Trump aide promises ‘very professional transition’ to Biden

DUBAI (AP):

President Donald Trump’s national security adviser promised a “very professional transition” to the administration of President-elect Joe Biden in an interview broadcast on Monday, even as Trump continues to falsely claim he won the November election.

Speaking to the Global Security Forum, hosted in part by Qatar, Robert O’Brien several times mentioned the transition and referred to recent normalisation deals that Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates struck with Israel as “a great legacy for the president to have as he leaves office”.

While caveating that Trump did have outstanding court challenges, O’Brien’s comments signalled some of the firmest statements yet from a senior administration official acknowledging Biden’s win in the November 3 vote.

“If the Biden-Harris ticket is determined to be the winner – obviously, things look that way now – we’ll have a very professional transition from the National Security Council. There’s no question about it,” O’Brien said. “They’re going to have very professional folks coming in to take these positions.”

He added: “We’ve passed the baton and had peaceful, successful transitions even in the most contentious periods.”

Since losing, Trump has made unsubstantiated claims about the election on Twitter. There is no evidence of widespread fraud in the vote. Officials from both the Democratic and Republican parties have said the poll went well, as have international observers. The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency also says: “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history.”