Washington:
Newly elected US President Donald Trump thanked President Joe Biden for his promise of a smooth transition of power as the victorious Republican made a historic return visit to the White House on Wednesday.
“Politics is tough, and in many cases it’s not a very nice world. It’s a beautiful world today and I really appreciate that,” Trump said after the two men shook hands in the Oval Office.
Trump, 78, added that the transition would be “as smooth as possible.”
Biden greeted Trump in front of a roaring fire, congratulated him and said, “Welcome back.”
The 81-year-old Biden invited his sworn rival to the White House — despite the fact that Trump, who refused to concede his 2020 election loss, never extended the same courtesy to Biden.
Biden, who withdrew from the election in July but saw his successor Kamala Harris lose to Trump last week, said he was “looking forward to a smooth transition.”
“We will do everything we can to make sure you get shelter and get what you need,” he told Trump.
Triumphant Trump
Their conversations after the public handshake may have been a bitter pill to swallow for Biden, who labeled Trump a threat to democracy.
Biden was expected to insist at the meeting that Trump continue U.S. support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia, which the Republican has questioned.
Before the White House visit, Trump addressed House Republicans at a Washington hotel near the Capitol, where a crowd of his supporters marched in 2021 to try to overturn his election loss.
An ebullient Trump suggested he might even be open to a third term — which would violate the U.S. Constitution.
“I guess I won’t run again unless you say, ‘He’s good, we have to think of something else,’” he said, prompting a chuckle.
It appears that Trump’s party will take over both chambers of Congress and consolidate his extraordinary comeback.
He was accompanied at the meeting with Republicans by the world’s richest man Elon Musk, whom he appointed on Tuesday to head a new group focused on cutting government spending.
Trump has launched a flurry of nominations as he quickly announces the name of his administration.
Choosing his team
Biden’s Oval Office invitation restored a presidential transition tradition that Trump tore up when he lost the 2020 election and refused to sit down with Biden or even attend the inauguration.
Then-President Barack Obama had welcomed Trump to the White House when the tycoon won the 2016 election.
But by the time Trump took his final Marine One flight from the White House lawn on January 20, 2021, he was also denounced by many in his own party for inciting the attack on the Capitol.
However, that period of infamy quickly faded as Republicans returned to Trump’s side and recognized his unique electoral power at the head of his right-wing movement.
Trump enters his second term with a near-total grip on his party and the Democrats in disarray.
Since the election, he has spent the week at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida assembling his top team, while the world watches how closely he sticks to his promises of isolationism, mass deportations and sweeping tariffs.
Trump has appointed Space
Trump is quickly filling out his administration, electing a large number of ultra-loyalists.
Trump nominated Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth as his new Secretary of Defense. An outspoken opponent of the so-called “woke” ideology in the military, Hegseth has little experience comparable to managing America’s massive military budget and bureaucracy.
Trump appointed South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem — an ally who wrote about shooting her dog because it didn’t respond to training — to head the Department of Homeland Security.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)