United States President-elect Donald Trump has been welcomed to the White House by outgoing President Joe Biden as part of a traditional transition meeting.
The meeting between the two rivals in the Oval Office on Wednesday comes after a confrontational election campaign, in which Biden dropped out over the summer following a disastrous debate performance against Trump.
However, his vice president and successor as Democratic candidate for the presidency, Kamala Harris, lost out to Trump in the November 5 election by a decisive margin.
The two men greeted each other with a handshake in front of the cameras, as Biden told Trump he looked forward to a “peaceful transition”.
Trump himself said that the transition would be “smooth as you can get”.
“Politics is tough, and in many cases it’s not very nice world,” Trump added. “It is a nice world today and I appreciate it very much.
Biden and Trump were expected to discuss several important matters during their meeting, which comes almost two months ahead of the president-elect’s inauguration on January 20.
“They will go through the top issues – both domestic and foreign policy issues – including what is happening in Europe and Asia and the Middle East,” said Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, before the meeting. “And the president will have the chance to explain to President Trump how he sees things… and talk to President Trump about how President Trump is thinking about taking on these issues when he takes office.”
The meeting between Biden and Trump marks a sharp turn of events from four years ago, when Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Trump disputed the election results and refused to host a transition meeting with Biden, or attend his inauguration.
Fake smiles
“Expect it to be pretty fake, all smiles even though underneath these two men basically hate each other,” Kimberly Halkett, Al Jazeera’s White House correspondent reported before the meeting.
Trump and Biden spent much of the presidential campaign talking ill about each other and the threat to democracy they purportedly represented, she noted. “But you won’t see any of that when they’re in front of the cameras. They’re going to be all smiles and and pretending that they’re the best of friends. That’s politics in Washington, that’s how it works,” she added.
In a sign of his growing importance to Trump, the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, is accompanying him on the trip to Washington, although he was not expected to attend the meeting with Biden in the White House.
Biden pledged a peaceful and orderly transition in a speech last week in which he accepted the election results.
“You can’t love your country only when you win,” he said, repeating a theme he has referenced in previous speeches.
Trump’s return to the presidency marks a shift in fortunes for himself and the Republicans. Many doubted that he would be able to resurrect his political career after his loss to Biden, particularly after his supporters rioted at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, leading to denouncements from across the American political divide.
But the president-elect is now in a strong position, and has quickly set about appointing and nominating his allies for several of the top jobs in his incoming administration.
Trump also met Congressional Republicans on Wednesday, as he attempts to ensure their support for his agenda. It is increasingly likely that the Republicans have won a majority in the House, meaning that – along with the Senate – the right-wing party controls both legislative bodies, as well as the presidency.
That gives Trump an opportunity – at least until the 2026 mid-term elections – to push through more hardline policies that the Democrats may have attempted to stop if they controlled either the House or the Senate.
Meanwhile, US Senate Republicans also gathered behind closed doors on Wednesday to vote for their new Senate majority leader in a secret ballot.
South Dakota Senator John Thune, Texas Senator John Cornyn and Florida Senator Rick Scott are expected to be the frontrunners.
More to come…