President Joe Biden said that his predecessor, Donald Trump, left him a “very generous letter” before leaving Washington before his inauguration on Wednesday.
Biden told reporters in the Oval Office: “The president wrote a very generous letter. Because it was private, I will not talk about it until I talk to him.”
The remarks came after Biden signed three executive actions, including a requirement for face masks on federal property and a measure that would re-enter the U.S. into the Paris Agreement on climate.
He was expected to sign further actions behind closed doors. The text of the orders and directives have not yet been released.
The signing was Biden’s first press availability in the Oval Office, where some decor from the previous administration has been replaced. He sat at the Resolute Desk, the same desk Trump, Barack Obama and several other presidents have used. Busts of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, whose careers inspired Biden’s work in public service, flanked the room’s fireplace.
Trump departed Washington early Wednesday and arrived at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, before Biden was sworn in to replace him in the White House.
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