Biden tells world leaders 'America is back' but Pompeo digs in

[WASHINGTON] The leaders of close US allies on Tuesday telephoned President-elect Joe Biden and pledged to work together but in an extraordinary break, America's top diplomat Mike Pompeo insisted that Donald Trump would remain in power.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel all offered congratulations in calls to Biden, who a week earlier edged out Mr Trump in the presidential election.

"I'm letting them know that America is back. We're going to be back in the game. It's not America alone," Mr Biden told reporters in his home state of Delaware.

The transition team said Mr Biden planned to work with the Europeans on fighting the Covid-19 pandemic as well as climate change - one of many areas on which Mr Trump sharply differed with the allies.

On the call with Dr Merkel, who has been savaged by Mr Trump over her welcoming of migrants and Germany's modest defence expenditure, Mr Biden in a statement "praised her leadership" and called for "revitalising the trans-Atlantic relationship."

Mr Johnson, who had a warm relationship with Mr Trump, spoke for 20 minutes with Mr Biden and wrote later on Twitter that he hoped to work with him on "building back better from the pandemic," employing the slogan from the Democrat's campaign.

'SECOND TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'

All fellow leaders of the Group of Seven industrialised democracies have congratulated Mr Biden as have some of Mr Trump's closest allies, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

US media outlets concluded on Saturday that Mr Biden enjoyed unassailable leads in major states as well as a commanding edge in the nationwide popular vote.

But Mr Trump has refused to concede and has vowed legal challenges, saying without evidence that there was massive electoral fraud.

Mr Pompeo, Mr Trump's secretary of state, made clear that Mr Trump's stance was official government policy as he brushed aside a question on whether he was cooperating with the Biden transition team.

"There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration," Mr Pompeo said in a sometimes testy news conference.

He said that "the world should have every confidence" in the functioning of the US government in the run-up and after the January 20 inauguration.

Asked if the United States can still be issuing statements urging free elections around the world, Mr Pompeo called the question "ridiculous" and said the United States was following standard procedures.

Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, said Mr Pompeo was out of touch with reality.

"Secretary Pompeo, Joe Biden has won. He's won the election. Now move on," Mr Schumer told reporters.

"We have a Covid crisis raging. We don't have time for these kinds of games."

POMPEO TO VISIT ALLIES

Mr Trump's failure to concede has no legal force in itself, but the General Services Administration, the usually low-key agency that manages the Washington bureaucracy, has refused to sign off on the transition, holding up funding and security briefings.

A US commission that investigated the September 11, 2001 attacks had warned that presidential transitions pose security risks, after the shortened period for George W. Bush to prepare following a disputed election.

Mr Pompeo was making his first public comment on the election outcome. One day earlier, Mr Trump fired Defence Secretary Mark Esper whom he had long seen as insufficiently loyal.

Mr Pompeo's stance will be put to the test as he leaves on Friday for a seven-nation tour of allies that have congratulated Mr Biden.

He will head first to France and then Turkey followed by the former Soviet republic of Georgia. He will then head to Israel and three Gulf Arab allies - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday became the latest leader to congratulate Mr Biden despite the president-elect's vows to step up pressure on Mr Erdogan, whom he has described as an "autocrat." Russia, China, Mexico and Brazil are among the only major nations that have not congratulated Biden.

Mr Biden, an Irish-American long passionate about peace in Northern Ireland, also spoke on Tuesday to Irish leader Micheal Martin and a day earlier held telephone talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is expected to be a close ally of the incoming president.

AFP