Washington calls time on Donald Trump, prepares for the Joe Biden era

Donald Trump hasn’t admitted defeat but it’s time to start preparing for a new era.

Joe Biden arrives at the Queen to meet virtually with the United States Conference of Mayors in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday (AEDT). Picture: AFP

Donald Trump has not admitted defeat and may never do so, but Washington has made up its own mind — Joe Biden will be the next US president and it is time to start preparing for a new era, with or without Mr Trump’s concession.

The landmark decision to approve the formal transition to a Biden presidency was made by a previously unknown bureaucrat from an equally obscure Washington agency called the General Services Administration, which approves presidential transitions.

The GSA head, Emily Murphy, a Trump appointee, had held the nation in thrall — along with a large dollop of anger from Democrats — as she refused for weeks to call the November 3 election in favour of Mr Biden, despite his clear majority. She was subject to “thousands” of threats to herself, her family and even her pets as she was perceived by many to be doing Mr Trump’s bidding by waiting while the President claimed to be the victim of a huge election fraud.

But on Monday afternoon (Tuesday morning AEDT), after Michigan finally certified a Biden victory, making a Trump victory all but impossible, Ms Murphy wrote to the former vice-president and said enough was enough — it was time to approve the transition to a new president and release all the resources required for it.

“I take this role seriously and, because of recent developments involving legal challenges and certifications of election results, am transmitting this letter today to make those resources and services available to you,” she wrote.

As soon as the news broke, the silence in Washington was deafening. How would the President react to what was, in effect, the formal recognition of his defeat?

Soon enough, Mr Trump’s tweet came out of the White House. It delivered the head-snapping claim that while he was adamant he would still “prevail” in overturning the election result, he would also co-operate with assisting the Biden transition.

“I want to thank Emily Murphy at GSA for her steadfast dedication and loyalty to our Country,” Mr Trump tweeted.

“She has been harassed, threatened and abused. Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good fight, and I believe we will prevail!

“Nevertheless, in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.”

The GSA decision means that Mr Trump is increasingly isolated as he pursues a doomed legal campaign to overturn the election result. Most in his own Republican Party are too scared to tell him he has lost.

Earlier on Tuesday (AEDT), Mr Biden — who has tried to stay above the fray — announced his new national security team. Led by close advisers Antony Blinken as secretary of state and Jake Sullivan as national security adviser, it is a team full of experienced Washington insiders — the sort of people Mr Trump calls “The Swamp” and the “Deep State”.

The signal from Mr Biden was clear; the Trump era is over, and the US is returning to traditional US foreign and security policy.

Ms Murphy’s decision to recognise Mr Biden’s victory means his team will now have access to $US6m ($8.2m) in funding, office space, intelligence briefings and agency meetings required to prepare the 78-year-old for assuming the presidency on January 20.

Mr Murphy had been under massive pressure to recognise Mr Biden’s win after the president-elect’s claims that a delay in the transition could undermine the rollout for a coronavirus vaccine.

But she said she ultimately came to the decision herself and without pressure from the White House. “I did not receive any direction to delay my determination. I did, however, receive threats online, by phone, and by mail directed at my safety, my family, my staff, and even my pets in an effort to coerce me into making this determination prematurely. Even in the face of thousands of threats, I always remained committed to upholding the law,” she said.

The last time the GSA, established in 1962, did not quickly certify the result was in the 2000 race between George W. Bush and Al Gore, in which the disputed votes in Florida swung the outcome.

Ms Murphy wrote to Mr Biden hours after a four-member canvassing board in Michigan formally awarded Michigan’s 16 electoral college votes to Mr Biden. That decision came despite numerous attempts by Mr Trump’s legal team to overturn the result in that state despite Mr Biden leading by more than 155,000 votes.

Mr Trump’s chances now rest with legal action in Pennsylvania and recounts in Wisconsin and Georgia, none of which is expected to overturn results in those states.

Although Mr Trump is still pursuing his legal campaign, he has been discussing privately the possibility of running for president again in 2024. He knows he has lost. The only question now is whether he will ever concede.