Trump arrives at the White House to meet with Biden as the transition gets underway. •Nebraska Examiner

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden welcomed President-elect Donald Trump to the White House on Wednesday, a tradition between incoming and outgoing U.S. leaders, although the courtesy was not extended to Biden after he won the 2020 election.

The pair met behind closed doors in the Oval Office for most of the meeting, which lasted just under two hours. Biden’s chief of staff Jeff Zients and Trump’s new counterpart, Susie Wiles, joined the president and the president-elect.

Biden was seeking re-election against Trump until late July, when Biden dropped his bid. Vice President Kamala Harris lost the race to Trump after just over 100 days of campaigning as the Democratic candidate.

Harris was not present at the meeting, according to the White House.

In brief remarks to the cameras, Biden congratulated his predecessor, who will again take the oath of office as the country’s 47th president in January.

“Well, Mr. President-elect, former President, Donald, congratulations,” Biden said, as Trump interjected with “Thank you very much, Joe.”

“And we look forward to, as I said, a smooth transition. We are doing everything we can to make sure you get the accommodations you need,” Biden continued. “And we get a chance to talk about that today.”

Trump thanked Biden again and replied: “And politics is hard. And it’s not a very beautiful world in many cases, but it is a beautiful world today. And I really appreciate it, a transition that is so smooth, that it will be as smooth as possible. I really appreciate that, Joe,” Trump said.

A ‘substantive’ conversation

First lady Jill Biden accompanied the president to greet Trump and presented a handwritten letter of congratulations and offer of transition assistance addressed to incoming first lady Melania Trump, according to the White House.

The meeting started just after 11 a.m. Eastern and the press was ushered out after the brief welcome speech and photo opportunities. Biden and Trump ended their private conversation around 1 p.m. Eastern.

Neither spoke afterward to a large group of reporters and photographers outside.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden and Trump had “a very good back and forth.”

“(Biden) wants you all to know that the president-elect was friendly, came with a detailed set of questions and, again, was substantive,” Jean-Pierre said at the daily news conference.

Jean-Pierre declined to give details of the meeting but said: “The length of the meeting tells you they had an in-depth conversation about a range of issues.”

Trump did it not invited Biden to the White House after his victory in the 2020 presidential election, and he also did not attend his successor’s inauguration, which took place just 14 days after a mob of his supporters tried to force Congress’ approval of the victory to stop Biden.

The president-elect’s transition team did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s questions about why Trump did not invite Biden to the White House in 2020.

Musk and Ramaswamy will lead the new initiative

The President-elect continues to announce numerous cabinet and staff positions, stack his government with staunch loyalists.

Late Tuesday, Trump announced that he had appointed billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to what he describes as a new “Department of Government Efficiency,” or “DOGE” for short, also the name for a popular internet dog meme and cryptocurrency in the US . past decade.

Trump said the new entity would operate outside the government.

“To achieve these types of dramatic changes, the Department of Government Efficiency will provide advice and guidance from outside the government, and work with the White House and the Office of Management & Budget to achieve large-scale structural reforms and create an entrepreneurial approach to government that has never been seen before,” Trump said in a statement.

Musk was also present, sitting in the front row during Trump’s visit to Republicans earlier Wednesday.

Also on Tuesday night, Trump announced Fox News host Pete Hegseth as his pick for secretary of defense, a position that requires managing hundreds of billions in Pentagon spending.

Trump supports Johnson

Trump joined Republicans in the House of Representatives on Wednesday morning, before his meeting with Biden at the White House. At a hotel near the U.S. Capitol, Trump received a standing ovation from Republican lawmakers, according to congressional reports.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, introduced Trump, calling him a “unique figure in American history,” according to congressional reports.

House Republicans also plan to hold their leadership elections late Wednesday, but Johnson is expected to be selected to continue in the role, although an official vote on the gavel will take place in January.

During the meeting, Trump endorsed Johnson to continue his role as Speaker of the House of Representatives. according to NBC News.

During the meeting, Trump touted the Republican Party’s victories in retaining control of the House of Representatives. While Republicans are on track to maintain their slim majority, The Associated Press, the news organization States Newsroom relies on for race calls based on decades of experiencehas not yet called the House of Representatives for the Republicans, even though this could happen soon.

From Wednesday In the afternoon, Republicans have 216 seats, just two short of the 218 seats needed for control. The Democrats have 207 seats, with twelve races still to be held.

Trump also joked that he wanted to run for another term – something that the US Constitution prohibitsas presidents are limited to only two terms.

“I guess I won’t run again unless you do something,” Trump told the members, who laughed, according to pool reports.

Democrats ready to push back

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar said Wednesday that Democrats are willing to work with the new administration in a bipartisan manner, but also willing to push back on efforts to further restrict reproductive rights, such as a national abortion ban, and any changes. to the Affordable Care Act.

“We have a clear view of the challenge ahead,” said California Democrat Aguilar.

He acknowledged that Democrats have failed to regain control of the House of Representatives.

“I think it’s appropriate for the current caucus to reflect on what happened, to listen to our voters, to listen to the American people, to listen to our members, to gather data and then chart a path forward to outline,” he said. .

Aguilar added that Democrats plan to look at voter data to understand the issues important to their voting bloc.

“I don’t want to make broad generalizations about any group, geographical or otherwise, without having that data in front of me,” he said. “I think it’s very clear to us that for people with two jobs, the economy is gas, groceries and rent. We’re going to have to talk about these issues if we want to be the party that speaks to our community members and people who work, everyday Americans, then we have to talk about those issues, and… that’s up to us to communicate.

Last updated at 2:26 PM, November 13, 2024