WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will welcome President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday for a traditional post-election meeting, the White House announced Saturday.
Such meetings are customary between the outgoing and incoming presidents, and are also intended to mark the beginning of the peaceful transfer of power under American democracy.
However, after the 2020 election in which President Trump lost re-election, then-Republican President Trump did not accept Democrat Biden’s sit-in.
Trump is seeking the presidency again after four years and defeated Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday. Trump is the first former president to return to power since Grover Cleveland won the White House in the 1892 election.
The White House said Mr. Biden called Mr. Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him and invited him to meet in the Oval Office. Their meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m.
In his speech Thursday, Biden said he promised Trump he would “direct the entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition of power.” That’s what the American people deserve. ”
Asked about Trump on Saturday as he left a church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he was spending the weekend, Biden said: “I’ll see you on Wednesday.”
___
Associated Press writer Moriah Balingit in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, contributed to this report.
