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US President Donald Trump acknowledged that it was time for the General Services Administration to “do what needs to be done.”
FILE: US President Donald Trump addresses supporters during a campaign rally at MBS International Airport in Freeland, Michigan on September 10, 2020. Image: AFP.
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump came closest so far to admitting electoral defeat on Monday after the government agency meant to ease Joe Biden’s transition to the White House said it was finally lifting its unprecedented lockdown. in attendance.
Trump acknowledged that it was time for the General Services Administration “to do what needs to be done.”
In the same tweet, he insisted that he was still refusing to budge, saying, “Our case continues STRONGLY, we will continue the good fight and I believe we will prevail.”
fight, and I believe we will prevail! However, in the best interest of our country, I recommend that Emily and her team do whatever it takes regarding the initial protocols, and I have told my team to do the same.
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 23, 2020
But the Republican’s signing of the GSA’s decision to work with Biden’s transition team indicated that even he sees the writing on the wall after three weeks of no-evidence claims that the Nov. 3 election was stolen.
This means that Biden’s team will now have access to funds, office space, and the ability to meet with federal officials.
Biden’s office, which earlier announced hours earlier that a highly experienced group will be nominated for top US foreign policy and security positions, said the GSA would now allow “the support necessary to carry out a smooth transfer of power and peaceful”.
“In the coming days, transition officials will begin meeting with federal officials to discuss the response to the pandemic, have a full accounting of our national security interests, and gain a full understanding of the Trump administration’s efforts to empty agencies. governmental, “said Biden’s director of transition, Yohannes. Abraham said in a statement.
The sudden break in Trump’s dogged attempt to deny Biden’s victory came after Michigan became the latest state to certify its results and the most powerful Trump supporters came out demanding an end to the stalemate.
OFFER TO CHANGE DIPLOMACY
Earlier, Biden announced a packed foreign policy and national security team of veterans from the Barack Obama years, ending the turmoil under Trump and a return to traditional American diplomacy.
Top of the list was former State Department No. 2 Antony Blinken, chosen for secretary of state.
Biden also named the first female intelligence chief, the first Latina chief of Homeland Security, the first woman Treasury secretary, and a climate heavyweight man: the top diplomat of the Obama era, John Kerry.
The list released by Biden’s team ahead of a formal announcement on Tuesday showed momentum to regain the leading US role in multilateral alliances, in contrast to Trump’s “America First” regime.
“They will bring the world together to take on our challenges like no other, challenges that no nation can face alone,” Biden tweeted. “It is time to restore American leadership.”
Blinken, a longtime adviser to Biden, will lead a rapid dismantling of Trump’s independent policies, including rejoining the Paris climate accord and the World Health Organization and the resurrection of the Obama-crafted Iran nuclear deal.
Biden appointed the first woman, Avril Haines, director of national intelligence, and Cuban-born Alejandro Mayorkas, to head the Department of Homeland Security, the agency whose oversight of strict immigration restrictions under Trump was a frequent source of controversy. .
Noting the Democratic president-elect’s campaign promise to raise the profile of the threats of global warming, he appointed Kerry as a new special envoy for climate affairs.
And in another message of America’s revival to the international community, Biden appointed career diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield as UN ambassador.
Jake Sullivan, who also advised Biden when he was Obama’s vice president, has been named national security adviser.
Chosen to run the world’s largest economy as Secretary of the Treasury was Janet Yellen, who will make history as the first woman in office if confirmed. The 74-year-old was confirmed as chairman of the Federal Reserve under Obama in 2014 and replaced by Trump four years later.
The selections underscore an emphasis on professionals Biden already knows well, in contrast to the Trump White House, where officials were often chosen without a traditional background for the job or were shown to be incompatible and left acrimoniously.
REDUCTION OPTIONS
Meanwhile, the president has largely stopped at least his public work duties, while on his way to a golf course he owns in Virginia a half dozen times since the election.
Nor has he answered questions from reporters since the elections, a previously unimaginable silence from a president who for most of his time in office argued almost daily with the press.
However, his options to annul the elections are rapidly diminishing in the face of repeated defeats by the courts.
With Biden scoring a comfortable victory, Trump’s latest letter is to disrupt the normally routine state-by-state results certification process, followed by the formal Dec. 14 vote by the Electoral College. However, that too is bearing little fruit.
More cracks appeared in the facade of Republican unity on Monday when Senator Rob Portman said it was “time to quickly resolve any outstanding issues and move on.”
Senator Lamar Alexander, a high-ranking Republican and close ally of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said “It seems clear that Joe Biden will be president-elect.”
“My hope is that President Trump will take pride in his considerable accomplishments, put the country first, and have a swift and orderly transition to help the new administration succeed,” he said after issuing a similar, albeit less, statement. direct, a few days before.
There was also a push from Trump’s highest-profile backer on Wall Street, Stephen Schwarzman, head of private equity group Blackstone, who told Axios that “the country should move on.”
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