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The Trump Administration is withholding the messages that world leaders are sending to the President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden. CNN television reported Wednesday that the State Department is refusing to deliver dozens of messages directed at Biden and his transition team.
Trump still does not recognize the electoral defeat and is trying in the US court to reverse the results of the presidential elections, held on November 3.
State Department officials told CNN that messages to Biden began arriving over the weekend, when his victory was confirmed.
The State Department normally organizes communications with presidents-elect, but the Trump Administration denied Joe Biden’s transition team access to the information and contacts necessary to begin this task.
Biden, however, held talks with world leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Irish counterpart Micheál Martin.
The first foreign leader to speak to Biden to congratulate him on Monday’s victory was Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. On Wednesday, he spoke with Prime Ministers of Japan, Yoshihide Suga of Australia, Scott Morrison and with the President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in.
The number of countries that have yet to recognize Biden has been declining, but includes the two major powers in Latin America, Mexico and Brazil, as well as Russia and China. They await confirmation of the results to do so.
Biden made all of these calls without the help of the State Department, as is common with other power transitions in the United States.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recalled Tuesday that “the votes are still being counted” and, furthermore, said that the transition will be peaceful between one Trump administration to another Trump administration.
The Trump campaign has filed lawsuits in several states, alleging widespread election fraud, with no evidence to support the charge.
To win the court election, Trump would have to reverse the vote in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada or Arizona, all of which are states where Biden has already been declared the winner or is clearly moving forward. The latest figures show that Biden has 290 delegates in the Electoral College, more than 270 guaranteeing victory, while Trump has 217, missing 42.
