Live updates US election results 2024: Trump appoints immigration hawk Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff

US election 2024 live updates: Biden and Trump meet at the White House ahead of historic return

President Joe Biden will meet President-elect Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, following Biden’s pledge to ensure a smooth transition of power to the Republican who defeated him four years after their previous election battle.

Trump, who had refused to acknowledge his defeat in 2020, won a major election victory on November 5, cementing an apparently extended period of American politics influenced by his conservative ideology.

Such transition meetings between outgoing and incoming presidents were traditionally observed, but Trump had declined to host Biden after the 2020 election, amid baseless allegations of electoral misconduct that led to the Capitol incident on January 6, 2021.

While Trump had previously avoided Biden’s inauguration ceremony, the White House has confirmed Biden’s intention to attend the upcoming installation.

The White House announced Saturday that the Biden-Trump meeting will take place in the Oval Office as the transition period progresses toward the former president’s return to office.

Come January, Biden will become one of the few US presidents to hand power back to his predecessor, with the only previous event being the handover from President Benjamin Harrison to Grover Cleveland in the 19th century.

Trump, 78 years old and a former television personality, won a wider margin of victory despite his legal troubles, including a criminal conviction and two impeachments during his presidency, and despite warnings from his former chief of staff about his “fascist” tendencies.

Electoral analysis showed that voters were particularly concerned about economic issues and inflation rates that increased during Biden’s term in office following the Covid pandemic.

Biden, 81, who withdrew from the presidential race in July over concerns about his age and health, called Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him on his electoral success.