Donald Trump made a victor’s return to Washington on Wednesday, visiting the White House for an Oval Office meeting with Democratic President Joe Biden.
The sitting president and president-elect both committed to a smooth transition of power as the Republican president-elect moves quickly to build out his new administration.
“Donald, congratulations,” Mr Biden said, greeting Mr Trump with a handshake and adding that he looked “forward to a smooth transition”.
“Thank you very much,” Mr Trump said. “Politics is tough. And it’s, in many cases, not a very nice world. But it is a nice world today and I appreciate it very much.”
He said the transition between the outgoing and incoming administrations “will be as smooth as it can get and I very much appreciate that, Joe”.
Mr Trump, who has long disputed his 2020 election loss to Mr Biden, did not invite Mr Biden to the White House during the transition four years ago.
First lady Jill Biden greeted Mr Trump upon his arrival at the White House and gave him a handwritten letter of congratulations for his wife, Melania, who did not make the trip to Washington. The letter also expressed the first lady’s team’s readiness to assist with the transition.
The president-elect’s plane touched down on Wednesday, arriving at a military base near the Capitol. He met with billionaire Elon Musk for a meeting with House Republicans before the Oval Office session with Mr Biden as Mr Trump prepares for a potentially unified Republican government and sweep of power.
Back in Washington for the first time since his election victory, Mr Trump told Republican officials: “It’s nice to win.”
Mr Trump received a standing ovation from House Republicans, many of whom took videos of him as he ran through their party’s victories up and down the ballot, in what would be his final presidential election.
“I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say he’s good we got to figure something else,” Mr Trump said to laughter.
It is a stunning return to the US seat of government for the former president, who departed nearly four years ago a diminished, politically defeated leader after the January 6 2021 attack on the Capitol but is preparing to come back to power with what he and his allies see as a mandate for governance.
“He is the comeback king,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson before Mr Trump’s arrival. “We owe him a great debt of gratitude.”
The private meetings with Republicans, ahead of Mr Trump’s sit down with President Joe Biden at the White House as a traditional part of the peaceful handoff of power, put in stark relief the former president’s comeback to Washington.
The visit, amid Republican congressional leadership elections, could put his imprint on the outcome.
Control of the House of Representatives remains in the balance with a dozen races left to be called.
Billionaire Elon Musk will join Mr Trump in Washington, according to a Trump aide.
The SpaceX owner, who was handed a government efficiency advisory role in Mr Trump’s new administration, is not currently expected to be at the meeting with Mr Biden at the White House.
Mr Musk will join Mr Trump’s earlier meeting with House Republicans before he and Mr Biden meet in the Oval Office. The entrepreneur has been a steady presence at Mr Trump’s side since the election.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that Melania Trump will not be joining her husband at the White House for the event.
A spokesperson said: “Her husband’s return to the Oval Office to commence the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success.”
No reason was given for why she did not accept the invitation.
Joe and Jill Biden had extended congratulations and a joint invite to the Trumps to meet at the White House. The spouses typically meet upstairs in the residence while the President and President-elect confer in the Oval Office.
Another person not expected to be at the meeting is Kamala Harris.
The US Vice President, who Mr Trump defeated in the election, is spending the morning in meetings at her official residence, according to a source.
If she does show up later – either at the White House or the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where most of her staff work – it is unlikely to be until after Mr Trump leaves.
It is the first meeting between the US leader and the man who will replace him since their debate in June.
Mr Biden’s poor performance at that event led Democrats to pressure him to drop out of the race for the White House and let another candidate take on Mr Trump.
The President pulled the plug on his campaign weeks later and endorsed Vice President Ms Harris.
