After Republican Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, Democratic incumbent Joe Biden welcomed his former opponent to the White House on Wednesday. The meeting in the Oval Office, the president’s office, is scheduled for 11 a.m. local time (5 p.m. CET). Before that, Trump wants to meet with leading Republicans in Congress.
Biden, 81, called Trump, 78, shortly after the election, congratulated him on his victory and invited him to the White House. This is part of the usual way of dealing with a change of power in the USA. Trump, however, moved away from such conventions in 2020. The Republican, who has not yet admitted his election defeat, not only did not invite Biden to the White House, but also stayed away from his inauguration.
Rare meeting between Biden and Trump
Wednesday’s meeting is one of the rare face-to-face encounters between Biden and Trump. The two last faced each other on stage at the end of June during a television debate during the election campaign, and shortly afterwards Biden withdrew from the presidential race. On September 11th, the two took part in a memorial event in New York, but there was no major exchange there.
