What Biden and Trump discussed during their White House meeting

President Biden hosted President-elect Trump at the White House for nearly two hours on Wednesday, a familiar ritual in the peaceful handoff of power. White House Correspondent Laura Barrón-López reports on the transition meeting.
Amna Nawaz:
All right, and we’re joined now by our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez, who’s been following the transition meeting between President Biden and president-elect Trump.
Laura, good to see you.
Laura Barron-Lopez:
Good to be here.
Amna Nawaz:
So tell us a little bit more what you learned from your sources about how this historic meeting unfolded.
Laura Barron-Lopez:
So President Biden and president-elect Trump were joined by their respective chiefs of staff, Jeff Zients and Susie Wiles.
And according to the White House, president-elect Trump was gracious and he came with a detailed list of questions. President Biden talked about the important items that he feels he still has to do in the lame-duck session of Congress, including funding the government, as well as some more additional disaster relief funds that he wants to see done.
He also stressed to the president-elect that the United States needs to stand with Ukraine, that that is a national security interest of the U.S. Jake Sullivan came out and spoke to reporters, his national security adviser to President Biden. And Jake Sullivan said that President Biden is going to continue to make his case, both privately and publicly, to Donald Trump and to the incoming administration.
And Sullivan noted that investment in Ukraine is not just sending millions of dollars to Ukraine. It’s also investment in American jobs, as Americans are making the military weapons and strengthening military capacity at home. Sullivan also said that the Biden administration is willing to work with the incoming administration when it comes to American hostages that are still being held in Gaza.
Now, I asked a White House source, an aide to the president why President Biden decided to invite president-elect Trump to the White House, considering that he, as well as Vice President Harris, campaigned heavily, calling Donald Trump a threat to democracy.
And this aide said that ultimately President Biden felt as though, when he entered the White House, he critiqued Trump at the time for not inviting him, for not keeping that established norm, and that he felt that he had to do that, given his principles and his values.
Amna Nawaz:
This is the first time, though, that Mr. Trump was back at the White House since he left in 2021. That was weeks after the January 6 insurrection, hours before Biden’s inauguration, which he did not attend.
So what have you noticed about the way this has all unfolded over the past week in terms of the tone of this transition?
Laura Barron-Lopez:
Well, the Trump world sources that I have been talking to, they say the ultimate goal is to be much more prepared when they enter the White House versus the first term.
And one of the biggest themes is that loyalists are key. And so, as you can see across the board, with these appointments, Donald Trump is looking for loyalists. And as one source inside Trump world put it, last time the establishment was much more involved, the establishment Republicans were much more involved in who Trump selected to be across his administration.
This time, the people that are involved are strictly Trump world people, and that the president-elect wants people who are going to listen to him and he wants the people that he has selected to ultimately get confirmed to these positions. It isn’t some chess move, that he wants these people confirmed.
And it could ultimately, this source said, double as a bit of a test to see how loyal Senate Republicans are to the incoming president.
Amna Nawaz:
So where do things stand with all the many people Mr. Trump has now tapped and nominated to serve in both his administration and his Cabinet?
Laura Barron-Lopez:
As Lisa pointed out, there’s top four campaign advisers to Trump that are coming into the White House. That’s Stephen Miller, Dan Scavino, James Blair, and Taylor Budowich.
And the reason I highlight those, Amna, is because these are people who have long served Donald Trump. They are going to also be key in a lot of the decision-making. Some of the power is going to be very centralized inside of the White House, and not always across the agencies, especially when you look at Stephen Miller.
When it comes to James Blair, who’s also pointed as deputy chief of staff, he’s been a long time political director for the president-elect, worked with him on his 2020 campaign. And so this is going — this just shows you how Donald Trump, this time around, is surrounding himself with the people that he trusts the most.
Amna Nawaz:
White House correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez.
Laura, thank you.
Laura Barron-Lopez:
Thank you.