‘Welcome back’: Trump, Biden shake hands in White House

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.

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 courteous 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.”

– ‘Very gracious’ –

Trump will return to power at the White House on January 20 with vast legislative power after US media on Wednesday projected that the Republicans won a majority in the US House of Representatives.

The victory gives the party a clean sweep of Congress, giving Trump free rein to pursue his pledges for mass deportations of migrants and retribution against political opponents.

But even as Democrats reel from the election, Biden has been determined to make a show of doing right thing.

His Oval Office invitation restored a tradition that Trump tore up when he lost the 2020 election, refusing to sit down with Biden or even attend the inauguration.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the talks lasted nearly two hours and were “very cordial, very gracious”, adding that Trump “came with a detailed set of questions.”

The two presidents discussed Ukraine and the Middle East — two grinding conflicts that the isolationist Trump’s administration must deal with.

Trump has been skeptical about US aid for Ukraine but Biden stressed the importance of “standing” with Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.

– No Melania –

Absent from the occasion was incoming first lady Melania Trump, who was a shadowy presence on the campaign trail and spent much of Trump’s first term away from the White House.

Outgoing First Lady Jill Biden joined Biden in welcoming Trump and “gave Mr. Trump a handwritten letter of congratulations for Mrs Trump,” the White House said.

The only other people in the room for talks after the handshake were Biden’s chief of staff Jeff Zients and Trump’s incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles, the White House said.

Trump has meanwhile been pressing ahead with plans for the transition — and beyond.

Meeting Republicans at a Washington hotel ahead of the White House meeting, an ebullient Trump suggested that he could even be open to a third term in office — which would violate the US constitution.

“I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say, ‘He’s good, we got to figure something else,'” he said, drawing some laughter.

Trump has spent the week since the election at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida picking a host of ultra-loyalists to serve in his administration.

He was accompanied at the meeting with Republicans by the world’s richest man Elon Musk, whom he named on Tuesday as head of a new group aimed at slashing government spending.

Trump on Wednesday named Florida senator and China hawk Marco Rubio as his Secretary of State, and a day earlier surprised many by nominating Fox News host Pete Hegseth as his defense secretary.

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© Agence France-Presse