DONALD Trump has arrived in Washington DC for his first meeting with Joe Biden since winning the presidential election.
The president-elect touched down in the capital area shortly before 10 am Eastern accompanied by Elon Musk.
Donald Trump has arrived in Washington DC for his meeting with Joe BidenReuters
He was accompanied by X and Tesla boss Elon MuskReuters
APTrump was given a standing ovation by Republicans at a DC hotel reception[/caption]
The Tesla and X boss arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to discuss the transition of power.
Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz was also among the passengers who got off Trump’s private plane.
Wednesday marked Trump’s first public appearance since addressing supporters on Tuesday night from his election headquarters in West Palm Beach Florida, when it became clear he had won.
Shortly after arriving in DC, Trump received a standing ovation from House Republican leaders during a conference at a Washington Hotel.
“It’s always nice to win,” Trump said, acknowledging his thumping victory over Democrat Kamala Harris last week.
Trump secured all seven swing states to sweep to power, winning 312 electoral college votes to Harris’ 226.
He also boasted about the Republicans’ promising showing in deep blue states such as New York, New Jersey, and California, declaring that victory in the Golden State in the future would be “very doable.”
Introducing the president-elect, House Speaker Mike Johnson called Trump the “Comeback King,” a reference to Bill Clinton’s “Comeback Kid” nickname earned following his 1996 election victory in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Addressing House Republicans, Trump said his team had “worked with a lot of you to get you in, and you helped me, and you helped me too.”
He was accompanied by the Vice President-elect, Ohio Senator JD Vance.
The future First Lady Melania Trump is absent from today’s White House meeting.
Her office put out a statement on X saying that she would not be accompanying her husband to meet with Jill Biden, but did not give an explanation.
Eight years ago, Melania met with Michelle Obama ahead of Trump’s first term.
Donald Trump’s Cabinet Picks
In the days following his dominant Election Day victory, President-elect Donald Trump has begun carving out his future administation.
Here’s a list of Trump’s confirmed cabinet picks:
Susie Wiles – White House Chief of Staff
Stephen Miller – Deputy Chief of Staff
Bill McGinley – White House counsel
Tom Homan, ex-ICE acting director, – “Border Czar”
Elise Stefanik, Republican New York representative, – Ambassador to the United Nations
Lee Zeldin, former New York representative, – Environmental Protection Agency administrator
Marco Rubio, Republican Florida senator, – Secretary of State
Kristi Noem, Republican South Dakota governor, – Homeland Security Secretary
Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor, – Ambassador to Israel
John Ratcliffe, former Texas representative, – CIA director
Pete Hegseth, US Army veteran, – Secretary of Defense
Mike Waltz, Republican Florida representative, – National Security Advisor
Steven Witkoff, real estate investor, – Middle East envoy
Elon Musk & Vivek Ramaswamy – Department of Government Efficiency
Trump is meeting with Biden at the White House, with the president insisting he will do everything he can to make the transition to the next administration go smoothly.
This will be the first face-to-face meeting between the pair since June this year when Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Trump on CNN triggered his dropping out of the election just over a month later.
During the debate, the pair exchanged bitter barbs, with Trump claiming the US had become a “third-world country” under Biden, referring to him as a “Manchurian candidate.”
For his part, Biden slammed Trump as a “convicted felon” with the “morals of an alleycat.”
President-elect Trump has already announced that Musk will be part of his new administration, working with ex-Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to head his new “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE.
Musk responded by pledging that DOGE “will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in government waste, which is a lot of people.”
He also floated the idea of DOGE merchandise, describing it by sharing a series of fire emojis.
Trump has announced several other key posts in his second administration, including South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security, and Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense.
ANALYSIS: Trump is moving fast, breaking things – and Elon is just the start
by Harry Cole, Political Editor of The Sun
PEOPLE joked about Elon Musk joining the Trump administration – and lo and behold, he’s actually done it.
He’s not been given a formal government job – and won’t be in the White House – but he’s setting up the Department of Government Efficiency.
That is DOGE for short – and internet fans will know this is a small fluffy dog meme, of which Musk is a fan.
Again, everyone thought he was joking about the name – and now he’s gone and done it.
Musk will lead this efficiency drive, looking at where government savings can be made.
He will be applying the sort of private sector efficiency that he is so famed for at Tesla and at SpaceX.
This is a guy who puts reusable rockets in the air and grabs them out of the sky with giant chopsticks.
He knows what he is talking about.
Left-wing media have sneered at Musk since he backed Trump as they see the Republican as toxic.
But Musk is clearly an incredibly intelligent guy who is going to devote his time and resources to the United States.
It is clear Trump is moving fast – and he is breaking things.
This is his second term and don’t forget he can’t be reelected again, he’s only got one more chance to do things in a very different way.
When he came into office in 2016, there was a bit of a rush to make lots of appointments.
He is the first to admit he chose some bad bad ones.
But this time around it’s going to be a very different presidency – starting with bringing in Musk.
Trump is sending a signal: “Business as usual is over.”
ReutersVice President-elect JD Vance arrived in DC today with Trump[/caption]
ReutersMusk watched on as Trump addressed Republicans at the Hyatt in Washington DC[/caption]
APHouse Speaker Mike Johnson described Trump as the ‘Comeback King’[/caption]
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