Donald Trump makes controversial return to White House with Elon Musk in tow as he meets with Biden

President-elect Donald Trump could be seen arriving at the White House late Wednesday morning to meet with President Joe Biden, the latter of whom was expected to congratulate the former on his recent election victory

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US election: Biden congratulates President-elect Donald Trump

Donald Trump arrived at the White House just before noon on Wednesday to meet with President Joe Biden, continuing a tradition that he himself skipped out on in 2020.

During the meeting, the two shook hands, it was reported, after which Biden pledged a smooth transition between the current Democratic regime to the new Republican one.

“Welcome back,” Biden reportedly said. “Politics is tough,” Trump reportedly responded. “The transition will be so smooth, it will be as smooth as it can get.” Trump also reportedly thanked Biden for his service the past four years as he said, “It’s a nice world,” to which Biden said, “You’re welcome.”

The former president, who is now also the president-elect, was slated to meet with Biden to discuss the transition of power and for the latter to congratulate him on his recent election victory. The pair’s chiefs of staff, Jeff Zients for Biden and Susie Wiles for Trump, also sat in on the meeting to discuss the transition.

On Nov. 5, Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States, becoming the second in history to be elected to two non-consecutive terms (the first being Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s).

Photos showed Trump landing at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on his private jet, which was also carrying tech mogul Elon Musk. The two met with Republican leaders in the House and Senate.

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Those meetings came shortly after the former president announced that Musk would co-lead the new Department of Government Efficiency alongside biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who himself unsuccessfully vied for the presidency earlier in the year.

Trump’s visit to the capital on Wednesday was his first return since his massive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, during which he won the popular vote and the Electoral College vote, becoming the first Republican to win the former in over 20 years.

It was a much wider margin of victory than his 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton. In that election, the former secretary of state won the popular vote but failed to garner enough Electoral College support.

Wednesday was also Trump’s second visit to the capital in recent years, with his first having been in June, when he met with Republican lawmakers to discuss his campaign and their thoughts. It was his first visit to Congress since the Jan. 6 Capitol riot back in 2021.

Trump threw his support behind House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Wednesday, too, which he had done in the past. The Republican, who had to fight his way into the speakership after the ousting of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. But there’s slated to be competition.

There will also be a competition over who will become the new Senate majority leader after it was announced that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would be stepping down from the leadership role. (He was the minority leader because the Republicans have enjoyed a minority, not a majority, in the Senate for the past two years.) Neither Trump nor McConnell have endorsed a replacement for the latter.