By Jeff Mason and Tim Reid
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, longtime political rivals, discussed Ukraine and the Middle East on Wednesday in a cordial meeting designed to demonstrate a smooth transfer of power despite deep disagreements over policy.
The two American leaders sat side by side before a roaring fire in the White House Oval Office, a peaceful scene that belied tensions between them.
"They discussed important national security and domestic policy issues facing the nation and the world," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. "It was indeed very cordial, very gracious, and substantive."
The meeting lasted roughly two hours, she said.
Biden argued support for Ukraine was good for U.S. national security because a strong and stable Europe would keep America from being dragged into war, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told journalists.
Trump has pledged to end the Russia-Ukraine war quickly without saying how.
Trump told the New York Post he and Biden "talked very much about the Middle East" during their conversation. "I wanted to know his views on where we are," the Post quoted Trump as saying. "And he gave them to me, he was very gracious."
A Democrat, Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election but dropped out of the 2024 race in July after a disastrous debate with Trump, a Republican. Vice President Kamala Harris became the candidate but lost to Trump.
A SMOOTH TRANSITION
Both men talked about a smooth transition of power.
"Looking forward to having a, like we said, smooth transition - do everything we can to make sure you're accommodated, what you need," Biden told the president-elect. "Welcome, welcome back."
Trump, due to take over on Jan. 20, said: "Politics is tough, and it's many cases not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today, and I appreciate it very much - a transition that's so smooth it'll be as smooth as it can get. And I very much appreciate that, Joe."
Reporters shouted questions but were ushered out.
The traditional courtesy of welcoming the president-elect into the Oval Office is one that Trump did not extend when Biden won in 2020.
The two men have hurled criticism at each other for years. Their respective teams hold vastly different positions on policies from climate change to Russia to trade.
Biden, 81, has portrayed Trump as a threat to democracy, while Trump, 78, has portrayed Biden as incompetent. Trump made false claims of widespread fraud after losing the 2020 election.
During the sit-down, Biden pushed his priorities for Congress' lame-duck session, including funding the government and providing additional funds for disaster relief, Jean-Pierre said. Biden's chief of staff Jeff Zients and Trump's, Susie Wiles, also were present.
First lady Jill Biden joined Biden in greeting Trump on his arrival. The White House said she gave Trump a handwritten letter of congratulations for his wife, Melania Trump, and expressed her team’s readiness to assist with the transition.
Melania Trump's office said on X that she would not attend the White House meeting. "Her husband's return to the Oval Office to commence the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success," it said.
Trump celebrated his victory earlier in the day with Republicans from the House of Representatives. Edison Research projected on Wednesday that Republicans would have a majority in the House, meaning Trump's party will control both chambers of Congress.
"Isn't it nice to win? It's nice to win. It's always nice to win," Trump said. "The House did very well."
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk joined Trump at the meeting with Republican lawmakers.
TRANSITION PARTIALLY STALLED
Despite the show of goodwill, the transition itself has partially stalled.
Trump’s team, which has announced some members of the incoming president's cabinet, has yet to sign agreements that would lead to office space and government equipment as well as access to government officials, facilities and information, the White House said.
“The Trump-Vance transition lawyers continue to constructively engage with the Biden-Harris Administration lawyers regarding all agreements contemplated by the Presidential Transition Act," said Brian Vance, a Trump transition spokesperson, referring to the law that governs the transfer of power.
Valerie Smith Boyd, director of the Partnership for Public Service’s Center for Presidential Transition, a non-profit that advises incoming administrations, said the agreement underscores that the U.S. only has one president at a time and includes pledges to sign ethics pacts not to profit off information provided in the transition.
“That needs to be signed for interaction to begin with federal agencies,” she said. “Everything is hinging on that.”
The meeting was the two men's first substantive one since their June debate. Biden, Trump and Harris also appeared together in New York on Sept. 11 at the site of the 2001 plane attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.