Trump returns victoriously to Washington to meet with Biden and Republican Party lawmakers

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump makes the return of a victor to Washington.

President Joe Biden will welcome him to the White House on Wednesday for a visit to the Oval Office traditional part of the peaceful transfer of power – a ritual in which Trump himself refused to participate four years ago.

Trump also planned to meet with congressional Republicans while they focused on his Day 1 priorities and prepare for a potential unified government with a GOP power grab in the country’s capital. His arrival during the Republican leadership elections in Congress could leave his mark on the outcome.

It’s a stunning return to the US seat of government for the former president, who left a weakened, politically defeated leader nearly four years ago after the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, but is preparing to return to power with what he and he wants. his Republican allies see it as a mandate for governance.

Before the visit, Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson said Republicans are “ready to deliver” on Trump’s “America First” agenda.

After his 2016 election victory, Trump met with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office and called it “a great honor.” But he was soon back to hurling insults at Obama, including accusing his predecessor — without evidence — of tapped him during the 2016 campaign.

Four years later, Trump disputed his 2020 election loss to Biden, and has continued to do so lie about widespread voter fraud that didn’t happen. He did not invite Biden, then the president-elect, to the White House and left Washington without attending Biden’s inauguration. It was the first time this had happened since Andrew Johnson skipped the swearing-in of Ulysses S. Grant 155 years ago.

Biden insists he will do everything he can to ensure a smooth transition to the next Trump administration. That’s despite the fact that I spent over a year campaigning for re-election and portraying Trump as one threat to democracy and the country’s core values. So Biden dropped out of the race in July and endorsed vice president Kamala Harris to succeed him.

In the wake of the election, the president dropped his dire warnings about Trump, saying in a speech last week: “The American experiment endures. We will be fine.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden is committed to “ensuring that this transition is effective and efficient, and he’s doing that because it’s the norm, yes, but also the right thing to do for the American people.”

“We want this to go well,” Jean-Pierre added. “We want this to be a process that gets the job done.”

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan echoed that sentiment, saying the administration will maintain the “transfer of responsibility from one president to the next, which is in the best tradition of our country.”

Wednesday’s visit is more than just a courtesy call.

“They will discuss key issues – both domestic and foreign policy issues – including what is happening in Europe, Asia and the Middle East,” Sullivan told CBS of Wednesday’s meeting. “And the president will have an opportunity to explain to President Trump how he sees things… and to talk to President Trump about how President Trump plans to address these issues if he comes into office.”

Traditionally, when the outgoing and incoming presidents meet in the West Wing, the first lady receives her successor upstairs in the residence — but Melania Trump is not expected to attend.

After meeting Obama in 2016, Trump also visited lawmakers on Capitol Hill and will do so on Wednesday – not far from where a gang of his followers carried out a violent attack on the US Capitol in January 2021 to try to stop the certification of Biden’s election victory.

When Trump Washington left in 2021, even some top Republicans began condemning him for his role in inciting the attack on the Capitol. But his victory in last week’s election completes a political comeback that has once again made Trump the undisputed head of the Republican Party.

However, this is not the first time that Trump has returned to the Capitol grounds since the end of his first term. Republicans in Congress hosted Trump this summer as Trump reconsolidated his dominance over the party.

His latest visit comes as Republicans, who wrested the Senate majority from Democrats in last week’s elections and are poised to retain Republican Party control of the House of Representatives, are amid are in their own battle. leadership elections takes place behind closed doors on Wednesday.

The arrival of the newly elected president will provide a new impetus Johnsonwho has drawn ever closer to Trump as he worked to keep his majority — and his own job with the hammer.

The speaker said he expects to see Trump repeatedly throughout the week, including at an event later that evening, and “all weekend” at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

It is unclear whether Trump will also visit the Senate, which is embroiled in a more divisive leadership election behind closed doors in the United States. three-way match replacing outgoing GOP leader Mitch McConnell.

Trump’s allies are urging Republican senators to vote for Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who was a longshot candidate and challenged two more senior Republicans, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, for the track.

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Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.