Trump paves way for transition to Biden presidency
DONALD TRUMP last night directed his team to cooperate with an incoming President-elect Joe Biden administration after the General Services Administration ascertained the Democrat as the “apparent election winner”.
Mr Trump, whose words brought him closer to a concession, tweeted: “In the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily (Murphy, GSA Administrator) and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and told my team to do the same.”
The move clears the way for the start of an official transition and allows Mr Biden to coordinate with federal agencies on plans for taking over on Jan 20. An official said Ms Murphy made the determination after the president’s efforts to subvert the vote failed across battleground states, most recently in Michigan, which certified Mr Biden’s victory Monday. However, Mr Trump still appeared defiant, saying he would “keep up the good fight and I believe we will prevail.” have
Mr Biden yesterday began announcing key cabinet positions. He nominated as his secretary of state Tony Blinken, a veteran adviser who called Brexit a “total mess” and compared Britain leaving the EU to a dog catching a car and being run over.
With the president-elect’s administration taking shape, he also announced John Kerry, the Democrat presidential nominee in 2004, as his climate adviser. Jake Sullivan, a former Rhodes scholar at the University of Oxford, will be national security adviser. Mr Blinken, 58, and Mr Sullivan, 43, previously worked as advisers to Mr Biden when he was vice-president, and have been described as his “brains trust” on foreign policy.
The former president called Mr Blinken “outstanding, smart, gracious, a skilled diplomat, well regarded around the world”.
Mr Biden’s choice of Mr Blinken is also an indication of how starkly different his view of post-brexit Britain may be to that of Mr Trump.
Mr Blinken is a fluent French speaker who studied in Paris. He offered his scathing assessment of Brexit on a podcast in March last year. At the time, Theresa May was trying to force her Withdrawal Agreement through Parliament. “This is not just the dog that caught the car,” Mr Blinken said. “This is the dog that caught the car, and the car goes into reverse, and runs over the dog. And it’s a total mess.”
Mr Blinken went on to criticise the “generational aspect” of Brexit. He said: “You have so many young Brits who feel like they have had the rug pulled out from under them. And they feel their elders have done something to them that they will regret.”
He also said maintaining the Good Friday Agreement would be “certainly a heck of a lot tougher” after Brexit.
Mr Blinken has indicated that much of his focus would be on corralling allies to stop China’s spreading influence, while also working with the country on global issues including climate change.
The president-elect appears to be delivering on promises of diversity in his cabinet. He is expected to name Janet Yellen to lead the treasury department, according to the Wall Street Journal. She would be the first woman to hold the position in US history.