Biden to Attend Trump’s Inauguration: White House

President-elect Donald Trump did not take part in President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

President Donald Trump (L) shakes hands with former President Barack Obama (C) and former Vice President Joe Biden after being sworn in as President at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20, 2017. Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images

President Joe Biden and his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, are planning to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, according to the White House.

“The president promised that he would attend the inauguration of whomever won the election. He and the first lady are going to honor that promise and attend the inauguration,” Andrew Bates, a spokesman for the White House, told reporters on Air Force One on Nov. 25.

“He views that as an important demonstration of commitment to our democratic values and to honoring the will of the people as we continue to provide an orderly and effective transition.”

Trump, who was in office for four years starting in January 2017, is preparing to return to the White House. He will be inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2025.  He did not attend the inauguration of Biden, who was sworn in on Jan. 20, 2021.

“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th,” Trump wrote on Twitter shortly before the social media platform banned him in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, which followed widespread election fraud claims by Trump and other Republicans.

Biden indicated earlier this year that he would attend the inauguration even if his preferred candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, did not win.

“I have good manners,” Biden told reporters at the time.

Biden took part in Trump’s first inauguration in 2017. Then-President Barack Obama and then-First Lady Michelle Obama were also there, along with other top officials such as Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

After the 2024 race was called for Trump, Biden said in a speech that had assured Trump in a conversation they had after the election that he would direct his “entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition.”

He added later: “I will fulfill my oath, and I will honor the Constitution. On January 20th, we will have a peaceful transfer of power here in America.”

When Trump visited the White House on Nov. 13, Biden told him: “Looking forward to having a, like we said, a smooth transition—do everything we can to make sure you’re accommodated, what you need. And we’re going to get a chance to talk about some of that today. So welcome back.”

Trump responded with appreciation. “I appreciate it very much—a transition that’s so smooth it’ll be as smooth as it can get,” he said.

Harris, in conceding to Trump, said that she told Trump she would help him and his team with their transition and that her team would “engage in a peaceful transfer of power.”

Speaking in Washington, she said: “A fundamental principle of American democracy is that when we lose an election, we accept the results. That principle, as much as any other, distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny, and anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it.”