Washington: Mike Pompeo, America’s chief diplomat, insisted on Donald Trump remaining in power in an unusual break from tradition.
All three offered their congratulations to Biden who had beaten Trump by a single vote in the recent presidential elections.
I’m telling them that America has returned. We will be in the game again. Biden said to reporters at his Delaware home.
Biden’s transition team stated that he planned to collaborate with Europeans in fighting Covid-19 as well as the climate change issue — another area where Trump and his allies differed sharply.
Biden, in his statement, “praised Merkel’s leadership.” He also called on “revitalizing trans-Atlantic relations, through NATO and EU.”
Johnson, who enjoyed a good relationship with Trump and Biden, spent 20 minutes talking with the latter and later wrote on Twitter about his desire to collaborate with Biden on the climate crisis, “promoting democratic values and rebuilding better after the pandemic.” This was the slogan used by the Democrat campaign.
Biden has been congratulated by all the other leaders of the Group of Seven Industrialized Democracies, as well as some of Trump’s closest allies including Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
US media outlets reported on Saturday that Biden had an unassailable lead in most states, as well as an overwhelming advantage in the national popular vote.
Trump, however, has not conceded and has promised legal action. He has said that there is massive fraud in the electoral process without providing any evidence.
Pompeo, Trump’s Secretary of State, clarified that Trump’s position was the official policy of his government as he dismissed a question about whether or not he had been cooperating with Biden’s transition team.
In a news conference that was sometimes tense, Pompeo stated: “There will be an easy transition into a second Trump Administration.”
In the lead-up to and following the 20th January inauguration, he said “the world” should be confident in the US Government’s functioning.
Pompeo, when asked if it was still possible for the United States to issue statements calling for free elections in other countries, called the question “ridiculous”. He said that the United States followed standard procedure.
Pompeo will visit Allies –
Trump’s refusal to accept defeat is not a legal act. The General Services Administration (GSA), the agency in Washington that is usually quiet and manages bureaucracy daily, refused to approve the transition. This has held up funds and security briefings, which would have allowed Biden to begin setting up his next administration.
After George W. Bush’s shortened preparation period following a disputed election, a US investigation commission into the 9/11 attacks warned about the security risk of presidential transitions.
Pompeo made his first comment in public on the outcome of the elections. Trump had fired Mark Esper, the Defense Secretary whom he deemed to be unloyal.
Pompeo will have to prove his stance as he departs Friday on a tour of seven nations that congratulated Biden.
The former Soviet Republic of Georgia will be his next stop after Paris. Then he will head to Jerusalem, and then three Gulf Arab Allies — Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the first leader in the world to express his congratulations to Biden on Tuesday, despite Biden’s pledge to increase pressure on Erdogan. He has called him an “autocrat.”
Russia, China, and Mexico are the only countries that did not congratulate Biden.
Biden is an Irish-American who has been passionately committed to peace in Northern Ireland for many years. He spoke to Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin on Tuesday and had a telephone conversation with Justin Trudeau the day before. Trudeau will be considered a close friend of the new president.
