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Trump shows reporters what appeared to be the letter Biden left him

President Donald Trump holds up outgoing President Joe Biden's letter as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office.
Jim Watson
/
POOL/AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump holds up outgoing President Joe Biden's letter as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office.

President Trump found and showed reporters the outside of a letter presumably left for him by former President Joe Biden in the resolute desk in the Oval Office.

While signing executive orders and taking questions from reporters, Peter Doocy of FOX News asked Trump if Biden had left him a letter — which is a longtime tradition passed on by U.S. presidents.

Trump then checked the desk, found the letter and pulled it out. The envelope appeared to be labeled "47."

"Maybe we should all read it together," Trump joked. "Maybe I'll read it first and then make that determination."

Trump told reporters that he left Biden a letter when he left office in 2020.

The presidential tradition dates back to 1989 when former President Ronald Reagan left a note for then-incoming President George H. W. Bush.

It appears to have continued more than three decades later.

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Elena Moore
Elena Moore is an assistant producer for the NPR Politics Podcast. She also does political reporting for the Washington Desk and fills in as a reporter for the NewsDesk. During the 2020 presidential campaign, she worked as an editorial assistant, doing both research and reporting.