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US President Joe Biden greeted his successor Donald Trump at the White House Monday morning with the message 'welcome home' as his motorcade arrived at the official presidential residence.
Moments before reporters asked him what his message was, Biden replied, 'Joy' and then paused a bit and said, 'Hope'.
"Welcome Home," Biden greeted as Trump stepped out of the SUV in the North Portico of the White House.
When Biden and the First Lady were waiting for the arrival of Trump and incoming First Lady Melania Trump, Biden was asked if he had written a letter to Trump. He replied, "Yes."
When asked what he said, Biden replied, 'That's between Trump and me . The two then went inside the White House for their traditional tea.
Traditionally, the outgoing president leaves a letter for his successor.
Trump, 78, was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. He succeeds Biden, 82.
Trump had lost the 2016 election to Biden. In the November 2020 elections, Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, both in popular votes and electoral college numbers.
Moments earlier, outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris and the Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff welcomed their successor -- J D Vance and his Indian-American spouse Usha Vance.
As the Vance couple stepped up for a handshake, Harris said, 'Congratulations' to her successor. Vance is wearing a dark blue suit, overcoat, and red tie. Usha is wearing a light pink coat.
Before the arrival of Vance, Harris was asked how she was feeling about this day, and she replied, "This is democracy in action."
The two couples posed for photos and then walked inside the White House.
Earlier in the morning, Trump along with his family and senior officials from his administration attended service at the historic St. John's Episcopal Church a short distance from the White House. The service lasted for about 25 minutes, closing out with a rendition of 'America the Beautiful'.
Among those spotted were Ivanka Trump, Lara Trump, Robert F Kennedy Jr, Tulsi Gabbard and Argentinian President Javier Milei. While exiting, he nodded acknowledgement to several attendees on the way out and briefly patted Milei on the arm.
Others who attended the service were Apple's Tim Cook, Rupert Murdoch, Senator Marco Rubio, Sean Duffy, TikTok CEO Shou Chew, Elon Musk, incoming National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, FBI Director nominee Kash Patel, Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, Indian-American Vivek Ramaswamy, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez, and former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
After the tea, Biden and Trump drove down to Capitol Hill for the formal inauguration ceremony, which has been moved inside the Rotunda from outside the Capitol Hill facing the majestic National Mall.