WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden welcomed President-elect Donald Trump to the White House on Wednesday, a tradition between incoming and outgoing American leaders, although the courtesy was not extended to Biden after he won the 2020 election.
For most of the meeting, which lasted less than two hours, the pair met behind closed doors in the Oval Office. The president and president-elect were joined by Biden’s chief of staff Jeff Zients and Trump’s future counterpart Susie Wiles.
Biden sought re-election against Trump until behind schedule July, when Biden withdrew his bid. Vice President Kamala Harris lost her race to Trump after just over 100 days of campaigning as the Democratic nominee.
According to the White House, Harris was not present at the meeting.
In brief remarks to cameras, Biden congratulated his predecessor, who will take the oath of office again as the nation’s 47th president in January.
“Well, Mr. President-elect, former President Donald, congratulations,” Biden said, while Trump chimed in: “Thank you very much, Joe.”
“And I look forward to, as I said, a sleek transition. Let’s do everything we can to get you the accommodations you need,” Biden continued. – And today we will have the opportunity to talk about it.
Trump thanked Biden again and replied: “And politics is tough. And in many cases it’s not a very nice world, but today it is a nice world. I appreciate it very much, the transition is so sleek, it will be as sleek as possible. I really appreciate it, Joe,” Trump said.
“Substantive” conversation.
First lady Jill Biden joined the president to welcome Trump and presented a handwritten letter of congratulations and an offer of transition assistance to incoming first lady Melania Trump, according to the White House.
The meeting began just after 11 a.m. EST, and the press was escorted out after brief welcome remarks and a photo opportunity. Biden and Trump concluded their private discussion around 1 p.m. EST.
Neither of them later addressed the huge gathering of reporters and photographers outside.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden and Trump “got along very well.”
“(Biden) wants you all to know that the president-elect was gracious, asked a detailed set of questions and was, again, substantive,” Jean-Pierre said at his daily news conference.
Jean-Pierre declined to provide details of the meeting, but said “the length of the meeting indicates that they had an in-depth conversation on a number of issues.”
Trump did it NO he invited Biden to the White House after his victory in the 2020 presidential election or attended his successor’s inauguration, which took place just 14 days after a mob of his supporters violently tried to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory.
The president-elect’s transition team did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s inquiries about why Trump did not invite Biden to the White House in 2020.
Musk and Ramaswamy at the forefront of the up-to-date initiative
The president-elect continues to announce numerous cabinet and staff positions, stacking his administration with staunch loyalists.
Late Tuesday, Trump announced that he has appointed billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to what he describes as a up-to-date “Department of Government Efficiency,” or “DOGE” for brief, which is also the name of a popular internet meme about dogs and cryptocurrency in the last decade.
Trump said the up-to-date entity would operate outside the government.
“To achieve this kind of drastic change, the Department of Government Effectiveness will provide advice and guidance from outside the government and work with the White House and the Office of Management and Budget to deliver large-scale structural reforms and create an entrepreneurial approach to government that has never been seen before.” Trump said in a statement.
Musk was also present, sitting in the front row during Trump’s visit to House Republicans earlier Wednesday.
Also on Tuesday night, Trump announced that Fox News host Pete Hegseth would be selected as defense secretary, a position that requires managing hundreds of billions in Pentagon spending.
Trump supports Johnson
Trump joined Republicans in the House of Representatives on Wednesday morning ahead of his meeting with Biden at the White House. Trump received a standing ovation from GOP lawmakers at a hotel near the Capitol, according to congressional pool reports.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, introduced Trump by calling him “a unique figure in American history,” according to congressional reports.
House Republicans also plan a leadership election behind schedule Wednesday, but Johnson is expected to be elected to continue in the role, although an official vote on the speaker’s gavel will take place in January.
At the meeting, Trump endorsed Johnson to continue as Speaker of the House of Representatives, according to NBC News.
During the meeting, Trump touted GOP victories in maintaining control of the lower house. Although Republicans are on track to maintain a slim majority, the Associated Press, the news organization that States Newsroom relies on for calls on the race based on decades of experiencehe has not convened the House Republicans, although that may happen soon.
From Wednesday in the afternoon, Republicans have 216 seats, just two brief of the 218 seats needed for control. Democrats have 207 seats and 12 races remain to be decided.
Trump also joked that he wants to run for another term — something that is prohibited by the United States Constitutionbecause presidents can only serve two terms.
“I guess I won’t run again unless you do something,” Trump told members, and they laughed, according to pool reports.
Democrats ready to strike back
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar said Wednesday that Democrats are ready to work with the incoming administration in a bipartisan manner, but are also ready to push back against efforts to further restrict reproductive rights, such as a nationwide abortion ban and any changes to the Affordable Care Act .
“We are clear about the challenge before us,” said Aguilar, a Democrat from California.
He acknowledged that Democrats had failed to regain control of the House.
“I think it’s right for the current caucus to reflect on what happened, listen to our constituents, listen to the American people, listen to our members, collect the data and then chart a path forward,” he said.
Aguilar added that Democrats plan to look at voter data to understand issues crucial to their voting bloc.
“I don’t want to make sweeping generalizations about any group, geographic or other area, without having this data in front of me,” he said. “I think it’s very clear to us that for people who have two jobs, the economy is gas, groceries and rent. We’re going to have to talk about these issues, if we’re going to be a party that speaks to members of our community and working people, everyday Americans, then we have to talk about these issues and… it’s us who have to communicate.”
Last updated at 15:26, November 13, 2024
