Biden greets Trump with handshake, both pledge smooth transition

For Trump, it's a stunning return to the US seat of government after he departed nearly four years ago a diminished, politically defeated leader after the Jan 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol but is preparing to come back to power with what he and his GOP allies see as a mandate for governance.

After his election win in 2016, Trump met with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office and called it “a great honour". But he soon was back to heaping insults on Obama, including accusing his predecessor – without evidence – of having wire-tapped him during the 2016 campaign.

Four years later, Trump disputed his 2020 election loss to Biden, and he has continued to lie about widespread voter fraud that did not occur. He didn't invite Biden, then the president-elect, to the White House and he left Washington without attending Biden's inauguration. It was the first time that had happened since Andrew Johnson skipped Ulysses S Grant's swearing-in 155 years ago.

Biden insists that he'll do everything he can to make the transition to the next Trump administration go smoothly. That's despite having spent more than a year campaigning for reelection and decrying Trump as a threat to democracy and the nation's core values. Biden then bowed out of the race in July and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him.

In the wake of the election, the president has abandoned his dire warnings about Trump, saying in a speech last week, “The American experiment endures. We're going to be okay.” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden is committed to “making sure that this transition is effective, efficient and he's doing that because it is the norm, yes, but also the right thing to do for the American people”.

“We want this to go well," Jean-Pierre added. "We want this to be a process that gets the job done." Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan echoed that sentiment, saying the administration will uphold the “responsible handoff from one president to the next, which is in the best tradition of our country”.

Wednesday's visit is more than just a courtesy call.

“They will go through the top issues – both domestic and foreign policy issues – including what is happening in Europe and Asia and the Middle East,” Sullivan told CBS of Wednesday's meeting. “And the president will have the chance to explain to President Trump how he sees things…and talk to President Trump about how President Trump is thinking about taking on these issues when he takes office.” Traditionally, as the outgoing and incoming presidents meet in the West Wing, the first lady hosts her successor upstairs in the residence, But her office said Melania Trump wasn't attending, saying in a statement that “her husband's return to the Oval Office to commence the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success”.

After his 2016 meeting with Obama, Trump also visited lawmakers on Capitol Hill and will be doing the same Wednesday – not far from where a mob of his supporters staged a violent January 2021 attack on the US Capitol to try and stop the certification of Biden's election victory.