US President Joe Biden will host President-elect Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday (November 13) for a meeting aimed at demonstrating a smooth transition between the two administrations. Trump’s team has yet to sign documents initiating the transition process.
Biden will welcome former and future presidents to the White House, a traditional courtesy for outgoing presidents that was not extended to Biden when Trump, a Republican, won in 2020.
Biden initially ran against Trump in the 2024 election before dropping out and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. “Biden believes in norms, he believes in our institutions, he believes in the peaceful transfer of power,” White House press secretary Karina Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday about Biden’s decision to invite Trump. “This is the norm. This is That’s what should happen.”
But Jean-Pierre declined to reveal the main points of discussion before the meeting.
Biden promised a “peaceful and orderly” transfer of power. Agence France-Presse pointed out that for Biden, Trump’s visit will be a “humiliation” because he knows that most of his political achievements may be erased by the team being assembled by his opponent. For Donald Trump, a meeting with Joe Biden will have a strong “sense of revenge.” After defeating Democratic candidate Harris, he will return to Washington in a victorious manner and meet with current President Biden in the Oval Office of the White House.
According to the Associated Press, Biden and Trump have sharply criticized each other for years, and their respective teams have taken very different policy positions on everything from climate change to Russia to trade. Biden, 81, has painted Trump as a threat to democracy, while Trump, 78, has painted Biden as incompetent.
Trump’s trip to Washington on Wednesday is expected to include a morning meeting with Republican lawmakers and House Speaker Mike Johnson before a meeting between the current and future presidents at 11 a.m. ET.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is expected to accompany Trump to a House of Representatives meeting with Republicans, according to people familiar with the matter. It is unknown in what capacity Musk will attend the meeting, but he was nominated by Biden on Tuesday to lead the Department of Government Effectiveness.
The report pointed out that although Biden intended to use the meeting to demonstrate continuity, the transition itself has been partially stalled.
According to the White House, the Trump team has announced some members of the new presidential cabinet, but has not yet signed agreements for office space and government equipment, as well as access to government officials, facilities and information.
Brian Vance, a spokesman for the Trump transition team, said of the transfer of power laws: “Trump-Vance transition lawyers continue to work with Biden-Harris administration lawyers on the Presidential Transition Act concept constructive engagement on all agreements.”
In addition to meeting with federal agencies, Biden and Trump are likely to discuss a variety of topics, including foreign policy.
The outgoing president is likely to urge Trump to support Ukraine in its war with Russia. U.S. support for Kyiv has been called into question after Trump’s victory over Harris last week, with Trump promising a swift end to the war but without explaining how.
This will be the first meeting between the two men since their June debate. It was Biden’s poor performance at that debate that heightened concerns among fellow Democrats about his age and led him to drop out of the race. Harris became the Democratic nominee and her campaign was shortened and ultimately failed.
