President-elect Donald Trump House Republicans gave him a standing ovation during his first stop in Washington on Wednesday.
“It’s nice to win,” Trump said during the conference’s internal meeting at the Hyatt Regency near the Capitol.
Ahead of his arrival, House Speaker Mike Johnson hailed Trump as the “homecoming king.”
Trump smiled and shook hands with Johnson and other top GOP brass on stage, including Rep. Elise Stefanik, who has been named Trump’s U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
President-elect Donald Trump meets with House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 13, 2024.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
President-elect Donald Trump speaks on November 13, 2024, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP
The meeting comes as Republicans inch closer to a majority in the House. While ABC News has yet to predict which party will control the chamber, Republicans are two seats from the threshold with a dozen races still undecided.
House Republicans took a victory lap when they returned to town in a lame-duck session Tuesday, saying they are ready to implement Trump’s agenda on Day 1 of his administration in January.
“I want to thank everybody,” Trump told the room. “You’ve been amazing. We’ve worked with a lot of you to get you in, and you’ve helped me, and you’ve helped me.”
As they were being ushered out of the press room, reporters at the pool reported that Trump told lawmakers, “I suspect I’m not going to run again unless I do something else, if you say it’s so good we’ve got to come up with something.”
The friendly atmosphere comes ahead of Trump sitting down with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office, a return to a White House tradition that Trump scuttled in 2020.
President-elect Donald Trump arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, November 13, 2024, before meeting with President Joe Biden and members of Congress in Washington.
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Elon Musk (2nd from L) arrives with President-elect Donald Trump’s staff on Nov. 13, 2024, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Trump landed at Joint Base Andrews for the first time since leaving office in January 2021, next to billionaire Elon Musk, a sign of some new faces who may dominate Trump’s orbit in his second term.
This is Trump’s first public appearance since his speech in the early hours after Election Day. He’s been huddled at Mar-a-Lago ever since, where he’s been rolling out picks for cabinet roles and other administration posts.
Musk has weighed in on the decision, ABC News previously reported.
On Tuesday, Trump announced that Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would lead what he calls a new “Department of Government Efficiency” to provide outside guidance on reforming federal agencies and reducing government “waste.”
