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Obama offered accolades, advice in farewell letter to Trump

The Associated Press

September 3, 2017, 4:25 PM

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FILE – In a Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 file photo, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama pose with President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania at the White House in Washington. Before he left office in January, President Barack Obama offered his successor accolades and advice in a private letter that underscored some of his concerns as he passed the baton. In the letter, published Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017, by CNN, Obama urged President Donald Trump to “build more ladders of success for every child and family,” to “sustain the international order” and to protect “democratic institutions and traditions.” (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File
FILE – In this Nov. 10, 2016 file photo, President Barack Obama shakes hands with then-President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama warned Donald Trump against hiring Michael Flynn as national security adviser during an Oval Office meeting after the 2016 election, according to three former Obama administration officials. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File
FILE – In this Jan. 20, 2017 file photo, then-President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania walk to their vehicle after attending church service at St. John’s Episcopal Church across from the White House in Washington. At Washington churches, presidents have long been seated in the pews. Bill and Hillary Clinton favored a Methodist church. Jimmy Carter taught Baptist Sunday School. And Barack Obama dropped in at an Episcopal church next to the White House. But as Easter Sunday approaches, President Donald Trump has not attended a church service in the Capitol since the worship events during his inauguration weekend. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File
FILE – In this Jan. 20. 2017 file photo, then President-elect Donald Trump looks over at then President Barack Obama before being sworn in as the 45th president of the United States during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. North Korea has a criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump he probably wasn’t expecting: he’s too much like Barack Obama. In its first comments since new Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s swing through Asia, the North is making much of the former oil executive’s surprisingly blunt assessment that Obama’s strategy needs to be replaced and U.S. efforts to get North Korea to denuclearize over the past 20 years have been a failure. But, it says, Trump is adopting the same stance nevertheless. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File
First Lady Michelle Obama, left, arrives with Vice President Joe Biden’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden for the 58th Presidential Inauguration for President-elect Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
President-elect Donald Trump and President Barak Obama smile at the White House before the inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)
President-elect Donald Trump and President Barak Obama smile at the White House before the inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)
Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images
President-elect Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up as first lady Michelle Obama and Melania Trump talk at the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: President Barack Obama (R) and Michelle Obama (L) pose with President-elect Donald Trump and wife Melania at the White House before the inauguration on January 20, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Trump becomes the 45th President of the United States. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 20: President Barack Obama (R) and Michelle Obama (L) pose with President-elect Donald Trump and wife Melania at the White House before the inauguration on January 20, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Trump becomes the 45th President of the United States. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)
Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and President-elect Donald Trump speak on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. In today's inauguration ceremony Donald J. Trump becomes the 45th president of the United States. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 20: U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and President-elect Donald Trump speak on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. In today’s inauguration ceremony Donald J. Trump becomes the 45th president of the United States. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
President Barack Obama kisses first lady Michelle Obama as they wait for President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump at the White House, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: President-elect Donald Trump kisses First Lady Michelle Obama as hi and his wife Melania Trump are greeted by President Barack Obama and the First Lady as they arrive at the White House prior to his inauguration in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 2017. Later today Donald Trump will be sworn-in as the 45th President. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 20: President-elect Donald Trump kisses First Lady Michelle Obama as hi and his wife Melania Trump are greeted by President Barack Obama and the First Lady as they arrive at the White House prior to his inauguration in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 2017. Later today Donald Trump will be sworn-in as the 45th President. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)
Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images
President Barack Obama greets Melania Trump as first lady Michelle Obama greets President-elect Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
(1/12)
President-elect Donald Trump and President Barak Obama smile at the White House before the inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: President Barack Obama (R) and Michelle Obama (L) pose with President-elect Donald Trump and wife Melania at the White House before the inauguration on January 20, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Trump becomes the 45th President of the United States. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: U.S. President Barack Obama (R) and President-elect Donald Trump speak on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. In today's inauguration ceremony Donald J. Trump becomes the 45th president of the United States. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: President-elect Donald Trump kisses First Lady Michelle Obama as hi and his wife Melania Trump are greeted by President Barack Obama and the First Lady as they arrive at the White House prior to his inauguration in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 2017. Later today Donald Trump will be sworn-in as the 45th President. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Before he left office in January, President Barack Obama offered his successor accolades and advice in a private letter that underscored some of his concerns as he passed the baton.

In the letter, published Sunday by CNN, Obama urged President Donald Trump to “build more ladders of success for every child and family,” to “sustain the international order” and to protect “democratic institutions and traditions.”

It is customary for presidents to leave notes for their successors. But typically these missives do not come to light so quickly. The handoff letters from President George W. Bush in 2009 and President Bill Clinton in 2001 were revealed earlier this year. CNN reports it received the Obama letter from “someone Trump showed it to.”

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