President Joe Biden met with Donald Trump this Wednesday at the White House to demonstrate the desire for a “peaceful” transfer of powers. During the campaign, when Biden was still a candidate, the Democrat claimed that Trump was a threat to democracy. He will now have to hand over executive power to the man who instigated the 2021 assault on the Capitol and attempted to prevent the certification of his victory, as well as overturn the result of the 2020 election.
“Mr. President-elect, former President, Donald, congratulations. Welcome back,” Biden said at the start of the meeting to the media. The president defended a “calm transition”. Trump responded: “Thank you very much. Politics is difficult, and often the world isn’t very pretty. But the weather is nice today and I’m very grateful for a smooth transition.
This is the first time Biden and Trump have appeared publicly together since disastrous debate on CNNwhich marked the beginning of the end for the Democratic candidacy. During the presidential face-to-face, Trump reveled in the Democrat’s fragility to the point of mocking him by challenging him to a game of golf. “I don’t know what he said at the end of the sentence. I think he doesn’t know what he said either,” he said in response to Biden’s stuttering on the Atlanta set.
Before the meeting at the White House, the president-elect met with members of the Republican Congress, where he also visited with Elon Musk. Everything indicates that the Republicans will retain the majority in the House of Representatives and, in addition, will also have regained control of the Senate.
The relationship between the two is marked by attacks and tensions. While Biden called Trump a “dictator” – citing his words that he was a “dictator from day one” – the Republican referred to the president as “Joe the Crooked.” Despite everything, both sat down in the Oval Office to honor the traditional meeting between the outgoing president and the new president. Trump, who was also hosted by Barack Obama during his 2016 election victory, broke with tradition and did not invite Biden in 2020.
The Republican even left Washington before the January 20, 2021 inauguration, becoming the first president to do so since Andrew Johnson was absent during the inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant in 1869.
The meeting between Biden and Trump took place behind closed doors. When Trump met with Obama, the interview lasted nearly an hour and a half, when it was expected to last less than half an hour. Once outside, Trump thanked Obama for his welcome, in an unusual gesture of kindness. Despite the tensions between Trump and Biden, the tone is surely similar.
