WASHINGTON − He’s not moving in just yet, but President-elect Donald Trump is returning briefly to the White House on Wednesday.
Trump will meet with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office just one week after defeating Vice President Kamala Harris to win a second term as president. The meeting between the outgoing president and his successor is an awkward post-election ritual that could be even more disconcerting than usual because of the animosity between the two men.
Biden has spent months calling Trump a threat to democracy. Trump has repeatedly called Biden the worst president ever.
But with the election behind them, Biden phoned Trump last week to congratulate him on his win and invite him to Washington – a courtesy that Trump refused to extend to him after Biden defeated him in 2020.
Complicating matters further, Biden had wanted another four years as president but changed his mind after his last face-to-face meeting with Trump – on a debate stage in Atlanta in June. The debate went so poorly for Biden that he abandoned his reelection campaign a month later, and Harris stepped in as the Democratic nominee.
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Trump is also set to meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Wednesday as they hold elections for some of Congress’ pivotal leadership roles.
Keep up with live updates from the USA TODAY Network.
The meeting between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is underway.
The meeting began in the Oval Office at 11:07 a.m., according to the White House.
−Michael Collins
President-elect Donald Trump is filling out his White House leadership team, announcing deputy chief of staff roles Wednesday for top campaign aides Stephen Miller, James Blair, Dan Scavino and Taylor Budowich.
Described as “one of President Trump’s longest serving and most trusted aides,” Scavino will have the title of deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Miller will be deputy chief of staff for policy and Homeland Security adviser, while Blair will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs. Budowich will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel.
Miller and Scavino served in Trump’s first administration. Miller has been one of the chief architects for Trump’s immigration policies. Trump earlier appointed campaign chief Susie Wiles as his chief of staff in the next administration.
−Zac Anderson
Melania Trump is skipping the tea.
A day after it became clear that Donald Trump would return as president after his decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden invited the president-elect and his wife to the White House.
Donald Trump accepted the invitation the same day, saying through his spokesperson that he “looked forward to the meeting.” Melania Trump remained silent.
On Wednesday, she announced she won’t be taking tea with Jill Biden.
“Her husband’s return to the Oval Office to commence the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success,” Melania Trump’s office said in a statement on X.
– Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
Biden’s message during Wednesday’s meeting with Trump is simple, according to the White House: This is what a peaceful transfer of power looks like.
“He wants to show the American people that the system works, to trust the institutions, to trust that the norms do matter here,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday. “He is showing by leadership what a peaceful transition looks like.”
The meeting comes four years after Trump refused to concede his 2020 election loss to Biden and instead lobbed wild and baseless conspiracy theories to try to overturn the election. Trump’s efforts culminated with the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to stop Congress from counting the electoral votes.
– Joey Garrison
Biden warned Americans repeatedly this year that Trump is a “threat to democracy” after Trump tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The president will now get the chance to say whether he still believes that’s the case when he meets with Trump late Wednesday morning in the Oval Office.
That question is almost certain to be shouted among reporters who will be in the room briefly before the meeting gets underway.
While Biden was at his beach home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, over the weekend, he was posed the question and deflected. “I’m going to see him on Wednesday,” Biden said in response.
During a post-election speech last week from the White House Rose Garden, Biden told supporters: “We’re going to be OK, but we need to stay engaged.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, when asked last week whether Biden still believes Trump is a threat to democracy, said: “What we are trying to do is respect what the American people decided. We’re not trying to create any division here.”
– Joey Garrison
A meeting between the president-elect and the current president isn’t the only post-election tradition in American politics. For more than a century, it has been customary for the first lady to host tea with her successor.
So will Melania Trump meet with First Lady Jill Biden on Wednesday?
Don’t count on it.
Several news outlets have reported the former and future first lady will skip Jill Biden’s tea invitation, bucking White House tradition for the second time in four years. The Trumps did not host the Bidens in the White House after Joe Biden won the presidency in 2020.
– Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy and Michael Collins
USA TODAY will be live streaming coverage of Donald Trump’s visit to Washington. Watch here.
– Kinsey Crowley
Trump will meet with Biden in the Oval Office on Wednesday at 11 a.m., according to a press statement from the White House.
In a call congratulating Trump on his win last week, Biden expressed his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition and emphasized the importance of working to unite the country, the White House said.
– Kinsey Crowley