WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, longtime political rivals, met yesterday for the first time since Trump won back the White House last week and both promised a smooth transfer of power in January.
The two American leaders sat side by side before a roaring fire in the Oval Office, a peaceful scene that belied tensions between them.
The meeting ended after roughly two hours, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said.
“It was a substantive meeting,” she told reporters. “They discussed important national security and domestic policy issues facing the nation and the world.”
Biden said that support for Ukraine was in the United States’ national security interest because a strong and stable Europe would keep America from being dragged into war, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters. Trump has pledged to end the Russia-Ukraine war quickly without explaining how.
Trump told the New York Post he and Biden “talked very much about the Middle East” during their conversation. “I wanted to know his views on where we are,” Trump said. “And he gave them to me, he was very gracious,” the Post quoted Trump as saying.
A Democrat, Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election but dropped out of the 2024 race in July after a disastrous debate with the Republican Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris became the candidate but lost to Trump.
“We’re looking forward to having, like we said, a smooth transition, do everything we can to make sure you’re accommodated, what you need,” Biden said. “Welcome, welcome back.”
“Politics is tough, and it’s many cases not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today, and I appreciate very much a transition that’s so smooth it’ll be as smooth as it can get, and I very much appreciate that, Joe,” said Trump, who takes over on Jan. 20.
Reporters shouted questions but were quickly ushered out.
The traditional courtesy of welcoming the president-elect into the Oval Office is one that Trump did not extend when Biden won in 2020.
