Trump returns triumphantly to Washington and meets Biden at the White House

Donald Trump returned victorious to Washington on Wednesday, visiting the White House for an Oval Office meeting with Democratic President Joe Biden.

The incumbent president and the newly elected president have both committed to a smooth transition of power, while the Republican president-elect is moving quickly to build his new administration.

“Donald, congratulations,” Biden said, greeting Trump with a handshake and adding that he “looked forward to a smooth transition.”

“Thank you very much,” Trump said. “Politics are tough. And it’s not a very pretty world in many cases. But it’s a beautiful world these days and I really appreciate it.”

He said the transition between the outgoing and incoming governments will be “as smooth as possible and I really appreciate that, Joe.”

Trump, who has long disputed his 2020 election loss to Biden, did not invite Biden to the White House during the transition four years ago.

First lady Jill Biden greeted Trump upon his arrival at the White House and presented him with 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 willingness to assist with the transition.

The president-elect’s plane landed Wednesday and arrived at a military base near the Capitol. He met billionaire Elon Musk for a meeting with Republicans in the House of Representatives before the Oval Office session with Mr Biden, as Trump prepares for a potentially unified Republican government and takeover.

Back in Washington, Trump told Republican officials for the first time since his election victory: “It’s nice to win.”

Trump received a standing ovation from Republicans in the House of Representatives, many of whom took videos of him going over their party’s victories on the ballot, in what would be his last presidential election.

“I guess I won’t run again unless you say he’s good, we’ll have to think of something else,” Trump said, laughing.

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 his colleagues do. allies see it as a mandate for governance.

“He is the comeback king,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said before Trump arrived. “We owe him a lot of gratitude.”

The private meetings with Republicans, ahead of Trump’s meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House as a traditional part of the peaceful transition of power, provided a major relief for the former president’s comeback to Washington.

The visit, in the middle of the Republican Congressional elections, could have a major impact on the outcome.

Control of the House of Representatives remains in the balance as a dozen races remain to be held.

Billionaire Elon Musk will join Trump in Washington, according to a Trump aide.

The owner of SpaceX, who has been given an advisory role on government efficiency in the new Trump administration, is currently not expected to attend the meeting with Mr Biden at the White House.

Musk will attend Trump’s earlier meeting with Republicans in the House of Representatives before he and Biden meet in the Oval Office. The entrepreneur has been a permanent presence at Trump’s side since the elections.

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 begin the transition process is encouraging and she wishes him the best of luck.”

No reason was given as to why she did not accept the invitation.

Joe and Jill Biden had congratulated the Trumps and invited them together to a meeting 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 attend the meeting is Kamala Harris.

The American vice president, who defeated Trump in the elections, is spending the morning in meetings at her official residence, according to a source.

If she does appear later — at the White House or the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where most of her staff works — it is unlikely it will happen until after Trump has left.

It is the first meeting between the US leader and the man who will replace him since their debate in June.

Biden’s poor performance at that event prompted Democrats to pressure him to drop out of the race for the White House and let another candidate take on Trump.

The president pulled the plug on his campaign weeks later and endorsed Vice President Ms. Harris.