He blocked for weeks.
But tonight, Donald Trump is once again a bit historic - and initiates the transfer of power.
Please do not confuse this with an admission of defeat.
US election 2020 *: At the core of
Donald Trump's *
weeks of struggle to maintain
power
was
to block
the orderly handover of office to
election winner Joe Biden *
.
Now Trump reluctantly gives in.
But he doesn't want to know anything about a defeat in the election and continues to fight against the “most corrupt election in US history”.
Washington
- After weeks of hanging, the transition between the administration of US President Donald Trump * and the elected US President Joe Biden can begin.
Trump said on Monday evening (local time) on Twitter that he had instructed the authorities and his employees to cooperate with Biden.
... fight, and I believe we will prevail!
Nevertheless, in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 23, 2020
2020 US election: Trump agrees to hand over power
Shortly before, the responsible authority had classified
GSA
Biden as the obvious
winner
and at the same time declared that it had made this decision independently.
It cleared the way for the Democrat's team to have access to ministries, agencies and confidential government information, as well as millions of dollars in salaries and other expenses, before the inauguration in January.
US election 2020: Trump continues to refuse to recognize election defeats
Trump continues to refuse to admit defeat in the November 3rd election.
He claims the victory was stolen from him through massive election fraud.
More than 30 lawsuits by his lawyers have already been dismissed by the courts.
Trump made it clear on Monday that he wanted to keep fighting and was once again confident of victory.
Nevertheless, he recommended to the GSA and his team "in the best interests of the country" that they "do what has to be done".
Five hours after the transfer of power began: Trump speaks of the most corrupt election in history
Five hours later, he went ahead and tweeted, “What has the GSA permission to begin its preliminary work to do with the most corrupt election in American history?
We continue to advance at full speed. "
What does GSA being allowed to preliminarily work with the Dems have to do with continuing to pursue our various cases on what will go down as the most corrupt election in American political history?
We are moving full speed ahead.
Will never concede to fake ballots & “Dominion”.
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2020
Before the official start of the transition process, Biden had announced who he would like to fill key positions in his future government with.
He nominated his longtime advisor
Antony Blinken
as foreign minister
.
The
Ministry of
Homeland Security is supposed to be led by the
Cuban exile
Alejandro Mayorkas
.
Former
Secretary of State John Kerry
is
slated
to become a special envoy for the
climate in the White House National Security Council
.
According to media reports, Biden also wants to put
ex-Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen
at the head of the Treasury - as the first woman ever.
Biden's team linked the personal details with a commitment to multilateral cooperation in times of crisis.
"Historical challenges require historical, new approaches," Kerry explained in a video.
The new US administration will bring the world together to meet challenges that no nation can overcome alone.
Since Biden was proclaimed the winner of the presidential election by the US media on November 7th, he has demonstrated zest for action, but his hands have largely been tied because of Trump's stance on the blockade.
In the USA, preparations for a change of power usually begin immediately after the election of a new president.
Every day is precious: The US President's power is unprecedented; he must be fully operational from day one, especially when it comes to national security.
As commander in chief of the armed forces, he is responsible for a good 1.3 million soldiers and has the codes to approve the use of nuclear weapons in an emergency.
The president and his government are responsible for a budget of nearly five trillion US dollars (4.2 trillion euros).
In the transition period, the president not only has to put his cabinet together, but also quickly fill thousands of posts in the White House, ministries and authorities.
Around 1200 personal details must be approved by the Senate.
Biden's transition team now has access to more than $ 6 million from the treasury.
In addition, its employees are now officially allowed to communicate with government officials, which they were previously denied and which led to the active use of informal channels.
The formal beginning of the handover is also visible in the ending .gov, which the Biden team can now use for its websites.
Biden had condemned Trump's blocking stance as "completely irresponsible" and warned that, among other things, it could delay the containment of the coronavirus and lead to an even larger number of victims.
More than a quarter of a million people have died since the beginning of the pandemic - in terms of absolute numbers, that is more than in any other country in the world.
Biden's team welcomed the end of the blockade on Monday as "a necessary step to begin addressing the challenges our country is facing".
At meetings with current government officials, measures in the corona crisis will be discussed in the coming days and an insight into national security issues will be gained.
The orderly handover of official business (“transition”) after a presidential election has been enshrined in law for almost 60 years.
In doing so, Congress wanted to ensure that Americans could always count on having a functioning government.
"Any interruption caused by the transfer of government business could result in results that are detrimental to the safety and well-being of the United States and its citizens," it said in 1963 to justify the law.
Even before the election, there were fears that Trump could hinder the transition to a new administration.
The 74-year-old had not given any assurance that he would accept the election result, nor had he wanted to guarantee a peaceful transfer of power.
The "New York Times" reported that on Monday executives told him that the handover had to begin.
Trump had also been advised that he did not have to use the word "give up" in his mouth.
The unusually long hanging game after the election on November 3 was also a result of the large number of postal votes that had been cast mainly due to the pandemic.
It was not until four days later that the US media - as is usual in the United States - declared Biden the winner on the basis of their own surveys and counted votes.
The last time George Bush senior was voted out after only one term in office was in 1992.
The US president is only elected indirectly by the people.
The votes of the voters decide on the composition of the electoral college, which then elects the president in December.
A candidate needs a majority of 538 electorates to win - Biden got 306 electorates behind him.
His inauguration is scheduled for January 20th.
The states are currently officially confirming the election results.
After the important state of Michigan officially confirmed Biden's victory there on Monday, Emily Murphy, head of the General Service Administration (GSA), forwarded the decisive letter to Biden, published by the news channel CNN.
The pressure on Murphy, who was appointed by Trump, had recently increased significantly.
In the letter, which is a formality in normal election years, she defended herself against the accusation of not having named Biden earlier as the obvious election winner out of “fear or nepotism”.
