DONALD TRUMP HAS made his return to the White House in a handover meeting with US president Joe Biden.

Trump said that the transition would be “smooth as you can get, as the victorious Republican made his first visit since departing under a torrent of scandal nearly four years ago.

The president-elect also thanked Biden for pledging a smooth transfer of power over the coming weeks.

“Donald, congratulations,” Biden said, greeting Trump with a handshake and adding that he looked “forward to a smooth transition”.

“Thank you very much,” Trump said after the two men shook hands in the Oval Office, “Politics is tough, and in many cases it’s not a very nice world. It is a nice world today and I appreciate it very much.”

Biden invited his sworn rival to meet in the Oval Office for today’s meeting. It’s a change to when in 2020, Trump refused to admit his election loss to Biden and never held a similar handover meeting with the Democrat.

Trump’s meeting with Biden comes as he moves swiftly to name his administration, including the world’s richest man Elon Musk as head of a new group aimed at slashing government spending.

With reporting by PA and AFP