US transition on hold as Trump’s inner circle remains split

WASHINGTON:

The business of transferring power between President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden seemed on hold as the incumbent plotted a messaging blitz to amplify his baseless claims of fraud even as his inner circle split over his ongoing refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election, CNN reported on Monday.

Most around Trump seemed to believe his slipshod legal efforts to challenge results in several states would eventually peter out and the President — if not actually acknowledging his defeat — would begin to move on. None seemed to believe he would refuse to leave office in January. But in the interim, the essential process of handing over power to Biden appears to be stalled. Inside the White House, there is no expectation that steps toward a transition will move ahead until Trump concedes or the government formally declares Biden the winner. “It ain’t over til it’s over ... and this AIN’T over!” Vice President Mike Pence told his staff during a morning all-hands meeting, according to a tweet he sent later in the day.

Some of those around Trump, however — including Kushner and first lady Melania Trump — have discussed whether he should acknowledge his defeat, sources told CNN this weekend. Others, however, have been urging Trump not to give up, including his two adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. One person familiar with the plans said the team wants to continue the battle for closer scrutiny of the ballot tallies even though Trump himself has not always seemed privately to believe he will be successful.

“Of anything, our worry is getting Trump more fired-up, not tempering him,” the official said. Meanwhile, US Presidentelect Joe Biden on Monday urged Americans to wear masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus and not consider it a “political statement,” as he named the scientists who will lead his administration’s response to the pandemic. Mindful of Covid-19’s nationwide surge, the Democrat said that after a divisive election Americans must unite around a “shared goal” of defeating the virus. “So please, I implore you, wear a mask,” Biden said in Wilmington after he and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris held a virtual briefing with his newly named Transition Covid-19 Advisory Board. “Do it for yourself, do it for your neighbour,” he added. “A mask is not a political statement, but it is a good way to start putting the country together.” “We’re still facing a very dark winter,” Biden said.

“The bottom line: I will spare no effort to turn this pandemic around once we’re sworn in on January 20.” Biden spoke shortly after US company Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech said a vaccine they had jointly developed had so far proven 90 percent effective in preventing infections in ongoing Phase 3 trials — news that cheered scientists, politicians and markets. The president-elect applauded the announcement, but insisted a mask still remains “the most potent weapon” against the virus, and that “today’s news does not change that urgent reality.” His advisory board will be led by three co-chairs: epidemiologist and former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner David Kessler, former surgeon general Vivek Murthy, and Yale public health professor Marcella Nunez-Smith, according to a statement from Biden’s transition team.

The board, which Biden says will help lay out a blueprint for action beginning on Day One of his presidency “built on a bedrock of science,” will have 10 members, ranging from immunologists and epidemiologists to biodefense experts and leading public health officials. Among them is Rick Bright, the virologist who was ousted by the Trump administration in April from his post as head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, the agency charged with developing a coronavirus vaccine.

The panel also includes former Barack Obama administration officials including one of his health care reform architects, Ezekiel Emanuel, and former National Security Council member Luciana Borio. Trump, apparently intent on settling scores within his administration, on Monday said in a tweet he had “terminated” Defense Secretary Mark Esper. Trump had split with Esper over a range of issues. “Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service,” Trump said on Twitter. He announced that Christopher Miller, the current head of the National Counterterrorism Center and former special forces officer, would replace Esper as acting defense secretary Esper, Trump’s fourth Pentagon chief in four years, was fired after 16 months in the job trying to keep his head down politically as he pursued fundamental reforms to the massive Pentagon bureaucracy and sought to reshape the US defense posture worldwide to focus on the threat of China.

But Trump was angered when Esper resisted pressure to deploy federal troops to quash civil unrest, and also slow-walked Trump’s desire for a rapid full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan while violence continues in the country. Trump’s move, expected by many insiders, was nevertheless a shock, coming just a week after losing his bid for reelection to Democrat Joe Biden and just 10 weeks before he will depart the White House. It added also adds to a sense of lowered security in the country, as Trump refuses to accept the verdict of last Tuesday’s election and has pledged to reverse it in court.

Miller spent 31 years in the army, deploying in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003 with the special forces. After retiring, he became a consultant on clandestine operations and intelligence to the government. In 2018-2019 he was a White House advisor on counterterrorism and transnational threats, and from 2019 was deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations. In August he was named director of the National Counterterrorism Center.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM NEWS DESK