WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump made a victorious return to Washington on Wednesday, heading to the White House for a nearly two-hour meeting with President Joe Biden and pledging a direct transition of power despite his actively working to disrupt the same process four years ago. .

Sitting in the Oval Office, in front of a strong fire in the fireplace, the former rivals shook hands before Biden called Trump “Mr. President-elect and former President,” then settled on simply “Donald.”

“Congratulations,” the Democrat told the Republican. “I look forward to having, as they said, a smooth transition.” To welcome. Glad to see you again.”

Trump responded, “Thank you very much,” saying “politics is hard. And in many cases, it’s not a very pleasant world. But it’s a nice world today, and I like it a lot. »

Except for the first few moments, the meeting was private, with Biden and Trump joined by their chiefs of staff. Trump said the transition between the outgoing and incoming administrations “will be as smooth as possible and I appreciate that very much, Joe.”

Trump, victorious this time, says he is ready to guarantee a smooth transition between administrations. But when he lost four years ago, it was a very different story: Trump filed numerous lawsuits falsely alleging widespread voter fraud, refused to actively participate in transition work, denied the election results and helped incite a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol, trying to prevent the certification of Biden’s victory.

He also did not invite Biden to the White House and refused to attend the inauguration – the first time that had happened since Andrew Johnson failed to swear in Ulysses S. Grant ago 155 years old.

The all-smiling new scene at the White House — despite what happened four years ago — highlighted the remarkable political rebound of Trump, who left Washington in 2021 as a diminished and politically defeated leader. Now he’s preparing to return to power as Republicans have retaken the Senate, poised for a majority in the House and with what he and his Republican allies see as a governing mandate.