Donald Trump and Joe Biden sat down at the White House on Wednesday for a meeting, as the Republican former president and now president-elect prepares to take back the office in just over two months. 

In very brief remarks in front of press at the top of their meeting, both presidents, seated in front of a lit fireplace in the Oval Office, pledged a smooth transition of power, the second time one will occur between these two men in particular. 

The first one in 2020 was marked by a parting from tradition, with Trump declining to invite Biden to the exact meeting the current president invited his predecessor – and now successor – to on Wednesday. Biden, on the other hand, has pledged to uphold the customs of the office, encouraging the nation in his first public remarks after the election last week to accept the results and vowing to ensure an orderly transition of power. 

“Looking forward to having a, like we said, a smooth transition,” Biden said to kick off the remarks on Wednesday, going on to add that his White House will “do everything we can to make sure you’re accommodated – what you need.” 

“Politics is tough, and it’s in many cases not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today and I appreciate it very much,” Trump responded. “A transition that’s so smooth it’ll be as smooth as it can get.” 

The sitting president on Wednesday also congratulated Trump on his election victory over Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, and welcomed him back to the White House. 

“Welcome back,” Biden said. 

“Thank you very much,” Trump responded, ending his remarks referring to the president as “Joe.” 

Jeff Zients, Biden’s chief of staff, and Susie Wiles, who Trump tapped for this same role in his White House fresh off the election last week, were present for Wednesday’s meeting. In total, the president-elect was at the White House for nearly two hours, starting his Oval Office sit-down with Biden at 11:07 p.m. ET and leaving the grounds just after 1 p.m. ET. 

First lady Jill Biden joined the president in greeting Trump when he arrived on Wednesday and gave him a handwritten note to give to his wife, Melania Trump, according to the White House. The former and now incoming first lady was not present at the White House on Wednesday, rejecting tradition. 

While Biden and Trump only mentioned discussing the transition of power during their brief remarks to press, current White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday told CBS News that the president would touch on top domestic and foreign policy issues. 

“Including what is happening in Europe and Asia and the Middle East,” Sullivan said of the foreign policy issues. “And the president will have the chance to explain to President Trump how he sees things, where they stand and talk to President Trump about how President Trump is thinking about taking on these- these issues when he takes office.”

Speaking with reporters later on Wednesday, Karine Jean-Pierre called the meeting “very cordial, very gracious and substantive.” She noted that Trump came prepared with a “detailed set of questions.” 

The length of the two-hour meeting, Jean-Pierre added, “tells you that they had an in-depth conversation on an array of issues.” 

The last time the political rivals were believed to be in the presence of one another was during a ceremony to commemorate 9/11 in New York this past September. Before that, the two men met on a debate stage in June, the event that ultimately led Biden to drop out of the 2024 race against Trump amid pressure from some within his own party. 

During the rest of his own 2024 campaign, Trump frequently railed against what he said the Democratic party did to Biden, potentially in part because he saw the current president as an easier general election opponent. 

Despite repeated warnings from Biden both his 2020 and short-lived 2024 campaigns that Trump was a threat to America’s institutions, the president in his remarks last week sought to assure the nation that democracy in the U.S. will prevail and emphasized the legitimacy of U.S. elections no matter who wins. 

“I know for some people, it’s a time for victory, to state the obvious, for others, it’s a time of loss,” Biden said on Thursday of the 2024 election results. “We accept the choice the country made.”

Trump has not acknowledged he lost the 2020 race to Biden, falsely claiming cheating took place. A group of his supporters also stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to disrupt the certification of results. 

Trump, the first president set to serve two non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s, sat down at the White House with his predecessor in 2016, Barack Obama, calling it a “great honor” at the time. 

Marking a stunning and victorious return to Washington on Wednesday – the first time the president-elect is known to have left Florida, where he spent election night since it was called in his favor  – Trump started his day stopping by a House Republican meeting at a hotel near the Capitol and touting the results last week. 

“I just want to thank everybody, you’ve been incredible,” Trump told House Republicans gathered on Wednesday morning. “We worked with a lot of you to get you in and you helped me, and you helped me too.” 

After Trump swiftly took the White House and Republicans secured a majority in the Senate, the party is looking toward the possibility it will have a trifecta in Washington next year. The Associated Press has yet to call control of the House for either party, but the GOP appears to be in a solid position to hold its slim majority. 

Speaking to the House GOP on Wednesday, Trump also made a comment about suspecting he won’t be running for president again unless the lower chamber does “something.” The former president will not be eligible to run for the White House again after serving out his second term. 

“I suspect I won’t be running again unless you do something,” Trump said, according to pool reporters in the room.