President Biden welcomed President-elect Donald Trump back to the White House Wednesday for a nearly two-hour meeting as part of the transition process, a formality that Trump didn’t extend to Mr. Biden in 2020.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the meeting “substantive,” and said the two men discussed national security and domestic policy issues, and Mr. Biden raised important items on Congress’ to-do list. At the top of the meeting, with reporters present for only a moment, the two men shook hands.
“Well Mr. President-elect and former president, Donald, congratulations, and looking forward to having, like we said, a smooth transition,” Mr. Biden said, speaking first. Mr. Biden told Trump that his administration will accommodate the president-elect’s needs. “Welcome, welcome back.”
“Thank you very much, and politics is tough, and it’s, many cases, not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today, and I appreciate very much a transition that’s so smooth, it’ll be as smooth as it can get,” Trump responded.
Mr. Biden responded, “you’re welcome.”
Neither man responded to shouted questions from reporters. The meeting began shortly after 11 a.m. ET, after Trump spoke to House Republicans. White House chief of staff Jeff Zients and incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles are also in the meeting, the White House said.
Melania Trump did not meet with first lady Jill Biden, although the first ladies do traditionally meet. Melania Trump met with Michelle Obama in 2016. Jill Biden’s office said she gave the president-elect a handwritten letter of congratulations for Melania Trump, expressing her team’s readiness to assist with the transition.
“Mrs. Trump will not be attending today’s meeting at the White House,” Melania Trump’s office said in a statement. “Her husband’s return to the Oval Office to commence the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success.”
The last time Trump and Mr. Biden met face-to-face was at the June debate, during which Mr. Biden called Trump a “convicted felon” and said he had the “morals of an alleycat.” Trump, for his part, said the U.S. had turned into a “third-world country” under Mr. Biden, and referred to him as a “Manchurian candidate.” Mr. Biden struggled during the debate, and his campaign later said he had a cold, but his performance alarmed Democrats and he dropped out of the race weeks later — leaving Trump to face Vice President Kamala Harris in the general election.
Elon Musk, a huge backer of Trump’s 2024 bid who was named on Tuesday night as the head of a new Office of Government Efficiency, was with Trump on his plane as they headed to Washington, a source said. He attended the House Republican conference meeting in Washington with Trump, a source familiar with House Republicans told CBS News.
Trump was greeted with a standing ovation by House Republicans, and said his team “worked with a lot of you to get you in, and you helped me, and you helped me too.”
As reporters left the room, Trump said to the House Republicans, “I suspect I won’t be running again unless you do something else, unless you say he’s so good we’ve got to figure something out.”
Although Trump has announced a slew of Cabinet picks since the election, he has not made any public appearances since speaking to supporters at his election headquarters in West Palm Beach as it became apparent he won the election.
Before the meeting with Trump, the president and first lady spoke with community college students at an event at the White House. Jill Biden told the students, many of whom are graduating soon, “Joe and I are also preparing for what’s coming next.”