President-elect Donald Trump and President Joe Biden met Wednesday in the Oval Office during Trump’s first post-election visit to the capital—a trip that included Elon Musk, as the billionaire has played an outsized role in influencing Trump’s second administration.
President Joe Biden shakes hands with President-elect Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval ... [+]
Trump met with Biden just after 11 a.m. Wednesday in the Oval Office, marking his first time there since he left the White House on Jan. 20, 2021, after Biden’s election and the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
Trump told Biden “politics is tough” at the start of the meeting and thanked him for a smooth transition, to which the president responded “you’re welcome.”
Before heading to the White House, Trump addressed Republican leaders in a closed-door gathering, where he teased that he could run for a third term, telling them, “I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say he’s so good we got to figure something else out,” the Associated Press reported (the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution limits presidents to two terms).
“It’s always nice to win,” Trump said, rehashing the GOP’s Election Day victories, after the party regained the majority in the Senate and is on the brink of retaining control of the House.
Musk—appointed by Trump on Tuesday to lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” alongside Vivek Ramaswamy—has been a fixture over the past week at Mar-A-Lago, where Trump decamped to after winning Tuesday’s election.
Biden congratulated Trump and said he was looking forward to having a "smooth transition," to which Trump replied that "politics is tough and it's in many cases not a nice world, but it is a nice world today and I appreciate very much a transition that's so smooth, it will be as smooth as it can get."
House Republicans will hold their elections for Senate and House leaders on Wednesday. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is expected to be re-elected. In the Senate, where Republicans reclaimed the majority last week, GOP Sens. Rick Scott, Fla., John Thune, S.D., and John Cornyn, Texas, are competing to fill Sen. Mitch McConnell’s role. Trump’s allies, including Musk, have endorsed Scott, considered an insurgent candidate as Thune and Cornyn have long been seen as McConnell’s most likely successors. Trump has not endorsed a candidate in the Senate race.
Trump did not invite Biden to the White House for the traditional transition meeting after the 2020 election.
Trump returns to Washington after his resounding defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris in last week’s election. He has spent the past week in Palm Beach meeting with his presidential transition team, allies and business leaders to shape his policies and White House roles. Trump has announced a string of high-profile appointments, most recently nominating Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary and picking Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency.” He tapped former National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe as CIA director, GOP lawyer William Joseph McGinley as White House counsel, Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., as national security adviser, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary.
Trump’s Cabinet: Here Are His Picks For Key Roles—Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, Pete Hegseth And More (Forbes)
Senate Leadership Race: Here’s What To Know As Trump Allies Back Rick Scott (Forbes)