Joe Biden will meet President-elect Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, after the US leader pledged an orderly transfer of power back to the Republican whom he defeated in the election just four years ago.
Trump—who never conceded his 2020 loss—achieved a historic return to the presidency in the 5 November election, marking over a decade of US politics dominated by his hardline right-wing stance.
Biden will join the rare club of US presidents handing power back to a former White House occupant, a scenario last seen in the 19th century when President Benjamin Harrison transferred power back to Grover Cleveland.
The Democrat is set to meet Trump in the Oval Office at 11:00 am (1600 GMT) on Wednesday, the White House announced on Saturday, as the clock ticks down to Trump’s return to office in January.
The 78-year-old former reality TV star won by wider margins than before, despite a criminal conviction, two impeachments while in office, and warnings from his former chief of staff labelling him a “fascist.”
Exit polls showed that voters’ primary concerns were the economy and inflation, which had surged under Biden in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
Biden, who withdrew from the presidential race in July over concerns about his capacity to continue at the age of 81, called Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him on his victory.
In a solemn televised address, Biden urged Americans to “lower the temperature” in contrast to Trump’s refusal to accept his 2020 defeat.
Trump has already started to assemble his second administration, naming campaign manager Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff.
She is the first woman to hold this high-profile position and is the Republican’s first appointee to his incoming administration.
“Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected,” Trump said of the formidable 67-year-old Florida native. “She will work tirelessly to Make America Great Again.”
The frontrunners for roles in Trump’s 2.0 administration reflect the substantial policy changes he is likely to bring.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent figure in the anti-vaccine movement, has been promised a “significant role” in health care by Trump. He told NBC News on Wednesday, “I’m not going to take away anybody’s vaccines.”
The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, may also be in line for a position overseeing government spending after the SpaceX, Tesla, and X chief, who leans strongly to the right, gave Trump his enthusiastic backing.
Trump is expected to dismantle many of Biden’s key policies. He returns to the White House as a climate change sceptic, likely to dismantle Biden’s environmental policies with his pledge to “drill, baby, drill” for oil.
