Biden says he promised Trump orderly transition, in first comments since election

US President Joe Biden says he told Donald Trump there will be an orderly transfer of power, appearing for the first time since his vice president Kamala Harris was defeated by the former president on Tuesday.

“In a democracy, the will of the people always prevails,” he says from the Rose Garden.

Biden says he spoke with Trump and assured him that he would direct his administration to ensure a “peaceful and orderly transition,” because that’s what the people deserve. Biden’s comments are a subtle jab at Trump, who refused to accept he lost the election in 2020. Trump was reelected this week.

The president reiterates that the US election system “is honest, it is fair, and it is transparent. And it can be trusted, win or lose.”

He closes by saying that defeat doesn’t mean one is defeated.

“America endures,” he says. “We’re going to be ok, but we need to stay engaged.”