Donald Trump and Joseph Biden, the newly elected and outgoing American presidents, met at the White House - a week after the Republican candidate and former head of state won the required number of electoral votes for a second presidential term.
They spoke briefly before the meeting scheduled behind the closed doors of the Oval Office.
"President-elect and former president, welcome and congratulations," Biden told Trump in front of reporters covering the event, for which the president-elect thanked him.
"I'm hoping, as we said, for a smooth transition. We'll make sure we provide everything you need. We'll have a chance to talk about some of the details today... Welcome," were Biden's words.
Trump responded by saying that the circumstances in politics are difficult.
"It's often not a pleasant world. But today that's not the case and I'm very grateful for that. The transition will go as smoothly as possible and I appreciate that very much," Trump told Biden in a brief conversation before their meeting behind the closed doors of the Oval Office.
"You're welcome," Biden shot back.
Their meeting is interpreted as one of the informal steps in the transition of political power, which Trump will formally take over on January 20, 2025 after the inauguration ceremony.
Thus, Trump, before formally assuming power, stayed in the presidential residence at Biden's invitation.
"He believes in norms, institutions and a peaceful transfer of power," White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said Tuesday of the outgoing president's decision to meet with Trump.
The meeting was organized after the message of the outgoing president that he will enable a smooth transition of power. Biden emphasized the importance of cooperation with Trump, his predecessor and successor in the presidential office. The purpose, as he pointed out, is for the country to remain united in times of challenge.
Biden's invitation was also valid for Trump's wife, the future first lady of the United States of America (USA) Melania Trump, who, however, was not present.
Over the past years, Biden and Trump have exchanged harsh criticism. They represent different positions on key political issues that include the economy, security, migration, as well as foreign policy.
In public, Biden presented Trump as a threat to democracy, and Trump presented Biden as incapable of performing the presidential function.
Their meeting takes place at the moment of the transition of political power, the process during which the newly elected president of the USA takes over the administration from his predecessor. The process should be completed by the formal inauguration of the elected president - when the new administration takes office.
The fact that a similar meeting between Trump and Biden did not take place after the 2020 election makes this particular case particularly interesting. After his defeat four years ago, Trump made baseless claims that the election was rigged in favor of Biden and the Democrats.
Then he left Washington and did not attend Biden's inauguration. He thus became the first president to do so since Andrew Jackson, who in 1869 avoided the inauguration of Julius Grant.
Also, this is not the first time that Donald Trump has participated in a similar meeting. Eight years ago, after winning the 2016 election, he had a ninety-minute meeting in the Oval Office with then-outgoing President Barack Obama. After the meeting, Trump made a series of praises for Obama, which he neutralized a few months later with unproven claims that the former president wiretapped him ahead of the 2016 election.
During the previous decades, the meetings between the elected and outgoing presidents were friendly, sometimes tense, and sometimes a combination of the two.
Officially, the political transition process does not include their meetings. It is not recorded that the first American president George Washington held a meeting with John Adams - who was elected after him. Adams did not contact or attend Thomas Jefferson's 1801 inauguration.
The informal practice was established when, in 1841, outgoing President Martin Van Buren hosted newly elected William Henry Harrison for dinner at the White House.
In more recent history, Republican George W. Bush welcomed Barack Obama in 2008.
Eight years earlier - Bush Jr. met with outgoing President Bill Clinton - who defeated his father George W. Bush Sr. in the 1992 presidential race.
The epilogue of the 2028 presidential elections will show whether the tradition will continue, which will undoubtedly be revived by the meeting between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
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