WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Outgoing and incoming U.S. presidents had different Christmas messages on Wednesday, with Democrat Joe Biden urging Americans to reflect and unite, while Republican Donald Trump offered holiday greetings and then took aim at his political opponents.
Biden narrated a video tour of the White House Christmas decorations posted on YouTube late Christmas Eve, in which he urged Americans to put aside “all the noise and everything that divides us.”
“We’re here on this earth to take care of each other, to love each other,” Biden says in a voiceover as the camera pans past the evergreen trees and ornate fireplaces inside the White House. “Too often we see each other as enemies, not as neighbors, not as Americans,” he said.
Biden urged Americans to find a moment of “quiet reflection” to remind themselves to treat each other with dignity and respect, to “live in the light” and to remember that there is more that unites than divides Americans. “We are truly blessed to live in this nation,” he said.
Trump posted a mid-morning “Merry Christmas” message on Truth Social on Christmas Day with a photo of himself and his wife Melania, followed by more than 2 dozen retweets of articles or other social media posts supporting his policy positions on topics including Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth and his pursuit of Greenland and the Panama Canal.
Later, Trump posted a longer “Merry Christmas” message that said Chinese soldiers were manning the Panama Canal and criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Biden and Democrats.
“Merry Christmas to the radical leftist lunatics who are constantly trying to disrupt our judicial system and our elections,” Trump tweeted. They know their only chance of survival is to receive a pardon from a man who has absolutely no idea what he’s doing.
“Also, to Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada, whose citizens’ taxes are too high, but if Canada becomes our 51st state, their taxes will be cut by over 60%,” Trump wrote.
Biden took office in 2021, vowing to end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural against urban, conservative versus liberal, and said he’s dropping out of the 2024 presidential race to unite the country in July.
In the November election, Biden’s Democrats lost all battleground states and both houses of Congress.
By some measures, polarization has grown in the country, including during the 2024 campaign, when Biden met again with Trump before Democrat Kamala Harris took over.
The upcoming US Congress is the most polarized ever.
Trump has called for the prosecution of alleged political enemies, the US takeover of the Panama Canal and promised to restructure the federal government.