Tag: USA

The meeting between the sitting President and their successor marks the beginning of a peaceful power transfer, culminating in the new President’s inauguration. In 2020, Trump denied Biden this meeting, refusing to accept his loss…reports Asian Lite News

President Joe Biden received President-elect Donald Trump to the Oval Office at the White House on Wednesday in a customary gesture marking the peaceful transfer of power that had not been shown to him four years ago by the latter.  

“Welcome, welcome back,” Biden said to Trump at the start of their meeting. 

“Politics is tough,” Trump responded. And it’s, in many cases, not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today. And I appreciate it very much — a transition that’s so smooth it’ll be as smooth as it can get. And I very much appreciate that, Joe.” 

The First Lady also joined Biden in greeting Trump upon his arrival at the White House. She gave Trump a handwritten congratulatory letter, which also conveyed her team’s readiness to assist with the transition. 

White House Chief-of-Staff Jeff Zients and incoming White House Chief-of-Staff Susie Wiles attended the meeting, according to the White House. 

The practice of the sitting President receiving their incoming successor signals the start of a peaceful transfer of power, which is completed with the inauguration of the new President on January 21 with the ceremonial swearing-in on the steps of the Capitol. 

Trump had refused to accord Biden the same meeting in 2020, as he had refused to accept the verdict that he had lost. And, in fact, in January a crowd of his supporters had raided the Capitol to prevent a joint sitting of congress from certifying Biden’s victory. He had also refused to attend Biden’s inauguration and had left the same morning for his resort home in Palm Beach, Florida. 

Biden also told Trump in remarks before the meeting that his administration would “do everything we can to make sure (of) accommodating what you need”. 

The transition from one administration to another is a massive effort with over 4,000 federal government vacancies left by the outgoing administration to be filled by the incoming President and campaigns usually have a long and detailed transition plan ready much in advance. 

Trump has started filling the top positions and has announced a string of nominees for the cabinet in the last few days — Pete Hegseth for secretary of defence, Kristi Noem for secretary of homeland security — and other positions in the White House like Susie Wiles as chief of staff and Mike Waltz as the national security adviser. 

Melania boycotts tea invitation from Jill Biden 

Melania Trump boycotted a meeting with Jill Biden, while their husbands held a traditional meeting at the White House on Wednesday.  

Two hours before US President-elect Donald Trump and President Joe Biden were to meet, the office of Melania Trump said in an X post, “Mrs Trump will not be attending today’s meeting at the White House.” 

“Her husband’s return to the Oval Office to commence the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success,” it said. 

Her office did not give a reason for her not taking up First Lady Jill Biden’s invitation for tea. 

But it added, “In this instance, several unnamed sources in the media continue to provide false, misleading, and inaccurate information. Be discerning with your source of news.” 

It did not specifically deny any of the reports about her not meeting Jill Biden. 

The New York Post had reported on Monday that she was not going to the White House and quoted an unnamed “source familiar with Melania’s decision” as saying that she was miffed that Jill Biden’s husband authorised the raid on the Mara-a-Lago residence during which Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents went through her personal wardrobe. 

The FBI raided the Trumps’ home in August 2022 looking for top secret documents that Trump allegedly took with him in contraversion of the Official Secrets Act. 

Blinken due in Brussels to reassure EU allies 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken set out for a multi-country trip of which the first stop will be Brussels, where he is expected to provide reassurance to European allies on US support for Ukraine ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term. 

According to a statement from the State Department on Tuesday, Blinken will be in Brussels, where the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) and the European Union are headquartered, “for meetings with his Nato and European Union counterparts to discuss support for Ukraine in its defence against” Russia. 

The trip comes in the waning days of Blinken being the Secretary of State, and as Trump had reportedly chosen Florida Senator Marco Rubio as the country’s top diplomat, Xinhua news agency reported. 

Among Rubio’s tasks as the next Secretary of State will be fulfilling Trump’s promise of a quick resolution to end the Russia-Ukraine war. 

Trump has vowed to end the war within 24 hours after assuming office, but how he is going to achieve that remains to be seen.

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While some Republican lawmakers had a muted response to the announcement, others called his combat experience an asset or said he was “tremendously capable”…reports Asian Lite News 

President-elect Donald Trump stunned the Pentagon and the broader defense world by nominating Fox News host Pete Hegseth to serve as his defense secretary, tapping someone largely inexperienced and untested on the global stage to take over the world’s largest and most powerful military. 

The news was met with bewilderment and wide-eyed worry among many in Washington, as Trump passed on a number of established national security heavy-hitters and chose an Army National Guard captain who is well-known in conservative circles as a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend.” 

