President Joe Biden and Donald Trump will meet in the Oval Office next week
President-elect Donald Trump will meet with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office on Wednesday, the White House announced on Saturday.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the two would meet at 11 am at Biden’s invitation, adding that additional details about the meeting will be released.
Incoming first lady Melania Trump has also been invited to the White House to meet with first lady Jill Biden, an official in the East Wing told CNN, though it is unclear when that might happen.
Joe Biden will host Donald Trump at the Oval Office next week following the election results. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Biden spoke with Trump on Wednesday, the day after the election, to congratulate him on his win over Vice President Kamala Harris and invite him to the White House, an administration official said.
“President Biden expressed his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition and emphasised the importance of working to bring the country together,” the official said on Wednesday.
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Trump on Thursday said he and Biden had agreed to have lunch together “very shortly” when they spoke by phone, according to NBC News.
Trump told NBC his calls with Biden and Harris after the race was called were “very nice calls, very respectful both ways.”
The US President spoke with Trump to congratulate him and ensure a peaceful transfer of power. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
It’s tradition for the outgoing president to host the incoming commander in chief after the election as part of a peaceful transfer of power.
Trump did not host Biden in 2020, however, as he fought the election results based on falsehoods about voter fraud.
Trump also didn’t attend Biden’s inauguration in 2021.
Aside from 2020, it has also been tradition for the current first lady to host the incoming first lady at the White House.
In 2016, then-first lady Michelle Obama hosted Melania Trump for tea in the White House’s Yellow Oval Room and took her on a tour of the private residence.
Trump did not host Biden at the Oval Office following his loss in 2020. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Biden drew implicit comparisons to the non-transition four years ago during remarks on Thursday conceding his vice president’s loss to Trump.
He listed the steps he was taking that were never offered to him when he beat Trump and used the moment to again push back on questions of election integrity after years of false allegations from his predecessor – and now successor.
“Campaigns are contests of competing visions. The country chooses one or the other. We accept the choice the country made,” he said, making explicit that he accepted the results of the election.
