US President Joe Biden on Wednesday told reporters that outgoing president Donald Trump had left him a "very generous" letter, in keeping with a long-standing tradition. Trump spokesperson Judd Deere confirmed that the 45th president had written a letter to Joe Biden and left it for him in the Oval Office's Resolute Desk.
"The president wrote a very generous letter," Biden told reporters at the White House. "Because it was private, I will not talk about it until I talk to him, but it was generous."
The fact that Donald Trump kept up the tradition of US presidents leaving a note for their successors came as a surprise to many, given that the outgoing president and television personality broke many traditions during his last days in office. Trump, who falsely said that he was cheated out of a second term and egged on his supporters before their rampage at the Capitol, broke 152 years of tradition by refusing to attend his successor's inauguration. His wife Melania Trump also surprised many by not reaching out to Jill Biden for a tour of the White House as has been customary since the 1920s.
As reports of the letter surfaced online, social media users had a field day imagining its contents.
One Twitter user guessed that the note simply said: "Joe, you know I won."
A report says that the #WhiteHouse confirms former President #Trump left a note for President #Biden.
— Ravinder Singh Robin ਰਵਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ راویندرسنگھ روبن (@rsrobin1) January 20, 2021
And the hilarious letters surfaced on social media ???????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/odk9EZCI0d
The letter was quickly turned into a meme, with hundreds of netizens offering hilarious guesses on its contents:
Donald Trump, age 74, presidential letter to Joe Biden. pic.twitter.com/rtpBmY5xdf
— That Baratheon Girl ???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ⚽???????? (@baratheongirl) January 20, 2021
This is the dear Joe letter Trump left Biden pic.twitter.com/iOvNemiXcN
— Hispanic Ric Flair (@HispanicRic) January 20, 2021
The note: https://t.co/zh6Rx4pfb9 pic.twitter.com/nERpEm4Nl4
— Zorro (@DessyFenix) January 20, 2021
BREAKING: Trump farewell letter to @JoeBiden revealed:
— Bryan Dawson (@BryanDawsonUSA) January 20, 2021
“Dear Joe,
Pardon me.”#TrumpsLastDay pic.twitter.com/aQgoClMbup
#Trump leaves a letter to @JoeBiden in the Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/U5AbB3usjn
— Sunny, distancing☀️ (@SunScot) January 20, 2021
Joe Biden became the 46th president of the United States Wednesday and immediately erased a slew of Donald Trump's most divisive policies. The 78-year-old pushed through a flurry of orders the moment he entered the White House, starting with rejoining the 2015 Paris climate accord, from which the United States was the sole outlier after a withdrawal by Trump, an ally of the fossil fuel industry.
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