According to two persons familiar with the conversation, President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump had a phone conversation last week during the Thanksgiving break.
Biden and Trump have only spoken once since the president-elect visited the White House for a meeting in the Oval Office on November 13, according to the previously unknown phone contact.
Trump called Biden to wish him a happy Thanksgiving, according to the two persons who were privy to the conversation. They said that the two leaders’ conversation was short and unimportant.
The president and first wife Jill Biden, along with their daughter Ashley and son Hunter, spent the Thanksgiving holiday with their close relatives in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
Biden responded, “I expect so,” when asked by reporters last Friday if he anticipated speaking with Trump once more prior to the inauguration.
Trump’s phone conversation after Biden’s invitation to visit the White House differs from the previous government change following the 2020 election.
After losing the election, Trump refused to invite Biden to the White House, as is traditional.
After Biden won the election four years ago, the Trump administration further slowed the transition by disputing the results and undermining Biden’s transition team’s attempts to ensure a seamless handover of power.
Trump became the first outgoing president in 150 years to skip his successor’s inauguration when he skipped Biden’s in 2021. At a press briefing the week before the 2024 election, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that Biden will attend the inauguration in January regardless of the result. Last week, White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates repeated Biden’s intention to attend the inauguration.
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