'Welcome back': Joe Biden greets Donald Trump at White House
Washington DC/IBNS: US President Joe Biden Wednesday welcomed President-elect Donald Trump to the White House on Wednesday ending four years of bitter rivalry and marking the start of a smooth transfer of power.
Donald Trump is set to become the 47th US president after registering a win in the recently concluded elections by comfortably beating her opponent Kamala Harris.
"Welcome back," Biden, 81, said as he congratulated the 78-year-old Republican leader in presence of the US media.
Biden also offered brief opening remarks to Trump, whom he has repeatedly labelled as a threat to democracy.
The Democrat leader has already promised a smooth transfer of power for Trump when he takes over the Oval Office in January 2025, which is a sharp contrast to how the Republican reacted following Biden's win 4 years back.
Joe Biden, who decided to opt out of the race after stumbling in his debate with Trump earlier this year making way for Vice President Kamala Harris to fight out the battle, said he was "looking forward to having a smooth transition" and pledged to do "everything we can to make sure you're accommodated."
Trump, whose supporters led a mob attack at the US Capitol in 2021 after he lost the battle with Biden in 2020, sought to strike a gracious tone on his return visit to the White House.
"Politics is tough, and in many cases it's not a very nice world. It is a nice world today and I appreciate it very much," Trump said in the presence of the media.
Donald Trump, who had a career spanning from being a business tycoon to a TV personality, has won back the White House once again in a historic US election, becoming not just the 47th American President but also the oldest POTUS to hold the office during his inauguration on Jan 20.
The 78-year-old's campaign as a Republican nominee for one of the most powerful positions in the world has been a dramatic one, especially after he survived two assassination attempts.