President Joe Biden met with Donald Trump for nearly two hours on Wednesday in what his spokeswoman described as a “cordial” and “substantive” discussion.
The pleasantries, however, don’t undermine the administration’s campaign-era messaging that painted the president-elect as a “threat to democracy” bent on exacting revenge on his political enemies.
“The president is always going to be obligated to be honest with the American people,” said Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden’s press secretary. “What he says still stands.”
The comment came in response to reporter questions about the two presidents cooling down the divisive rhetoric that dominated the campaign trail. Jean-Pierre said Biden did not apologize during the meeting, though he wasn’t the only one lobbing bombastic criticism across the aisle.
She pointed to Trump’s description of Democrats as “the enemy within” and an “evil” party filled with “communists, Marxists and fascists.” In a brief public exchange with Biden on Tuesday, the president-elect said although “politics is tough … it’s a nice world today.”
He also expressed appreciation for “a transition that’s so smooth, it’ll be as smooth as it can get.”
Jean-Pierre reiterated the sentiment later Wednesday.
“What we also want to be very clear about is the importance of listening to the will of the American people,” she said. “There was an election. It is important to respect our institution. It’s important to respect free and fair elections. And that’s what this president is doing – leading by example and putting that aside and putting the American people first.”
She declined to share specifics of the meeting, except that Trump came with a long list of questions and that the two touched on national security and domestic policy issues.
It was just one of several noteworthy developments on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, where fellow Republicans elected Sen. John Thune as the new majority leader in the upper chamber. The North Dakota lawmaker is viewed by some as a potential hindrance to Trump’s cabinet nominations, though he said the leadership team is “united behind” the president-elect.
Multiple media outlets also called the majority for the U.S. House in Republicans’ favor after the party captured 218 seats to Democrats’ 208, with nine races outstanding late Wednesday afternoon. The remainder of races uncalled are not likely to flip.
Trump also backed current House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., as still the best choice for the job. He and fellow Louisianan Mike Scalise, as House majority leader, were reelected shortly thereafter.
