Biden, Trump set to meet Wednesday in Oval Office

President Biden and President-elect Trump will meet in the Oval Office on Wednesday, the White House announced on Saturday.

The meeting will be held at 11 a.m. local time, according to the statement from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

Mr. Biden extended the invitation for the meeting. 

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. However, Mr. Trump did not host Mr. Biden for a sit-down after the 2020 election, when Mr. Trump lost his reelection bid.

Mr. Trump, who served as the 45th president of the U.S., will become the second president to serve two non-consecutive terms when he also becomes the nation’s 47th president. The other was Grover Cleveland, who was both the 22nd and 24th president. 

Mr. Trump won the presidential election on Tuesday with at least 301 electoral college votes, surpassing the threshold of 270 over Vice President Kamala Harris.

In a speech Thursday, Mr. Biden said he had assured Mr. 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.”