Joe Biden pushes forward with plans for White House as pressure grows on Donald Trump to go quietly

April Roach @aprilroach289 November 2020

Joe Biden is pushing ahead with plans for the White House, as Donald Trump continues to refuse to concede defeat in the 2020 US election. 

Mr Biden was elected the 46th president on Saturday after he won more than the 270 electoral colleges that were required for him to declare victory.

Mr Trump, who had threatened legal action to prove voter fraud, has so failed to make the customary call to Mr Biden and has spent the past few days shunning the media and spending time on the golf course. 

On Sunday, he tweeted: “Since when does the Lamestream Media call who our next president will be? We have all learned a lot in the last two weeks!” 

But he has has come under mounting pressure to concede his loss after former president George W Bush said the election was "fundamentally fair".

The Republican, who served two terms in the White House, said: “Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man, who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country.”

The General Services Administration (GSA), which is tasked with formally recognising Mr Biden as president-elect, has also not started the process, which triggers transition, and has given no guidance as to when it will do so.

Jen Psaki, a Biden transition aide, tweeted on Sunday: “America’s national security and economic interests depend on the federal government signalling clearly and swiftly that the United States government will respect the will of the American people and engage in a smooth and peaceful transfer of power."

The advisory board of the non-partisan Center for Presidential Transition also urged the Trump administration to “immediately begin the post-election transition process and the Biden team to take full advantage of the resources available under the Presidential Transition Act”.

CNN's White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins, said her sources had told her the President’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, has raised the question of concession with him.

US-VOTE-BIDEN-HARRIS-POLITICS
Joe Biden waves as he arrives to deliver remarks in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday
AFP via Getty Images

It was widely reported that Mr Trump’s wife Melania was privately urging him to leave the White House quietly, but she appeared to back his baseless claims of voter fraud on Sunday, tweeting: "The American people deserve fair elections. Every legal – not illegal – vote should be counted. We must protect our democracy with complete transparency."

Trump campaign aides, senior Republican officials and other allies say that the president’s threatened legal action is more about creating a more palatable exit strategy from the White House and keeping supporters on side than it is about proving electoral wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, Mr Biden is taking steps to build a government despite questions about whether Mr Trump will offer the traditional assistance.

He is focusing first on coronavirus, which has already killed nearly 240,000 Americans. The president-elect will announce details on Monday of a Covid-19 task force that will create a blueprint to attempt to bring the pandemic under control that he plans to begin implementing after assuming the presidency on January 20.T

Friends and Irish relatives of the Joe Biden gathered at a special event in Carlingford ,Co Louth, to celebrate his victory
PA

The 77-year-old Democrat has already named former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler and Huddersfield-born former surgeon general Dr Vivek Murthy as co-chairmen.

He referenced the new Covid-19 taskforce in his victory speech which was given in the early hours of Sunday in Wilmington, Delaware.

"For all those of you who voted for President Trump, I understand the disappointment," Mr Biden said during the drive-in event. "It's time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again." 

Mr Biden is also reported to be considering a series of orders to reverse controversial decisions by Mr Trump.

The Financial Times said Mr Biden will seek to rejoin the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organisation, and end the travel ban on citizens of seven, largely Muslim, countries through executive orders which do not need congressional approval.

Additional reporting by PA Media.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in