US President Joe Biden welcomed Donald Trump back to the White House on Wednesday, showing civility to the President-elect.
The US president and president-elect shook hands in front of a roaring fire in the Oval Office as they pledged a smooth transition – a stark contrast to Trump’s refusal to recognise his 2020 defeat.
“Welcome back,” the 81-year-old Joe Biden, said as he congratulated the 78-year-old Trump and offered brief opening remarks to the man he has repeatedly slammed as a threat to democracy.
Biden, who dropped out of the election in July but saw his successor Kamala Harris lose to Trump last week, said he was “looking forward to having a smooth transition” and pledged to do “everything we can to make sure you’re accommodated.
As the two presidents with a combined age of 159 years shook hands, Biden appeared to look down while Trump leaned forward and looked him in the eyes.
Donald Trump riled up a mob that attacked the US Capitol in 2021 and ran a brutal and divisive election campaign this year — but sought to strike a gracious tone on his return visit to the White House.
“Politics is tough, and in many cases it’s not a very nice world. It is a nice world today, and I appreciate it very much,” Trump said.
Trump added that the transfer of power would be “smooth as you can get” — although his transition team has not yet signed some key legal documents ahead of his inauguration as president on January 20.
Biden’s Oval Office invitation restored a presidential transition tradition that Trump tore up when he lost the 2020 election, refusing to sit down with Biden or even attend the inauguration.
But by the time Trump took his last flight from the White House lawn on January 20, 2021, he had also been repudiated by many in his own party for having stoked the assault on the Capitol.
