Washington (AFP) - US President Joe Biden will make a painful address to the nation Thursday to vow a peaceful transfer of power, as Donald Trump prepared to choose his top team after his crushing election win.

In what promises to be an agonizing moment for Biden, he will speak in the Rose Garden of the White House at 11:00 am (1600 GMT) to “discuss the election results and the transition” to Trump’s second term.

The 81-year-old dropped out of the race against Trump in July and handed the Democratic nomination to Vice President Kamala Harris – but is now likely to see his legacy dismantled after the Republican beat Harris to secure a historic comeback.

Biden is however apparently determined to draw a stark contrast with the billionaire, whose refusal to accept his own 2020 election defeat by the Democrat culminated in the violent January 6, 2021 assault by Trump’s supporters on the US Capitol.

The White House said Biden spoke with Trump on Wednesday and “expressed his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition.”

Biden has also invited Trump to meet at the White House, despite their long history of bitter animosity. Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said the president-elect “looks forward to the meeting, which will take place shortly.”

It will be the first time they have met since Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Trump in June that forced him out of the race.

World leaders swiftly pledged to work with Trump, despite concerns in much of the globe about his nationalist “America First” approach and pledges to slap huge tariffs on foreign imports.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing and Washington must find a way to “get along” in a message to Trump, calling for “stable” bilateral ties.

- ‘Selecting personnel’ -

Trump, who is at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, is now working on his transition team after an overwhelming victory that promises a radically transformed political landscape for the United States and the world.

His campaign said in a statement late Wednesday that “in the days and weeks ahead, President Trump will be selecting personnel to serve our nation under his leadership.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leading figure in the anti-vaccine movement for whom Trump has pledged a “big role” in healthcare, told NBC News on Wednesday that “I’m not going to take away anybody’s vaccines.”

But the former independent candidate, who dropped out of the race to back Trump, reiterated that the Trump administration would recommend removing fluoride from the US water supply.

The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, could also be in line for a job after enthusiastically backing Trump. The incoming president has said he will ask the SpaceX, Tesla and X boss to audit the US government to cut waste.

US voters backed Trump’s hardline right-wing policies and rejected Biden and Harris’s record, especially on the economy and inflation, exit polls showed.

Armed with a sweeping mandate, Trump 2.0 promises to be more untrammeled than his first chaotic presidency – and could dismantle huge chunks of Biden’s legacy.

Trump could start by halting the incumbent’s billions of dollars in military aid for Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s 2022 invasion, having previously suggested he would pressure Kyiv to make a peace deal.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him and urge a “just peace.”

Trump will also return to the White House as a climate change denier, poised to take apart Biden’s green policies with his pledge to “drill, baby, drill” for oil.

Ultimately Biden’s legacy was supposed to be a Harris victory that would keep Trump out of power – but many Democrats feel he waited too long to step aside for his vice president.

He paid tribute to Harris’s “courage” and “integrity” after her concession speech on Wednesday.

One thing Biden and Trump do have in common however is age.

Already 78, Trump is on course to break Biden’s record as the oldest-ever sitting president during his four-year term. He will surpass Biden, who is set to step down in January at the age of 82.