President-elect Donald Trump thanked President Joe Biden for ensuring a smooth transition and said politics is ‘tough’ as they held a marathon two-hour meeting at the White House after the Republican’s defeat of Kamala Harris.
DONALD TRUMP AT THE WHITE HOUSE
Biden, 81, congratulated the president-elect and said ‘welcome back’ when they sat down for what appeared to be amicable talks in the Oval Office.
The meeting, which many had expected would be tense and awkward, started off cozily with the two men seated before a roaring fire.
Trump wore a red tie and Biden sported a maroon one.
In a short glimpse the public got the atmosphere seemed cordial, with each man calling the other by their first name.
They shook hands. Harris, Biden’s vice president who Trump defeated, was not present nor was she mentioned.
Biden was in the unusual position of greeting the man who both preceded him, and will replace him, in the White House.
HOW TRUMP WON THE ELECTION
Trump won in a landslide on November 5, taking the popular vote and Electoral College, and sweeping the seven key swing states.
‘Well Mr. President-elect, Donald, congratulations,’ Biden said. ‘I look forward to having a smooth transition.’
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Trump thanked him and adopted a noticeably different tone than he had on the campaign trail.
‘Politics is tough,’ the president-elect said. ‘In many cases it is not a nice world, but it is a nice world today.’
Trump said of the transition process: ‘It will be as smooth as it can get and I very much appreciate that, Joe.’
Melania Trump was not with her husband. But first lady Jill Biden joined President Biden in greeting Trump upon his arrival to the White House.
She gave the president-elect a handwritten letter of congratulations for Melania, which also expressed her team’s readiness to assist with the transition.
