WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has left a note for his successor, Joe Biden, in the Oval Office, carrying on at least one tradition of the peaceful transition of power, two Trump administration officials said on Wednesday.
Trump left the White House for the last time as president Wednesday morning to go to Florida and will not attend the inauguration ceremony, breaking with a century of precedent in which presidents have witnessed their successors taking the oath of office on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
Leaving a note for Biden is one Inauguration Day tradition that Trump chose to keep.
“The President left a note for President-elect Biden,” Judd Deere, Trump’s deputy press secretary, said.
Former President Barack Obama left Trump a note in the Resolute Desk four years ago, wishing him “good luck and godspeed.”
“Congratulations on a remarkable run,” Obama wrote to Trump. “Millions have placed their hopes in you, and all of us, regardless of party, should hope for expanded prosperity and security during your tenure.”
Officials would not share the contents of Trump’s note to Biden.
Outgoing Vice President Mike Pence, who intends to attend Biden’s swearing in at noon, left the incoming president the Trump administration’s White House Coronavirus Task Force report.
