”
Biden also lamented Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency and the aggressive reversal of many of his policies. He wrote of Trump’s “dismissive and destructive nature” and described Trump as someone “who seemed unable to tolerate the idea that someone else’s accomplishments might be worth building on rather than tearing down.”
Biden’s harshest characterization so far focused on the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, as Congress met to certify the 2020 election that Biden had won. Biden wrote that Trump “led an insurrection” and said Trump’s “goal was to remain in power after the American people had voted him out of office.” He added: “What Trump did on January 6, 2021, should never be forgotten. It should follow him to his grave.”
Asked for comment on both the letter and Biden’s memoir, White House communications director Steven Cheung called the former president, Joe Biden, “a disgrace” who “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.”