Wednesday was all about Donald Trump and that’s just the way he likes it.
The president-elect arrived triumphantly in Washington DC on Wednesday, landing at Joint Base Andrews and taking a motorcade to the capital, where he received a thunderous welcome from his party, followed by a return to the Oval Office.
The scene was in stark contrast to the way Trump left the White House four years ago: depressed and defeated, insisting he was the real winner of the 2020 election and refusing to meet with his successor Joe Biden.
But after the bitter pill of defeat, he was now tasting the sweetness of victory.
A hero’s welcome awaited him at a Washington hotel as House Republicans cheered as he addressed them.
Lawmakers took to social media to thank him for coming, posting flattering words and pictures from the meeting.
Spokesman Mike Johnson declared of Trump: “He is the comeback king.”
Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, sat in the audience and watched as Trump took in the applause.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden greet President-elect Donald Trump upon his arrival at the White House
President Joe Biden later greeted Trump like a visiting head of state, welcoming him into the Diplomatic Room of the White House and escorting him down the colonnade to the Oval Office.
Biden showed Trump around his old haunt and pointed out the changes he had made. One object looked familiar: the Resolute Desk. Biden, like Trump, chose to use the enormous wooden desk that was a gift from Queen Victoria to the United States.
The men met for two hours, with only their top advisers, Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and Trump’s incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles, at their sides.
The atmosphere was cozy with a fire burning in the fireplace. Some of the country’s greatest presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, watched from portraits on the wall.
Trump came prepared with a list of seven questions to ask Biden.
The meeting was friendly, cordial and substantive, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
“It was a substantial meeting and an exchange of ideas,” he said, adding that the leaders discussed domestic and foreign policy, government financing and a peaceful transition of power.
The day just got better for Trump. After he left the White House, Republicans consolidated their control in Washington when enough elections were called to hand them control of the House of Representatives. They had secured the Senate on election night.
And the conversation about Trump continued as he announced a series of controversial Cabinet appointments, including former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence and Rep. Matt Gaetz as his attorney general.
But the biggest prize of all for the incoming president was his return to the Oval Office.
President Joe Biden walks to the Oval Office with President-elect Donald Trump through the White House colonnade.
President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office
“We really had a very good meeting,” Trump said. New York Post after having finished.
Only the first minutes of the meeting were open to the press. During it the two men were cordial. They shook hands. They called each other by their first names.
“I think the length of the meeting indicates that they had a deep conversation on a number of topics,” Jean-Pierre said. “But almost two hours they said says a lot about how the meeting went.”
‘It was kind, it was substantial. And I think that’s the important thing. “And what we’re showing the American people is how this is done, how a peaceful transition of power is achieved, what it looks like and what it leads by example, and that’s pretty essential,” he added.
Trump committed to a peaceful transition process, which is very different from how he handled it four years ago, when he falsely claimed he won the 2020 election.
“It’s going to be as smooth as possible and I really appreciate that, Joe,” he told Biden.
Neither of them responded to journalists’ questions. At one point, Biden looked at Trump, who shook his head to the side and gave a slight shrug, but did not respond.
Trump told The New York Post that he and Biden discussed two issues on which they disagreed, including the war in Ukraine and Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
“I asked him for his opinion and he gave it to me,” Trump said. ‘Also, we talk a lot about the Middle East. I wanted to know your opinion on where we are and what you think. And he gave them to me, he was very kind.’
Jean-Pierre declined to say whether the 2020 election was discussed, saying the White House was looking “forward.”
It’s unclear how long Trump’s magnanimous attitude will last. He has mocked Biden on numerous occasions and questioned the president’s mental capabilities.
Four years ago, Trump left Washington before Biden’s inauguration on January 20, 2021, becoming the first president to skip his successor’s swearing-in since Andrew Johnson.
When he won the 2016 election and entered the Oval Office at the time, Trump seemed nervous and unusually subdued, calling then-President Barack Obama “a good man” and the meeting “a great honor.” Trump had previously questioned whether Obama was even American and demanded to see his birth certificate.
Shortly after that meeting, Trump returned to his insults.
But on Wednesday, Trump seemed calm and, frankly, back home.
He knows the place well because he has lived there for four years.
President Joe Biden shakes hands with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office
Trump and Biden sat in front of the current president’s favorite paintings of his predecessors and busts of civil rights leaders.
Melania Trump was absent and did not meet with Jill Biden. Traditionally, the outgoing first lady hosts her successor for tea at the residence while the meeting takes place in the Oval Office.
Jill Biden joined her husband in greeting Trump upon his arrival and handed him a handwritten letter of congratulations to Melania. He also promised the team’s willingness to help with the transition.
The two men plan to stay in touch, Jean-Pierre said.
And Trump told the New York Post that he and Biden plan to meet again before the inauguration, which Biden has committed to attending.
“The Oval Office is so beautiful and I certainly look forward to (going back),” he said.
Trump and Biden last met two months ago at a 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York on September 11.
Before that, their last meeting was the June 27 televised debate, which was catastrophic for Biden’s campaign and ultimately led to him dropping out of the race.