Trump's secret Sharpie letter to Biden revealed: The gushing words he never wanted MAGA to see after his 'stolen' election fury

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By NIKKI SCHWAB, CHIEF CAMPAIGN CORRESPONDENT

Published: 00:29 GMT, 11 November 2026 | Updated: 00:31 GMT, 11 November 2026

President Donald Trump was still publicly saying the election was 'stolen' and refused to attend President Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021, yet he wrote a gushing letter to the incoming Democrat, Biden's forthcoming book revealed.

The New York Times reported Tuesday on an excerpt from Biden's White House memoir, which will be released in a week. 

In it, Biden includes the letter Trump left for him in the Resolute Desk, in its entirety. 

'Many presidents have come and gone who simply governed as Republicans or Democrats,' Trump scrawled in his trademark Sharpie. 'Largely, they did not change history, they were just swept along in its relentless tide.' 

'This will not happen to you because I know how much you love the American people,' he said. 

Biden wrote in the book that the letter struck him 'as if there were two Donald Trump.'

The letter was written in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack, which Biden alluded to by saying that Trump had 'deeply destabilized our democracy.'

He also recalled how Trump had 'not offered the traditional meeting between Presidents.' 

President Joe Biden revealed the full contents of President Donald Trump's letter to him that he received on inauguration day 2021 (pictured). Biden has a White House memoir coming out next Tuesday 

President Donald Trump (left) and First Lady Melania Trump (right) attended a farewell ceremony at Joint Base Andrews on January 20, 2021 instead of attending President Joe Bidne's inauguration - yet Trump left Biden a gushing letter, Biden's new book said 

Instead, Trump became the first modern President since Richard Nixon, who resigned from office, to skip his successor's swearing-in. 

In the letter, Trump said he knew that Biden would be 'true to yourself and the American people.' 

'Your strength, your deepest reservoir of energy, comes from the knowledge that millions upon millions of people are depending on you. Their ambitions and aspirations are the reason you are here, with so many counting on your success,' Trump wrote.  

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung pointed to this advice when responding to the contents of the letter to the Times. 

'Joe Biden 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,' Cheung said in a statement. 

'Biden is a disgrace, and America is better off with him no longer as president,' he added. 

But the tone of the letter isn't entirely surprising, as Trump was friendly to Biden when the situation was reversed - on inauguration day 2025, when Trump was reentering the White House, a celebration Biden attended. 

In the book Retribution by ABC's Jonathan Karl, which was shared with the Daily Mail, Trump told Biden they would have been 'great friends' had it not been for politics. 

Former First Lady Melania Trump (left) and President Donald Trump (right) arrive in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 20, 2021, after skipping President Joe Biden's inauguration. Trump was the first modern President since Richard Nixon to skip a successor's swearing-in 

Trump called the Bidens a 'beautiful couple' as he reentered the White House, four years to the day that he had departed. 

He also told Biden to 'stay in touch.' 

'Let me know if there is anything you need,' the incoming Republican President added before Biden and outgoing First Lady Jill Biden boarded the presidential helicopter.

Since then, Trump has continued to malign Biden, falsely say the 2020 election was 'rigged,' and he hung a picture of an autopen alongside the White House Rose Garden instead of a portrait of the Democrat. 

Biden's memoir, Promise Me, America, comes out next Tuesday.