Returning to Washington, Trump visits House Republicans before meeting Biden
By Catie Edmondson, Maya C. Miller, Annie Karni and Michael D. Shear
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump arrived in Washington on Wednesday (13) morning for a triumphant visit to the White House and a meeting in the Oval Office with President Joe Biden, his first return to the seat of US power since grudgingly leaving four years ago.
Trump visited House Republicans before his trip to the White House at the invitation of Biden, who honoured the decades-old tradition in which the outgoing president hosts the incoming one — a display of respect that Trump did not extend to Biden while denying that he had lost in 2020.
Trump began his day in Washington in friendlier territory: a gathering of Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill. The president-elect acknowledged the narrow majority the party was expected to hold once all races were called but told attendees the margin “doesn’t matter” to Republicans who have already grappled with a razor-thin advantage.
Trump was joined at the meeting by Elon Musk, the billionaire who has ascended to a position of wide-ranging influence in Trump’s transition. On Tuesday (12), Musk was given the task of leading an effort to make the government smaller and more efficient. Musk sat in the front row among the lawmakers and next to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s wife. He received a standing ovation when Trump complimented him.
The last meeting between Trump and Biden was anything but cordial: At a debate in Atlanta in June, Biden told Trump he was a “convicted felon” with “the morals of an alley cat”. Trump called Biden a “Manchurian candidate” who “gets paid by China”. After a confusing answer by Biden, Trump said he did not understand, adding, “I don’t think he knows what he said, either”.
There is little evidence that the ill will between the two men has eased in the week since Trump soundly defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to reclaim the presidency, dealing a serious blow to Biden’s agenda and legacy after half a century in public life.
What the rivals said to each other behind closed doors is unclear, and so is what they might say publicly. They were scheduled to have a brief photo op in front of reporters after the meeting ended.
But history suggests that Biden and Trump may treat each other with the courtesy that eluded them during much of the past four years, and certainly during the campaign.
In 2016, after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama invited him to the Oval Office for a surprisingly cordial meeting in which Trump thanked Obama and said he looked forward to receiving his counsel and advice during his presidency.
That did not happen, and the friendly tone that Trump exhibited toward Obama that day was rarely heard again by Democrats during his four years in office. After Biden defeated him in 2020, Trump refused to concede the election and never invited Biden for the traditional meeting in the White House.
It is unlikely that Biden has forgotten that snub (though it is not clear that he wanted to meet with Trump in 2020). But Biden is an institutionalist who has long expressed respect for the trappings and traditions of the White House and the Senate, where he served for 36 years before becoming Obama’s vice president. That is most likely what motivated him to offer Trump the invitation that he did not receive himself.
Former first lady Melania Trump will not attend the White House visit with her husband, according to a person briefed on the plans. Jill Biden, the current first lady, had invited her, in keeping with tradition for presidential spouses. But Melania Trump, who often eschewed the spotlight during Donald Trump’s first term, declined.
-New York Times
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