President Joe Biden welcomed President-elect Donald Trump to the White House Wednesday, marking Trump's first visit to the complex since the end of his first term in 2021.
"Donald, congratulations," Biden said as he shook hands with his predecessor and successor. "Looking forward to having, like we said, a smooth transition, do everything we can to make sure you're accommodated, what you need and we're gonna get a chance to talk about some of that today. Welcome."
"Thank you very much. Politics is tough and it's in 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," Trump responded. "It'll be as smooth as it can get and I very much appreciate that."
Unlike in 2016 when Trump met with then-President Barack Obama, there is not a simultaneous meeting between the outgoing and income first ladies. Melania Trump's office confirmed that she will not be meeting with first lady Jill Biden.
A spokesperson for the first lady said that she joined President Biden in welcoming President-elect Trump to the White House and gave him a handwritten letter to congratulate her and offer assistance with the transition.
Wednesday's meeting revives a customary tradition of the outgoing administration welcoming the incoming president after the election. In 2020 after President Biden defeated Trump, no such meeting occurred as Trump contested the results of the election.
Trump did, however, continue the tradition of leaving behind a letter for the next president on inauguration day.
Wednesday's meeting marks one of only a handful of occasions that Biden and Trump have met since the 2020 election. The two participated in a June debate that ultimately was so disastrous for President Biden that he dropped out of the presidential race nearly a month later.
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More recently, Biden and Trump shook hands at a 9/11 commemoration event in New York City.
The two also exchanged a phone call in July after a gunman tried to assassinate Trump at a Pennsylvania rally. President Biden talked to Trump last week after the election.
Despite handing over the reins of power to someone who will attempt to undo many of his initiatives, President Biden has encouraged Democrats to accept the results of the election.
"I assured him that I would direct my entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition. That’s what the American people deserve," President Biden said last week.
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The meeting between Obama and Trump in 2016 was well-received by Trump.
"This was a meeting that was going to last for maybe 10 or 15 minutes, and we were just going to get to know each other," Trump said in 2016. "We had never met each other. I have great respect. The meeting lasted for almost an hour and a half. And it could have -- as far as I'm concerned, it could have gone on for a lot longer."