While some Republican lawmakers had a muted response to the announcement, others called his combat experience an asset or said he was “tremendously capable.” 

Hegseth’s choice could bring sweeping changes to the military, as he has made it clear on his show and in interviews that, like Trump, he is stridently opposed to “woke” programs that promote equity and inclusion. He’s also questioned the role of women in combat and advocated pardoning service members charged with war crimes. 

In June, at a rally in Las Vegas, Trump encouraged his supporters to buy Hegseth’s book after vowing that if he won: “The woke stuff will be gone within a period of 24 hours. I can tell you.” 

A staunch conservative who embraces Trump’s “America First” policies, the 44-year-old Hegseth has pushed for making the military more lethal. During an interview on “The Shawn Ryan Show” podcast, he said allowing women to serve in combat hurts that effort. 

“Everything about men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated, and complication in combat, that means casualties are worse,” Hegseth said. 

And while he said diversity in the military is a strength, he said it was because minority and white men “can perform similarly” but the same isn’t true for women. 

While Trump lauded Hegseth as “tough, smart and a true believer in America First,” others were quick to point to the TV personality’s lack of experience, with some suggesting he could be Pentagon chief in name only as the Trump White House runs the department. 

A number of other names floated as possible defense choices had included Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, the GOP chairman of the House Armed Services Committee; retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg; Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa; and Robert Wilkie, a former Pentagon official who was head of Veterans Affairs in Trump’s first term. 

“There is reason for concern that this is not a person who is a serious enough policymaker, serious enough policy implementer, to do a successful job,” said Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. 

Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Hegseth’s lack of senior national security experience makes it more difficult to get Senate confirmation. 

“I think Trump was tired of fighting with his secretaries of defense and picked one who would be loyal to him,” Cancian said. 

Military officials said the choice came out of the blue. A senior military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said Hegseth’s selection is raising concerns about whether he has the practical experience to manage a large department with an enormous budget. 

The Defense Department has a budget exceeding $800 billion, with about 1.3 million active-duty troops and another 1.4 million in the National Guard, Reserves and civilian employees based worldwide. 

If confirmed, Hegseth would face a daunting array of global crises, from the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine and the expanding alliance between Russia and North Korea to the growing competition with China. There is also the need to upgrade the complex U.S. missile and nuclear defense apparatus and ensure the defense industry can keep up with America’s need for weapons systems. 

Smith said that while Hegseth’s combat experience is a plus, running the Pentagon requires a lot of other skill sets, and his nomination will need some time for consideration. 

“What’s your plan? What are you going to do? … How can you assure us that that lack of experience, you know, isn’t going to make it impossible for you to do the job?” Smith said. “I think those are questions that need to be answered over the next couple of months.” 

Even some Republicans in the Senate — who would vote on his nomination — had a subdued response. North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis called the choice “interesting,” and Indiana Sen. Todd Young, who served in the Marine Corps, said, “I don’t know much about his background or his vision, so I look forward to learning more.” 

North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said he’s not surprised that Trump chose Hegseth because Trump is “close to him and likes him and trusts him.” 

“The guy’s obviously tremendously capable, a great communicator,” Hoeven said. “I look forward to getting to know him better.” House Speaker Mike Johnson said Hegseth brings a lot to the table and will be “reform-minded in the areas that need reform.” 

Hegseth has been a contributor since 2014 for Fox News, developing a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on his show. He is the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.” 

“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down,” Trump said in a statement. “Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy.” 

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The trip comes in the waning days of Blinken being the Secretary of State, and as Trump had reportedly chosen Florida Senator Marco Rubio as the country’s top diplomat…reports Asian Lite news

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken set out for a multi-country trip of which the first stop will be Brussels, where he is expected to provide reassurance to European allies on US support for Ukraine ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.

According to a statement from the State Department on Tuesday, Blinken will be in Brussels, where the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) and the European Union are headquartered, “for meetings with his Nato and European Union counterparts to discuss support for Ukraine in its defence against” Russia.

The trip comes in the waning days of Blinken being the Secretary of State, and as Trump had reportedly chosen Florida Senator Marco Rubio as the country’s top diplomat, Xinhua news agency reported.

Among Rubio’s tasks as the next Secretary of State will be fulfilling Trump’s promise of a quick resolution to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

Trump has vowed to end the war within 24 hours after assuming office, but how he is going to achieve that remains to be seen.

The President-elect reportedly held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday — shortly after he won the presidential election — during which he allegedly told the Russian leader not to escalate the situation in Ukraine. The Kremlin denied the existence of such a call entirely.

After concluding the trip to Belgium, Blinken will be headed to Peru and Brazil, where he will join President Joe Biden at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting and the G20 Leaders’ Summit, respectively.

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