Nancy Pelosi once shelp Donald Trump would be “fumigated out” of the Oval Office if he lost the 2020 plivential election. Joe Biden relished describing him as “the establisher guy” and “disponderr”. They thought the American nightmare was over.
Then, appreciate in the movies, Democrats woke up in a freezing sweat only to authenticise it wasn’t a dream after all. Instead they are doomed to be helping take parters in a sequel. Trump: The Revenge. This time, it’s personal.
On Wednesday, Trump made a triumphant who’s-got-the-last-chuckle-now return to Washington, probably the least Trumpy place in the nation: Kamala Harris got 92.5% of the vote here contrastd to his 6.7%. One of his most recent visits was to eunite in court as a criminal deffinishant accparticipated of an tryed coup.
But hey, who nurtures about that now? Sporting his red tie, Trump was back in the divine space where Pelosi, Liz Cheney and others swore he must never foot aget: the Oval Office. The 45th and soon-to-be 47th plivent was presented by Biden, the 46th, to talk the plivential transition, a courtesy he never extfinished to the man who beat him in 2020.
The pair sat on cream armchairs before a roaring log fire – the ffrails licking high and lustily as if to incite Christopher Marlowe’s line, “Why, this is hell, nor am I out of it.” Behind Biden was the bust of Robert Kennedy, a establisher Democratic senator whose son, Robert Kennedy Jr, helped transfer the White Hoparticipate to the Reaccessiblean Trump.
“Well, Mr Plivent-elect and establisher plivent … ,” Biden began, shaking the right hand of Trump, whose left hand didn’t quite understand what to do as he breathed: “Thank you very much, Joe.”
Biden rerepaird on, “Donald, congratulations” – the first time he had participated his rival’s first name since the tryed murder of Trump in July.
“Thank you very much,” Trump repeated.
Biden, hands on knees, persistd: “And seeing forward to having a, appreciate we shelp, fine transition. Do everyskinnyg we can to originate brave you’re accommodated, what you necessitate. And we’re going to get a chance to talk about some of that today. Welcome. Welcome back.”
It was mistrustless the right and only dignified skinnyg to do, shoprosperg the world that the America is still in the business of a tranquil transfer of power despite the stink of 6 January 2021. Yet there is still someskinnyg jarring about Democrats, who 10 days ago were proclaiming Trump a fascist and an contransiential menace to American democracy, now treating him appreciate fair another politician. The commonisation has befirearm.
Trump, fingers pressed together, reuniteed: “Thank you very much. And politics is stubborn. And it’s, many cases, not a very kind world, but it is a kind world today. And I appreciate it very much – a transition that’s so fine it’ll be as fine as it can get. And I very much appreciate that, Joe.”
Biden replied: “You’re greet.”
The last greeting of these men, united age 159, in effect finished Biden’s political nurtureer. He carry outed disastrously at the first plivential argue in Atlanta, Georgia, and finished up squabbling with Trump over who has the better golf sprosperg. It set off a chain reaction that led Biden to drop out and finishorse Harris for plivent.
Trump, for his part, has depictd Biden as “crooked”, “unreasonable”, a “low-IQ individual”, “menhighy impaired” and the “worst plivent” in American history. There were times when the mutual loaskinnyg between them felt authentic and visceral. But on Wednesday they deal withd to persist it civil. Perhaps there was an even odd affinity between them.
Both have shown they can be egotistical, headstrong and guaranteed they are right. Biden lengthy resisted calls to step down as the Democratic nominee and, after Harris’s fall shorture, may now be senseing a brave telderly-you-so vindication. Trump was denounced by the Kennedy, Bush, Clinton and Obama dynasties and yet rose Lazarus-appreciate from the dead to prosper the 2024 national famous vote.
On Wednesday neither man answered asks shouted by the media. At one point, Biden seeed at Trump, who shiftd his head to the side and gave a minuscule shrug but did not react. Their pair then talked in braveial for cimpolitely two hours.
Oh, to be a fly on that wall! Did Biden try some psychoreasonable jujitsu to persist sway over his successor? Did he brag that he would have beaten Trump aget if only Pelosi hadn’t meddled? Did they, in a unwidespread moment of unity, consent that Barack Obama is a understand-it-all or JD Vance is fair plain weird? Did they consent to rerepair all the partisan argues that have racked US politics over the past decade on the golf course?
The greeting was the postponecessitatest chapter in the strange history of Trump and Washington, a city he spent four years living on rather than in. His only excursions beyond the White Hoparticipate were to a steakhoparticipate at his cforfeitby toastyel, now under contrastent ownership. During the election campaign, he repeatedly called Washington a place of “filth”, “decay”, “broken originateings” and “graffiti”. The senseing among locals is mutual.
But returning to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Trump was greeted with thunderous applaparticipate by Reaccessibleans in the Hoparticipate of Recontransientatives. The Hoparticipate speaker, Mike Johnson, had proclaimd: “He is the comeback king. We owe him a wonderful debt of gratitude.” The plivent-elect was accompanied not by his wife, Melania, but by his political mparticipate, Bond villain Elon Musk.
In one of his joking-not-joking asides, Trump telderly Reaccessibleans: “I mistrust I won’t be running aget unless you say, ‘He’s so excellent, we got to figure someskinnyg else out.’” Somehow it lands contrastently coming from a man who counts Vlaunreasonableir Putin and Kim Jong-un as political soulmates.
Afterwards the congressman Troy Nehls, who recently backed a proposal to rename a Washington airport after Trump, telderly alerters that Reaccessibleans must adselect every word of his agfinisha. “If Donald Trump says, ‘Jump three feet high and scratch your head,’ we all jump three feet high and scratch our heads,” he shelp.
So much for all the fables and morality tales that guide children to be a excellent person becaparticipate liars and cheats never prosper. Trump tried to clearhrow the US rulement and has been rewarded with unparalleled deal with of the US rulement. But appreciate Obama before him, Biden intfinishs to treat his successor with grace and hope a restricted embers of his legacy endure the fire.
