U.S. President-elect Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the presidency transition process has already begun, despite Donald Trump’s refusal to recognize his defeat in the presidential election and obstacles to his administration.
“We are already starting the transition,” Biden said at the news conference, adding that Trump’s resignation “does not change the dynamics at all.”
Trump and his administration have blocked the normal presidency transition process, in which control of the US government is transferred to the next administration in less than three months.
The Trump administration is currently withholding millions of dollars for the newly elected president to facilitate the takeover of the government.
Biden said on Tuesday that his team is able to act even without access to these government funds.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that the State Department was acting as if Trump had been re-elected president.
“There will be a smooth transition to the second Trump administration,” Pompeo told a news conference in response to a question from when the State Department would begin the transition to the Baiden administration.
Pompeo added that the world “should be confident” of the State Department’s transition process.
Several leading US television channels reported on Saturday that Democratic candidate Joe Biden won the US presidential election, beating current White House owner Donald Trump.
The US states will present the official results of the presidential election next month, after which both candidates will be officially awarded the votes of the state electorate. The US Congress will approve the election results in early January, and the newly elected president will take office on January 20.
“There is currently one president and he will be president until January 20,” Biden said. “We will do exactly what we would do if he acknowledged defeat and said we had won, which we have done.”
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