White House says Biden and Trump will meet this week in Oval Office

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will host President-elect Donald Trump for a traditional postelection meeting in the Oval Office on Wednesday, the White House said Saturday.

Such a meeting is customary between the outgoing president and the incoming president, and is meant partly to mark the start of a peaceful transfer of power under America’s democracy.

But then-President Trump, a Republican, did not host Biden, a Democrat, for a sit-down after the 2020 election, when Trump lost his reelection bid.

Trump sought the presidency again four years later, and on Tuesday he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.

Trump is the first former president to return to power since Grover Cleveland regained the White House in the 1892 election.

The White House said Biden called Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him and invite him to meet in the Oval Office. Their meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m.

In a speech Thursday, Biden said he had assured Trump “that I would direct my entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition. That’s what the American people deserve.”