Trump Needs Fox News Reporter’s Help to Find Biden’s Letter in Oval Office Desk
“It could have been years before we found this,” the president said.
Carlos Barria/REUTERS
Donald Trump needed a little help from a Fox News reporter to find a letter Joe Biden left for him in the Oval Office.
After his inauguration Monday, Trump set about signing a slew of executive orders in the West Wing in front of reporters. As he put his signature on the actions at the Resolute Desk, Fox’s Peter Doocy asked: “President Trump, did President Biden leave you a letter?”
President Trump finds letter from President Biden left for him in the Resolute desk in the Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/VTEHM0fT8c
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 21, 2025
Trump raised his eyebrows and said “he may have!” before asking “don’t they leave it in the desk? I don’t know.” The MAGA leader then opened a drawer on the desk and found an envelope emblazoned with “47.”
“Oh, thank you Peter, it could have been years before we found this!” Trump said, pulling the letter from the drawer. “Maybe we should all read it together!” he joked, before adding that perhaps he should scan it first before revealing its contents.
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Doocy said he was “happy to help” after Trump thanked him again, this time saying that he might not have clocked the note for “months.” The new president said that he also left Biden a letter, too, at the end of his first term.

Trump signs an executive order for pardons on January 6 offenders in the Oval Office on January 20, 2025.
JIM WATSON/Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Asked what he talked about in it, Trump responded: “Unification of our country.” Biden has previously said Trump’s letter to him was “very generous,” but its contents haven’t been made public.
Trump immediately followed up his talk of unification by criticizing the timing of Biden’s pardons for his family members earlier in the day.
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“You know, I didn’t know that he gave a pardon to his family, because he did it during my speech,” he said. “He didn’t tell me, they released it during my speech. I mean during my speech, so all I could say is ‘excuse me I’d like to come back and speak some more.’ So no, we were surprised by that—it’s bad precedent, obviously.”
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