President-elect Donald Trump returned to Washington DC on Wednesday to meet with President Joe Biden at the White House to discuss the transition schedule ahead of his inauguration in January 2025.
They shook hands and Biden welcomed Trump to the new administration, showing courtesy that Trump had not extended to him four years ago.
“Politics is tough,” Trump said, adding, “But it’s a nice world today.”
His private jet landed around 9:30 a.m. at the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before getting transported to DC.
This is the first time Trump is returning to the building since he left office in 2021.
Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 elections which led to the former President’s false and angry rhetoric about the election results being stolen.
Not only did he not host the Bidens at the White House breaking tradition but also did not show up at Biden’s swearing-in ceremony. Trump became the second president to do so after Andrew Johnson refused to attend Ulysses S. Grant’s oath ceremony in 1869.
Senate Republicans have gathered on Capitol Hill to pick the chamber’s next majority leader in place of Mitch McConnell. Contenders include Rick Scott, John Thune, and John Cornyn.
The President-elect is also supposed to meet with the new leader.
After House Speaker Mike Johnson introduced him to the cheering crowd, Trump said, “Isn’t it nice to win? It’s nice to win. It’s always nice to win.”
He bragged about his swing state sweep that led to a decisive victory against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris during last week’s elections, emphasizing how many traditional deep-blue Democrat strongholds embraced the red.
“We won it every way, all seven swing states, by a lot,” Trump told those present, CNN reported. He said “Next time, if we go up even a fraction of what we went up,” the right could flip traditionally blue states like California, New York, and New Jersey.
Tesla CEO and tech billionaire Elon Musk joined Trump at the meeting but did not speak.
While addressing the Republicans, Trump thanked Musk profusely while joking that he could not seem to get rid of the Space X founder.
“He loves Mar-a-Lago,” Trump shared.
Musk has been seen at Trump’s Palm Beach resort almost every day since the President-elect’s decisive victory last week. He was also reportedly present in the room when world leaders phoned Trump, including Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Musk has also played a vital role in weighing in on staffing decisions, pushing favorites.
As is tradition, the Bidens had invited both Donald and Melania Trump to the White House.
However, Melania’s Office posted a statement on X, saying that the First Lady-elect would not be attending the meeting on Wednesday.
“Her husband’s return to the Oval Office to commence the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success,” the statement read.
The incoming 47th US president has already declared a number of appointments to his second administration, including John Ratcliffe, his former director of national intelligence, to be the next CIA director, and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense.
Mike Huckabee is Trump’s new ambassador to Israel, Steven Witkoff his special envoy to the Middle East, and William Joseph McGinley his White House Counsel.
Musk and ex-Republican presidential candidate Vivek G. Ramaswamy will head a new “Department of Government Efficiency” or DOGE that will oversee cutting government costs.
Other appointments include South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Lee Zeldin as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Elise Stefanik as the US ambassador to the United Nations, Sen. Marco Rubiop as Secretary of State and Susie Wiles as Chief of Staff in the White House.
GOP leaders are scheduled to cast their first ballots for senate leadership elections around 11:30 a.m. ET, Sen. Mike Lee shared on X.
“We’re about 90 minutes into the Senate GOP conference. We will likely cast the first round of ballots in the Republican leader race sometime in the next 30 minutes, after the speeches from the three candidates (and those nominating and seconding them) conclude,” he said.
