WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden welcomed President-elect Donald Trump to the White House on Wednesday, a tradition between novel and outgoing American leaders, although the courtesy was not extended to Biden after he won the 2020 election.
The couple met behind closed doors in the Oval Office for most of the meeting, which lasted nearly two hours. Biden’s chief of staff Jeff Zients and Trump’s novel counterpart Susie Wiles joined the president and president-elect.
Until the end of July, Biden had been seeking re-election against Trump, when he dropped his bid. Vice President Kamala Harris lost the race to Trump after campaigning as the Democratic candidate for just over 100 days.
According to the White House, Harris did not attend the meeting.
In brief remarks in front of the camera, Biden congratulated his predecessor, who will take the oath of office again in January as the country’s 47th president.
“Well, Mr. President-elect, former President Donald, congratulations,” Biden said, while Trump interjected, “Thank you very much, Joe.”
“And we look forward to, as I said, a smooth transition and doing everything we can to make sure you’re accommodated and get what you need,” Biden continued. “And we will have the opportunity to talk about it today.”
Trump thanked Biden again and replied: “And politics is hard. And it’s not a very beautiful world in many cases, but it’s a beautiful world today. And I really appreciate a transition that goes as smoothly, it’s going to be as smooth as it gets. I really appreciate that, Joe,” Trump said.
A “content” conversation
First Lady Jill Biden joined the President in welcoming Trump and, according to the White House, presented a handwritten letter of congratulations and an offer of transition assistance to the novel First Lady Melania Trump.
The meeting began shortly after 11 a.m. Eastern Time and the press was ushered out after a brief greeting and photo op. Biden and Trump concluded their private discussion around 1 p.m. Eastern Time.
Neither spoke afterward to a gigantic gathering of reporters and photographers.
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, asked a detailed series of questions and was substantive again,” Jean-Pierre said at the daily news conference.
Jean-Pierre declined to give details of the meeting but said: “The length of the meeting shows that there was a detailed conversation on a range of topics.”
Trump did it not He invited Biden to the White House after his victory in the 2020 presidential election and did not attend his successor’s inauguration, which came just 14 days after a mob of his supporters violently attempted to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory.
The president-elect’s transition team did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s inquiries about why Trump did not invite Biden to the White House in 2020.
Musk and Ramaswamy lead novel 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 a novel “Department of Government Efficiency,” or “DOGE” for brief, which is also the name of a popular Internet dog meme and a Cryptocurrency on the Internet is last decade.
Trump said the novel unit would function outside the government.
“To advance this type of dramatic change, the Department of Government Efficiency will provide advice and guidance from outside government and work with the White House and the Office of Management & Budget to advance large-scale structural reforms and develop an entrepreneurial approach.” “A Government unlike any before,” Trump said in a statement.
Musk was also present and sat in the front row during Trump’s visit to the Republicans in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
Also Tuesday night, Trump announced Fox News host Pete Hegseth as his pick for defense secretary, a position that requires managing hundreds of billions of dollars in Pentagon spending.
Trump supports Johnson
Trump met with House Republicans on Wednesday morning ahead of his meeting with Biden at the White House. At a hotel near the US Capitol, Trump received a standing ovation from Republican lawmakers, according to Congressional Pool reports.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, introduced Trump, calling him a “unique figure in American history,” according to Congressional Pool reports.
House Republicans also plan to hold their leadership election overdue Wednesday, but Johnson is expected to be selected to continue in the role, although a formal vote on the speaker’s gavel will take place in January.
At the meeting, Trump supported Johnson to continue his role as Speaker of the House of Representatives. according to NBC News.
During the meeting, Trump announced that Republicans had won to retain control of the House. Although Republicans are on track to maintain their narrow majority, The Associated Press, the news organization that States Newsroom relies on for election calls decades of experiencehas not convened the House for Republicans, although it could do so soon.
As of Wednesday As of afternoon, Republicans have 216 seats, just two shy of the 218 seats needed for control. The Democrats have 207 seats, with twelve races still outstanding.
Trump also joked about wanting to run for another term – something the US Constitution prohibitssince presidents are confined to only two terms.
“My guess is that if you don’t do something, I won’t run again,” Trump told members, who laughed, according to pool reports.
The Democrats are ready to fight back
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar said Wednesday that Democrats are ready to work with the novel administration on a bipartisan basis but are also prepared to support efforts to further restrict reproductive rights, such as a nationwide abortion ban, and any changes push back on the Affordable Care Act.
“We recognize the challenge before us,” said Aguilar, Democrat of California.
He acknowledged that Democrats had failed to regain control of the House of Representatives.
“I think it’s appropriate for the current caucus to reflect on what happened, listen to our voters, listen to the American people, listen to our members, collect data and then chart a path forward,” he said.
Aguilar added that Democrats plan to look at voter data to understand the issues vital to their voting bloc.
“I don’t want to make sweeping generalizations about any group, geographical or otherwise, without having that data,” he said. “I think it’s very clear to us that the economy matters for people who have two jobs: gas, groceries and rent. We have to talk about these issues if we want to be the party that speaks to our community members and working people, everyday Americans, then we have to talk about these issues and… the communication is ours.”
Last updated on November 13, 2024 at 3:26 p.m
