Trump Meets With Biden At The White House

By
Rachel Stevenson
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0
22

It’s a rare scene in Washington these days, but here we have it: President-elect Donald Trump strolling back into the White House, this time as the incoming administration for his second term, to meet with President Joe Biden. And surprisingly, Biden—who’s had no shortage of critiques about Trump’s “threat to democracy”—extended the invitation himself, aiming for a “smooth transition” even as he wraps up a tenure that has seen its share of criticisms.

The image of these two fierce political rivals sitting down together is something straight out of a political drama. Here’s Biden, the man who ultimately dropped his re-election bid after that rocky debate with Trump left both allies and critics questioning his stamina at 81, now shaking hands with the same former president who pulled no punches on his performance in the White House.

CNN was shocked to see who came out to see Trump:

And Trump, for his part, acknowledged the gravity of the moment, giving a nod to the significance of this transition. “Politics is tough,” he said, “but it is a nice world today.” Trump embraced the tone of decorum, agreeing to a smooth handover.

While the cameras rolled, Biden and Trump tackled national security and domestic policies with their respective chiefs of staff, Jeff Zients and Susie Wiles, joining the conversation. Biden brought up issues like continued support for Ukraine—a cause that has divided much of the GOP—and reminded Trump about the need to fund government priorities in the upcoming lame-duck session.

As veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance put it, Biden’s invitation is a “tribute to normalcy” in the presidential transition process. While the meeting itself might not be required by law, Biden’s move emphasizes a return to protocol that should be above politics—or maybe Biden’s just happy Kamala lost.

This marks Trump’s second transition meeting as president-elect, an experience he had with Obama eight years ago. So, while these two haven’t agreed on much over the years, they at least managed to sit in the same room for a couple of hours and make the transition a little bit smoother—proof that, if nothing else, even Washington still has some tricks up its sleeve.

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