‘Welcome back’: Biden offers Trump the smooth transition he never got as president-elect returns to the White House

The last time Donald Trump was in the Oval Office, he scrawled out a two-page letter to Joe Biden in his distinctive jagged penmanship, slipped it into the drawer of the Resolute Desk and — notwithstanding the note’s surprisingly gracious tone — walked away from the building defeated and bitter.

The last time Donald Trump was in the Oval Office, he scrawled out a two-page letter to Joe Biden in his distinctive jagged penmanship, slipped it into the drawer of the Resolute Desk and — notwithstanding the note’s surprisingly gracious tone — walked away from the building defeated and bitter. He returned to the White House on Wednesday for a meeting with Biden in vastly altered circumstances, emboldened by a likely popular vote victory in last week’s election and basking in his return to power. As a fire crackled behind the two presidents in the Oval Office, Biden congratulated Trump for his victory, betraying no glimpse of the bitterness that must have been weighing on Biden’s mind at that moment. “Congratulations,” Biden told his predecessor and successor – a man who Biden has long said represents a clear danger to democracy itself. “I’m looking forward to having, like we said, a smooth transition,” Biden said, making a promise that was never extended to him after he took Trump’s seat four years ago. “Welcome back,” Biden added.