US President Joe Biden will meet with President-elect Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday.
“At the invitation of President Biden, President Biden and President-elect Trump will meet in the Oval Office on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m.,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Such a post-election meeting is traditionally held between the outgoing and incoming presidents after almost every election – Trump did not host Biden when he lost the 2020 election, claiming the election was stolen.
When Barack Obama hosted Trump, they discussed foreign and domestic policy, agreeing to work together to “make the country successful,” as Obama put it. Similarly, when President George W. Bush invited Obama to the Oval Office in 2008, they discussed economic and security issues, while their wives, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama, toured the White House.
Although Biden and Trump will meet on Wednesday, their public encounters are not frequent. They held their first presidential debate in June, during which they discussed the economy, abortion and foreign policy. Biden’s poor performance in the debate ultimately led him to drop out of the White House race in July, after which Kamala Harris took his place as the Democratic nominee.
The two were also seen together on September 11 in New York City, at a ceremony marking the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
Biden’s post-election call to Trump represents a tradition between the outgoing and incoming presidents, which Trump broke in 2020 when he did not host Biden after losing the election.
