Donald Trump will make a triumphant return to the White House to meet with President Joe Biden on November 13. It will be the Republican's first visit since leaving amid scandals nearly four years ago, AFP reports.
Trump's meeting with Biden comes at a time when he is quickly naming his team, which includes the world's richest man, Elon Musk, as the head of a new group aimed at cutting government waste.
The Democrat invited his arch-rival to a meeting in the Oval Office, though the president-elect never extended Biden the same courtesy. Trump has consistently refused to concede his 2020 election loss.
The 81-year-old Biden is expected to call for a smooth transition of power at the 11 a.m. meeting and push for continued support for Ukraine
"He believes in norms. He believes in our institutions. The American people deserve that. They deserve a peaceful transition of power," White House press secretary Carine Jean-Pierre said in response to a question about why Biden had invited Trump.
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated that Biden will discuss the most important foreign policy issues with Trump, including US support for Kiev against Russia, which Trump has criticised.
"The president will have an opportunity to explain to President Trump how he sees things, where they stand, and to talk to President Trump about how President Trump thinks," Sullivan told CBS on November 10.
The meeting, however, could prove a bitter pill to swallow for Biden, who has described Trump as a threat to democracy and ran for the presidency against him. A disastrous performance in the presidential debate, however, forced the Democrat to drop out of the race in July.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Trump may also visit the U.S. Capitol, but those plans have not been finalized. That's the building a crowd of his supporters stormed in 2021 to try to reverse his election loss.
It looks like Trump's party will take over both houses of Congress and cement its extraordinary comeback. | BGNES
