WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump spent his first day as president-elect receiving congratulatory phone calls from his defeated opponent, world leaders and President Joe Biden as he began the process of turning his election victory into a government.
Trump kept a low profile and stayed out of the public eye after addressing supporters in Florida in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Vice President Kamala Harris called Trump to concede the race and congratulate him, while Biden invited the man he ousted from the White House four years ago to an Oval Office meeting to prepare to hand over the keys .
The White House announced that Biden had spoken with the newly elected president and expressed his commitment to a smooth transition, while emphasizing the importance of working to bring the country closer together.
Biden also called Harris to greet her for her campaign. And Trump and Harris spoke on a call in which the president-elect “recognized Vice President Harris for her strength, professionalism and tenacity throughout the campaign, and both leaders agreed on the importance of unifying the country,” according to Trump spokesman Steven Cheung.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he called Trump and the pair had a “warm and cordial” conversation while also discussing the “Iranian threat.”
French President Emmanuel Macron also called Trump, as did Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who spoke with the president-elect to express “the kingdom’s commitment to strengthening the historical and strategic relations between the two countries, the friendly American people wanted progress. and prosperity under the leadership of His Excellency,” said a statement from the Saudi Foreign Ministry.
Trump made his first foreign trip as president during his first term in Saudi Arabia. He backed the kingdom at the time, even as ties became strained over the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul.
The president-elect has since vowed to bring peace to the Middle East at a time when Israel is at war with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and has recently exchanged fire with Iran. Trump, who was a staunch supporter of Israel during his previous term, has not said how he would achieve that.
Meanwhile, US markets, banks and bitcoin all surged higher on Wednesday, as did Tesla, owned by outspoken Trump supporter Elon Musk, as investors looked favorably on a smooth election and Trump’s return to the White House.
Trump got more potentially good news with news that Special Counsel Jack Smith is evaluating how to wrap up the two federal cases against the president-elect before he takes office, in light of the Justice Department’s long-standing policy that says incumbents presidents cannot be prosecuted, according to a person familiar with Smith’s plans, who was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Smith accused Trump last year of plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. This last case had already been dismissed. But Trump’s election victory means the Justice Department believes he can no longer be prosecuted under the department’s decades-old legal opinions designed to protect presidents from criminal charges while in office.
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Miller and Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.
