‘Welcome back’: Biden says to Trump at White House meeting

Sitting by the fireplace in the Oval Office Wednesday morning, President Joe Biden welcomed back President-elect Donald Trump as the former and future president returned to the White House after four years.
“Congratulations,” Biden said to Trump. Biden added he looks “forward to having a, like we said, smooth transition … do everything we can to make sure you’re accommodated.”
“Welcome back,” he said, as the two commanders in chief shook hands. Trump thanked Biden, saying, “Politics is tough and, in many cases, it’s not a nice world, but it is a nice world today.”
Trump added that he appreciated the outgoing president’s promise of a problem-free transfer of power. “A transition that’s so smooth it’ll be as smooth as it can get,” Trump said.
The last time Biden and Trump were face-to-face was in June during the presidential debates. Biden’s poor performance that day alarmed Democrats, leading him to give in to the pressure from his party to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.
White House chief of staff Jeff Zients and Trump’s designated chief of staff Susie Wiles also attended the meeting, where, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden and Trump “discussed important national security and domestic policy issues facing the nation and the world.”
She added: “President Biden also raised important items on Congress’ to-do list for the lame duck session, including funding the government and providing the disaster supplemental funding the president requested.”
First lady Jill Biden also greeted Trump and gave him a handwritten letter of congratulations addressed to his wife and the incoming first lady Melania Trump, who wasn’t in attendance. Her office acknowledged Melania Trump’s absence in a post on X, without citing a reason.
“The transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success,” the post on X said. The statement also criticized unspecified news reports speculating why she didn’t attend the meeting.
“In this instance, several unnamed sources in the media continue to provide false, misleading, and inaccurate information. Be discerning with your source of news,” the post added.
As CNN reported, during Trump’s final day in office in 2021, he slipped a two-page letter for Biden into the Resolute Desk drawer. Biden never revealed the exact contents but told reporters it was “very generous” of Trump. “Because it was private, I will not talk about it until I talk to him, but it was generous,” he said at the time.
Reports indicated the letter was Trump’s “personal note” that showed his love and care for the country.
Trump did not invite Biden to the White House after he lost reelection in 2020, as he disputed the results of the election.
Before sitting down with Biden, Trump stopped by Capitol Hill to huddle with House Republicans ahead of the leadership elections. While there, Trump endorsed Speaker Mike Johnson to continue in his leadership role.
Elon Musk accompanied Trump, who joked he couldn’t get rid of the tech billionaire. “He loves Mar-a-Lago,” referring to Trump’s personal residence in Palm Beach, Florida, as CNN reported. Musk is the head of Trump’s newly created Office of Government Efficiency.
In his short address, Trump said, “It’s always nice to win,” before thanking lawmakers for their hard work during his campaign.
“Next time, if we go up even a fraction of what we went up, you’re going to win New York, you’re going to win New Jersey, you’re going to win places that weren’t winnable, California, too,” he said.
Toward the end of his remarks, Trump reportedly told 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.”
At the closed-door meeting, Johnson called Trump the “comeback king,” adding, “We rode his wave. … The coattails are enormous,” as per NBC News.
Since Trump reclaimed the White House, and Republicans won the majority in the Senate, and are predicted to win the House, the GOP is sweeping through both chambers to make sure the leadership is fully aligned with the “America First” agenda.
Johnson was expected to face a challenger for the gavel, but, after Trump threw his support behind the speaker, that is no longer likely. The House leadership elections are scheduled for later on Wednesday, and Johnson will most likely be reelected.