WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump met in the Oval Office for two hours on Wednesday, continuing a tradition that Trump did not comply with in 2020.
Biden said he would ensure a “smooth transition” and telling Trump he will do “everything we can to make sure you’re accommodated.”
“Politics is tough, and it’s, in many cases, not a very nice world but it is a nice world today,” Trump said in response. “And I appreciate it very much. A transition that’s so smooth, it’ll be as smooth as it can get, and I very much appreciate that, Joe.”
White House chief of staff Jeff Zients and incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles were in the meeting with Trump and Biden.
The meeting comes after Trump refused invite then-President-elect Biden to the White House and skipped Biden’s inauguration.
Trump returns to the White House as a twice impeached president after lawmakers charged him with “incitement of insurrection” after his supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday that Biden “believes in the norms.” She added the two men had a “substantive exchange of views,” as the two discussed national security and domestic policy.
“It is important not just because it’s important to him, but it’s important to the American people,” Jean-Pierre said. “The American people deserve this. They deserve a peaceful transfer of power. They deserve a smooth transition. And that’s what you’re going to see.”
“He wants to show the American people that the system works,” Jean-Pierre added.
First lady Jill Biden joined President Biden in greeting Trump. She gave Trump a handwritten letter of congratulations for Melania Trump, who declined to meet with the First Lady after snubbing her in 2020.
“Her husband’s return to the Oval Office to commence the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success,” Melania Trump’s office said in a statement.
