Nov. 13 (UPI) — President Joe Biden is welcoming President-elect Donald Trump to the White House Wednesday, a tradition Trump balked in 2020.
The ceremonial visit will be Trump’s first to the White House since January 2021 when he left office. Biden extended the invitation last Wednesday after Trump won the election. It has long been part of the peaceful transfer of power, demonstrating civility between outgoing and incoming administrations.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a briefing Tuesday that Biden invited Trump to reignite this tradition because “he believes in the norms.”
“The American people deserve this. They deserve a peaceful transfer of power,” Jean-Pierre said. “They deserve a smooth transition. And that’s what you’re going to see.”
In October, Biden said he intends to attend the inauguration regardless of the winner of the election.
Trump was welcomed to the White House by President Barack Obama two days after winning the 2016 election. He spoke highly of his time spent with Obama afterward.
“This was a meeting that was going to last for maybe 10 or 15 minutes, and we were just going to get to know each other,” Trump said. “We had never met each other. I have great respect. The meeting lasted for almost an hour and a half. And it could have — as far as I’m concerned, it could have gone on for a lot longer.”
Trump did not extend the same courtesy to Biden in 2020 as he continued to make unfounded claims about the results of the election being illegitimate. He did not attend Biden’s inauguration.
