DONALD Trump shook hands with Joe Biden at the White House in his first meeting with the president since his dominating election victory.
Despite the pair’s bitter rivalry in the past, Biden congratulated Trump and exchanged a smile and a joke as the president said “welcome back” to his predecessor.
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Trump touched down in the nation’s capital at around 10 am on Wednesday, accompanied by his seemingly new unadopted family member, tech tycoon Elon Musk.
Musk, who was a major backer of Trump in the election, and ex-Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy were named to the newly established Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, an inside joke based on Dogecoin, by the president-elect.
In his meeting with Biden, Trump thanked the Democratic incumbent for helping to make the transition so “smooth” and added that “politics is tough,” a reference to the bruising election campaign.
“But it is a nice world today,” Trump added.
After a scrum of reporters tried to ask the two questions, Biden looked at Trump, who moved his head to the side and appeared to shrug.
The pair did not answer any questions from the gathered journalists.
The rest of the closed-door meeting lasted just under two hours before Trump left the White House.
SENATOR MAJORITY LEADER NAMED
The meeting is part of a peaceful transition of power when Trump takes office, with Biden insisting he will do everything he can to make the shift to the next administration go smoothly.
Prior to his White House meeting with the president, Trump and Musk met with Senate Republicans, who today elected South Dakota Senator John Thune as the upper chamber’s leader next year.
Thune will now replace the retiring Senator Mitch McConnell as the top leader in the GOP.
The South Dakota senator, 63, is revered among his fellow Senate Republicans for his humble approach.
Republicans regained control of the upper chamber after Election Day and are also projected to remain the majority party in the House of Representatives.
DON’S BIG NIGHT
Wednesday marked Trump’s first public appearance since addressing supporters on the night of November 5 from his election headquarters in West Palm Beach, Florida, when it became clear he had won.
Shortly after arriving in DC, Trump received a standing ovation from House Republican leaders during a conference at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill.
Donald Trump’s Cabinet Picks
In the days following his dominant Election Day victory, President-elect Donald Trump has begun carving out his future administation.
Here’s a list of Trump’s confirmed cabinet picks:
- Susie Wiles – White House Chief of Staff
- Stephen Miller – Deputy Chief of Staff
- Bill McGinley – White House counsel
- Tom Homan, ex-ICE acting director, – “Border Czar”
- Elise Stefanik, Republican New York representative – Ambassador to the United Nations
- Lee Zeldin, former New York representative – Environmental Protection Agency administrator
- Marco Rubio, Republican Florida senator – Secretary of State
- Kristi Noem, Republican South Dakota governor – Homeland Security Secretary
- Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor – Ambassador to Israel
- John Ratcliffe, former Texas representative – CIA director
- Pete Hegseth, US Army veteran – Secretary of Defense
- Mike Waltz, Republican Florida representative – National Security Advisor
- Steven Witkoff, real estate investor – Middle East envoy
- Elon Musk & Vivek Ramaswamy – Department of Government Efficiency
- Tim Scott, Republican South Carolina senator – Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee
- Tulsi Gabbard, former Hawaii representative – Director of National Intelligence
- Matt Gaetz, Republican Florida representative – attorney general
“It’s always nice to win,” Trump said, acknowledging his thumping victory over Democrat Kamala Harris last week.
Trump secured all seven swing states to sweep to power, winning 312 electoral college votes to Harris’ 226.
He also boasted about the Republicans’ promising showing in deep blue states such as New York, New Jersey, and California, declaring that victory in the Golden State in the future would be “very doable.”
Introducing the president-elect, House Speaker Mike Johnson called Trump the “Comeback King,” a reference to Bill Clinton’s “Comeback Kid” nickname he gave himself following his unexpected showing in the 1992 New Hampshire presidential primary.
Addressing House Republicans, Trump said his team had “worked with a lot of you to get you in, and you helped me, and you helped me too.”
The president-elect described the 2024 election as the “most important in 120 years,” and joked about a third term.
“I suspect I won’t be running again unless you do something else unless you say he’s so good we’ve got to figure something out,” he said.
One delighted Republican, Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas, wore a Make America Great Again tie with matching gold Trump sneakers.
Following the speech, he told reporters the atmosphere was electric inside the room and said the party must put aside the chaos of recent years and unify behind Trump.
“If Donald Trump says, ‘Jump three feet high and scratch your head,’ we all jump three feet high and scratch our head,” he said.
Trump was accompanied by the Vice President-elect, Ohio Senator JD Vance.
The future First Lady, Melania Trump, was absent from Wednesday’s White House meeting.
Her office put out a statement on X saying that she would not be accompanying her husband to meet with Jill Biden but did not give an explanation.
Eight years ago, Melania met with Michelle Obama ahead of Trump’s first term.
However, in 2020, Trump did not invite Biden to the White House following his defeat in the election four years ago.
Wednesday was the first face-to-face meeting between Trump and Biden since the president’s disastrous debate performance in June.
Biden’s performance triggered him to end his reelection efforts a month later.
During the debate, the pair exchanged bitter barbs, with Trump claiming the US had become a “third-world country” under Biden, referring to him as a “Manchurian candidate.”
For his part, Biden slammed Trump as a “convicted felon” with the “morals of an alleycat.”
ANALYSIS: Trump is moving fast, breaking things – and Elon is just the start
by Harry Cole, Political Editor of The Sun
PEOPLE joked about Elon Musk joining the Trump administration – and lo and behold, he’s actually done it.
He’s not been given a formal government job – and won’t be in the White House – but he’s setting up the Department of Government Efficiency.
That is DOGE for short – and internet fans will know this is a small fluffy dog meme, of which Musk is a fan.
Again, everyone thought he was joking about the name – and now he’s gone and done it.
Musk will lead this efficiency drive, looking at where government savings can be made.
He will be applying the sort of private sector efficiency that he is so famed for at Tesla and at SpaceX.
This is a guy who puts reusable rockets in the air and grabs them out of the sky with giant chopsticks.
He knows what he is talking about.
Left-wing media have sneered at Musk since he backed Trump as they see the Republican as toxic.
But Musk is clearly an incredibly intelligent guy who is going to devote his time and resources to the United States.
It is clear Trump is moving fast – and he is breaking things.
This is his second term and don’t forget he can’t be reelected again, he’s only got one more chance to do things in a very different way.
When he came into office in 2016, there was a bit of a rush to make lots of appointments.
He is the first to admit he chose some bad bad ones.
But this time around it’s going to be a very different presidency – starting with bringing in Musk.
Trump is sending a signal: “Business as usual is over.”
Accompanying Trump as he arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday were Tesla boss Musk and Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz.
TRUMP’S PICKS
Later on Wednesday, Trump tagged Gaetz as his attorney general.
News of the pick might be considered shocking due to Gaetz’s controversial reputation.
The disgraced congressman’s ex-girlfriend previously alleged he was involved in crimes related to sex trafficking and obstruction of justice.
In 2023, the Justice Department decided not to charge him after a yearslong federal sex-trafficking probe.
In September, Gaetz told the House Ethics Committee he would “no longer voluntarily participate” in another probe that was investigating him for sexual misconduct and drug misuse.
He repeatedly denied allegations of wrongdoing. The DOJ hasn’t charged him with any crime.
Gaetz wrote on X on Wednesday that it will be an “honor” to serve on Trump’s staff.
Meanwhile, Musk responded to his new role by pledging that DOGE “will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste, which is a lot of people.”
He also floated the idea of DOGE merchandise, describing it by sharing a series of fire emojis.
Trump has announced several other key posts in his second administration, including South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security and Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense.
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