US president-elect Donald Trump made a triumphant return to Washington on Wednesday, his first trip to the nation’s capital since his election victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
His first stop was to celebrate his victory with House Republicans who greeted him with a standing ovation.
“We won the majority by 7.1 million. We won, which is great because Republicans aren’t supposed to be winning the majority,” he said to them.
Trump then headed to the White House to meet with long-time political rival, outgoing President Joe Biden.
The traditional courtesy of welcoming the president-elect to the Oval Office is one that Trump did not extend when Biden won in 2020.
Biden told the president-elect “congratulations,” adding that he looked “forward to a smooth transition” of power.
In reply, Trump thanked Biden.
“Politics is tough. And it’s, in many cases, not a very nice world. But it is a nice world today and I appreciate it very much,” Trump said.
The Republican president-elect is moving quickly to build his incoming administration, having already announced some members of his new cabinet
Biden insists that he will do everything he can to make the transition to the next Trump administration go smoothly.
White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said Biden is doing this not only because “it is the norm”, but also because it is “the right thing to do for the American people”.