Biden and Trump to meet at White House next week

Joe Biden will meet with President-elect Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday after the US leader pledged an orderly transfer of power following the Republican's election victory.

Mr Biden and Mr Trump will meet in the Oval Office at 11am (4pm Irish time), the White House said, with the clock ticking down to the ex-president's return to power in January.

Mr Trump sealed a historic comeback to the White House in the 5 November election, cementing what is set to be more than a decade of US politics overshadowed by his hardline, disruptive right-wing politics.

The 78-year-old won wider margins than before, despite a criminal conviction, two impeachments while in office and warnings from his former chief of staff that he is a "fascist."

Exit polls showed that voters' top concern remained the economy and inflation that spiked under Mr Biden in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Biden, who dropped out of the race in July over concerns about his ability to continue at the age of 81, called Mr Trump to congratulate him after his election win.