U.S. President Joe Biden, long a political adversary of President-elect Donald Trump, declared Thursday that Trump’s election this week to a second nonconsecutive four-year term in the White House was “fair” and “transparent,” and that there would be a peaceful transfer of power on January 20.
Biden, speaking to dozens of his White House aides in the Rose Garden, said he accepted that Trump had defeated his vice president, Kamala Harris.
“The will of the people always prevail,” Biden said, “As I’ve said many times, you can’t love your country only when you win. And you can’t love your neighbor only when you agree.”
But Biden, a Democratic political figure for five decades, lamented what might have been — for the vice president he picked to run alongside him in 2020 to succeed him. He praised her campaign as “inspiring” and said she “gave her whole heart and effort.”
“We lost this battle,” Biden said. “Setbacks are unavoidable, but giving up is unforgivable. We’re going to be okay, but we need to stay engaged. We need to keep going. And above all, we need to keep the faith.”
Biden described his single term as the U.S. leader as “an historic presidency” that will be “changing people’s lives” for years to come, especially infrastructure improvements throughout that the country that he pushed to congressional approval during the first two years of his presidency.
Biden, who ousted Trump from power in the 2020 election, said in a seven-minute address that he is leaving his Republican political rival and now his successor “the strongest economy in the world.”
While economic numerical standards support that assessment, voter exit polling showed to a significant degree that Trump supporters disapproved of Biden and Harris’ handling of the American economy, the world’s largest, because rising consumer prices throughout their time in office sharply squeezed household budgets.
Trump vowed during his campaign, without saying how, that he would bring down inflation. He has proposed new tax cuts during his upcoming administration, which would put more money in the pockets of consumers, particularly the wealthiest, and corporate coffers, but could also balloon the country’s long-term national debt that already totals nearly $36 trillion.
Biden called Trump on Wednesday to congratulate him and invited him to the White House soon to discuss their handover of power.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Thursday that if Trump wants U.S. intelligence briefings, he will get them. An ODNI spokesperson said the agency “is acting consistent with the tradition, in place since 1952, of providing intelligence briefings to the president-elect,” although it was not known whether Trump has made such a request.
Key appointments
Meanwhile, Trump is moving quickly to consider appointments to key positions in his new White House administration and could name some choices within days.
He has been huddling with aides at his oceanside Mar-a-Lago retreat in Florida to mull over his options.
Even before the election, transition chiefs Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon met with some potential candidates for top jobs, either in the White House or to head the government’s Cabinet-level departments and an array of other agencies.
Trump could name the world’s richest man, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, a staunch advocate and campaign donor for Trump, to a new position to find government inefficiencies and curb spending excesses.
Another major Trump political supporter, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a scion of a U.S. Democratic Party dynasty, could be named to oversee health issues, even though he has rebuffed COVID vaccinations as unneeded.
Several Wall Street financiers are under consideration for top-level economic positions, and Trump aides say that some Republican senators may be tapped to head Cabinet-level agencies.
Trump aides also have prepared a long list of possible executive orders and regulation reversals for him to sign on his first day in office, to end policies that have been adopted by Biden over the last four years.
Biden was running for reelection against Trump until his disastrous debate performance against Trump in June and falling poll numbers forced him from the contest. Biden quickly endorsed Harris.
In a statement Wednesday, Biden praised Harris for her campaign, saying, “She’s been a tremendous partner and public servant full of integrity, courage and character.
“Under extraordinary circumstances, she stepped up and led a historic campaign that embodied what’s possible when guided by a strong moral compass and a clear vision for a nation that is more free, more just and full of more opportunities for all Americans,” Biden said.
VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
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