Nearly four years after he left Washington, DC, under a cloud of ignominy rather than attend Joe Biden’s inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump’s bespoke 757 touched down at Joint Base Andrews and taxied to nearly the exact spot from which he departed the same airfield aboard Air Force One.
This time, there was no red carpet there to meet him. There were no salutes rendered upon his arrival, and only a single air force officer waiting to greet the man who will, for the second time, become the commander-in-chief of the world’s most powerful military in just a few short months. Roughly 20 miles away at the White House, Trump wasn’t greeted by anything near the pageantry that will await him following his inauguration on 20 January, four years to the day after he left without welcoming Biden upon his arrival.
At the White House, without a single press camera there to witness his arrival at his former and future home, Trump entered the Oval Office, where he sat before a roaring fireplace across from a man who just weeks ago described him as an existential threat to the American republic.
When reporters were brought in to document the extraordinary occasion, Biden was surprisingly polite to a man who he’d spent the last five-plus years attacking and trying to remove from the American political scene. It was a calm, almost surreal scene, in its simplicity and pleasantness.
Elsewhere in the White House, the message was clear — the circus is coming back.
On the North side of the building, where television networks have their permanent shooting positions located along the walking path running from the security gates reporters use to the briefing room, a massive number had gathered in front of the West Wing to file reports or wait in hopes that Trump would enter through the doors normally used by visiting dignitaries and foreign leaders.
In the briefing room, seats that have largely gone unoccupied apart from televised briefings were being used by reporters speaking numerous languages.
In some ways, it was as if a portal had been opened back to late 2019, when the White House was a beehive of activity in the run-up to what would become the first of Trump’s two impeachment trials.
Or even back to late 2015, when all eyes were on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as the world watched to see what a brash former businessman turned television star would do when granted the powers of the highest office in American government.
Now, the attention is back on Trump, who is returning to the White House after a campaign of promising “retribution” against his and his supporters’ enemies for a range of slights, real and imagined. That messaging, though, took a back seat as Trump and Biden shook hands and played nice in front of the cameras.
“Mr President-elect, former president, Donald — congratulations,” Biden said. “We look forward to having a smooth transition … and we’re gonna get a chance to talk about some of that today.”
For his part, Trump was gracious as he’d been eight years ago when he met with the then president Obama after his shock victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.
He replied: “Thank you very much.”
“Politics is tough, and it’s many cases not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today, and I appreciate very much a transition that’s so smooth, it’ll be as smooth as it can get. And I very much appreciate that,” Trump added.
The press was quickly ushered out of the room after the short few minutes it took for both men to speak. But Trump and Biden — along with incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and her incumbent counterpart, Jeff Zients, would remain in the Oval Office for another two hours.
At the White House daily briefing later in the day, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the two leaders had what she described as “a substantive meeting and exchange of views.”
“They discussed important national security and domestic policy issues facing the nation and the world. President Biden also raised important items on Congress’s to-do list for the lame duck session, including funding the government and providing the disaster supplemental funding the president requested,” said Jean-Pierre, who also reiterated Biden’s pledge to oversee “an orderly transition and a peaceful transition of power” to the incoming administration.
Much of what Trump’s second term will look like is still up in the air. Although he’s announced a number of picks for his senior staff and cabinet, Trump and his transition team still haven’t signed the memoranda they need to gain access to various official government resources.
His transition is also playing out largely beyond the reach of the press, unlike eight years ago when he paraded administration hopefuls through the lobby of his eponymous Fifth Avenue skyscraper.
But at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the horde of newsmen and newswomen camped out for Trump’s return and meeting with Biden is a clear indicator of what is to come.
In January, there will be a new season of the Trump show premiering.
