WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden said he would "of course" attend Donald Trump's presidential inauguration in January, personally confirming his presence and rejecting what he called the Republican's "childish game."

"Of course I am," Biden said, in an interview broadcast on Dec 19 on the Meidas Touch network, when asked if he was planning to attend the Jan 20 transfer of power.

"The only president ever to avoid an inauguration is the guy that's about to be inaugurated."

The White House had said Biden would attend, but Biden had not previously addressed the matter personally.

Trump did not attend the swearing-in of Democrat Biden as the 46th US president on Jan 20, 2021, becoming the first president in 150 years to break with a political tradition that is seen as affirming the peaceful transfer of power in the US.

Trump never conceded his defeat to Biden in the Nov 3, 2020, presidential election and has continued to make unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.

His refusal to concede led to a chaotic transition of government operations to the Biden administration, delaying funding and access to federal agencies.

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