The meeting between President-elect Donald Trump and outgoing President Joe Biden, scheduled for 11:00 AM local time (5:00 PM in Serbia), is being seen as a significant yet informal step in the transition of political power. Trump will officially take office on January 20, 2025, following his inauguration ceremony, according to Voice of America.
Trump is set to meet with Biden at the White House today, just one week after securing the necessary electoral votes for a second term as the Republican candidate. The gathering, while informal, marks an important part of the transition process, which will culminate in Trump’s formal assumption of power in January.
Before he officially assumes office, Trump will briefly reside in the presidential residence at Biden’s invitation.
The meeting follows Biden’s message about facilitating a smooth transition of power. Biden has also emphasized the importance of cooperation between himself and Trump, recognizing their shared role as both predecessor and successor in office.
The invitation extended to Trump also includes his wife, Melania Trump, who will become the future First Lady.
It’s worth noting that a similar meeting between Trump and Biden did not occur after the 2020 election, as Voice of America points out. After his defeat, Trump made claims that the election was stolen in favor of Biden and the Democrats.
Trump subsequently left Washington and did not attend Biden’s inauguration, becoming the first sitting president to skip the event since Andrew Jackson, who avoided Ulysses S. Grant’s inauguration in 1869.
This meeting is not Trump’s first encounter of its kind. After his 2016 victory, Trump held a ninety-minute meeting with then-President Barack Obama in the Oval Office.
While Trump initially offered praise for Obama following their meeting, he later contradicted those remarks with unsubstantiated claims about Obama’s surveillance of his campaign during the 2016 election.
The U.S. political transition process does not officially mandate a meeting between outgoing and incoming presidents, as noted by Voice of America. However, this informal practice has been in place since 1841 when President Martin Van Buren hosted President-elect William Henry Harrison for a dinner at the White House.
