Donald Trump called politics a tough sport when he met with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office on Wednesday, but he thanked Biden for a smooth transition process.
You’re welcome, Biden replied.
The meeting, which many feared would be awkward, started off cozy with the two men seated before a roaring fire. Trump wore a red tie and Biden sported a maroon one. The short glimpse the public got of them was cordial, with each calling their other by their first name.
Biden congratulated the man who both preceded him, and will replace him, in the White House.
Well Mr. President-elect, Donald, congratulations, Biden said. I look forward to having a smooth transition.
Trump thanked him.
Politics is tough, the president-elect said. In many cases is it not a nice world but it is a nice world today.
Trump said of the transition process: It will be as smooth as it can get and I very much appreciate that, Joe.
Melania Trump was not with her husband. But first lady Jill Biden joined President Biden in greeting Trump upon his arrival to the White HOuse. She gave the president-elect a handwritten letter of congratulations for Melania Trump, which also expressed her teams readiness to assist with the transition, the East Wing said.
President-elect Trump and President Biden in the Oval Office for their post-election meeting
For Trump, who has been busy this week naming top cabinet and West Wing picks, it was a grand return to the place from which he was vanquished four years ago by the man now sitting at the Resolute Desk, the same desk Trump used four years ago.
Ahead of his meeting with Biden, Trump addressed House Republicans at a hotel on Capitol Hill. He flew to Washington D.C. from Palm Beach on Wednesday morning, landing at Andrews Air Force Base.
Isnt it nice to win?, he told his party members to great applause. Its nice to win.
In addition to winning the White House, Republicans took control of the Senate. The House has yet to be called but many expect the GOP to be in the majority there too when the final races are tallied.
Trump also hinted hed be available for a third term, telling the lawmakers jokingly: I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say, “He’s so good we’ve got to figure something else out."
Everyone laughed.
Congress would have to amend the Constitution if Trump wanted to serve more than two terms.
Trump, who endorsed Mike Johnson for speaker during the event, also had warm words for his party.
I jus want to thank everybody, the president-elect said. Youve been incredible. We worked with a lot of you.
Biden, who defeated Trump four yeas ago and always believed he could beat in a remathc, welcomed his rival to the Oval Office.
Ahead of his meeting with Trump, Biden bragged about his record as president.
Biden, speaking at the Classroom to Career Event taking place at the White House, pointed to the number of jobs he created.
‘We have created 16 million new jobs – brand new jobs - since I took office — the most in any single presidential term,’ he said.
He added that inflation and unemployment are back down near their pre-pandemic levels.
And he got in a hit at Trump, saying he is more invested in buying American than his predecessor: ‘This past administration failed to do that. Like I said so much was exported overseas.’
‘Not on my watch. My administration buys American.’
President-elect Donald Trump met with House Republicans ahead of his meeting with Biden
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden held an education event at the White House
Both men have made clear they dislike the other. And neither man has held back when it comes to criticizing the other.
Biden has called Trump a threat to democracy, suggested he be locked up, and referred to his supporters as garbage. Before he dropped out of the race in July, he hoped to defeat Trump for four more years in the White House.
Trump has questioned Bidens mental health, threatened to lock up his son Hunter and prosecute any Democrat he feels is an enemy.
We want this to go well, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday ahead of the sit down.
The Biden White House laid the ground work for that to happen. Biden called Trump shortly after he won last week to offer his congratulations, pledge a peaceful transfer of power, and invite him to the Oval Office for a meeting – a traditional gesture for a departing-president to offer to the incoming one.
He has notably not spoken out against Trump as he had during the heated presidential campaign. For his part, Trump also has refrained from criticizing the current administration. Instead hes focused on filling staff and cabinet positions, announcing a flood of hires.
Still, the dark shadow of history will loom over Wednesdays meeting. Adding to the awkwardness, after Biden ousted Trump in 2020, Trump offered no such Oval Office meeting to Biden.
Trump even left Washington before the Jan. 20, 2021, inauguration, becoming the first president to do so since Andrew Johnson to skip the swearing-in of his successor.
The meeting between current and future presidents is essentially a photo-op but an important one, showing the world the United States is one of the few nations where leaders peacefully hand over power.
President Biden wants to show the American people that the system works, to trust the institutions, to trust that the norms do matter here, that he is showing by leadership what a peaceful transition looks like, Jean-Pierre said.
When the two men meet on Wednesday, itll technically be the first time since 1992 that an outgoing president sits down with an incoming one he competed against in a campaign.
That year, outgoing President George H.W. Bush met with President-elect Bill Clinton about two weeks after they squared off on Election Day.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who Trump defeated, will not join the Oval Office sitdown.
The last time a sitting Vice President lost out on a promotion was the 2000 election. Al Gore joined Clinton and incoming President George W. Bush in a meeting that was described as unpleasant.
President Barack Obama, right, meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in November 2016
Former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden congratulate President Donald Trump after he took the oath of office on January 20, 2017
Melania Trump will also be absent and not meet with Jill Biden. Traditionally the outgoing first lady hosts her successor for tea in the residence while the Oval Office meeting takes place.
The two couples have met. Biden attended Trumps 2017 inauguration in his role as outgoing vice president. Jill Biden was also there. The Bidens will attend Trumps inauguration in January 2025, according to the White House.
Traditionally, the outgoing president welcomes the incoming one to the White House on the morning of the inauguration before riding together in the same vehicle to the Capitol building for the swearing in. The spouses also ride together.
Trump rode with then-President Barack Obama to his own inauguration.
Additionally, both men are looking to the future.
While Biden is in the process of packing up, Trump is already shaping his White House team.
Hes named campaign manager Susie Wiles as his chief of staff and longtime aide Stephen Miller will be his deputy chief of staff. Rep. Michael Walz will be his National Security Adviser and Senator Marco Rubio will be his secretary of state.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the Department of Government Efficiency, a new department Trump is creating to cut government waste.
The Trumps arent strangers making their first visit to the White House. The couple lived there for four years during Trumps first term. They know the residence staff, they know the layout, they know where the bathrooms are.
Donald and Melania Trump leave the White House on January 20th, 2021 and do not attend Joe Bidens inauguration
Michelle Obama hosted Melania Trump for tea in the Yellow Oval Room in November 3016
And Trump has been through this before. Then-President Barack Obama invited him to the Oval Office shortly after the 2016 election to congratulate him on his victory.
When he entered the Oval Office at that time, Trump appeared nervous and was unusually subdued, calling Obama a good man and the meeting a great honor. Previously, Trump had questioned if Obama was even an American and demanded to see his birth certificate.
Obamas White House press secretary Josh Earnest described the two mens meeting as at least a little less awkward than some might have expected.