Harris calls to concede, Biden invites Trump for transition meeting

Ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’ concession speech at her alma mater, Howard University, in Washington DC, she formally conceded the election to Donald Trump in a phone call, emphasising “the importance of a peaceful transfer of power.”

The vice president will speak from Howard University in Washington DC, from which she graduated in 1986. She and her aides have spent much of the day working on the speech – she did not have one prepared due to the expectation that it would take a number of days for the final result to be known.

The Trump campaign in a statement by Steven Cheung, the campaign communications director, said Trump acknowledged Harris’s “strength, professionalism, and tenacity throughout the campaign, and both leaders agreed on the importance of unifying the country”.

Also, President Joe Biden has called Trump to congratulate him on his election win – and invited him to the White House for a transition meeting.

The White House said Biden “expressed his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition” with the president-elect and emphasised the “importance of working to bring the country together”.

Biden will address the nation tomorrow to discuss the results and the transition. His staff will coordinate a specific date for a meeting with Trump “in the near future”.

Biden also spoke on phone with Harris to congratulate her on an “historic campaign”.