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Economic Times | 23 Nov, 2020 | 02.46PM IST
US election 2020 Live updates: Trump aims to box in Biden abroad, but it may not work
In recent weeks, the White House, State Department and other agencies have been working overtime to produce new policy pronouncements on Iran, Israel, China and elsewhere that aim to lock in Trump's vision for the world.
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President Donald Trump's administration provided precision-guided missiles and other weapons to help the Philippines battle Islamic State group-aligned militants and renewed a pledge to defend its treaty ally if it comes under attack in the disputed South China Sea.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday became the latest world leader to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden on his election victory, saying she offered to share her nation's expertise on dealing with the coronavirus.
On its way out the door, the Trump administration is enacting new rules, regulations and orders that it hopes will box in President-elect Joe Biden's administration on numerous foreign policy matters and cement President Donald Trump's “America First” legacy in international affairs.
While most Republicans continue to either publicly back Trump's efforts or remain silent, a steadily growing chorus is imploring him to concede the election and assist with the transition to Biden's administration.
U.S. President Donald Trump's increasingly tenuous efforts to reverse his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden could be dealt a lethal blow on Monday, as Biden turns to the task of building his cabinet.
Trump's campaign has filed a petition for another recount in Georgia. A previous laborious hand recount reaffirmed Biden's victory by a margin of more than 12,000 votes in the southern state, a longtime Republican bastion in presidential elections.
Trump has golfed on every weekend day since the election, though he took part virtually in the conference of the G20 leading economies this weekend -- skipping a Saturday session on the pandemic.
A growing number of Republicans have either recognized Biden's victory or at least urged the General Services Administration -- the usually low-profile agency that manages the federal bureaucracy -- to release federal funds for the Biden transition.
Biden is likely to name his Cabinet picks in tranches, with groups of nominees focused on a specific top area, like the economy, national security or public health, being announced at once. Advisers to the president-elect's transition have said they'll make their first Cabinet announcements on Tuesday.
US hopes to start virus vaccines in December as pandemic surges
- The United States hopes to begin coronavirus vaccinations in early December, a top government health official said Sunday, the latest positive news to emerge even as cases surge across the worst-hit nation and elsewhere around the globe.
- The beginning of vaccinations could be a crucial shift in the battle against a virus that has claimed more than 1.4 million lives worldwide, including 255,000 just in the US, since emerging from China late last year.
- Encouraging results from vaccine trials have bolstered hopes for an end to the pandemic, as nations reimpose restrictions and lockdowns that slowed the spread earlier this year but turned lives and economies upside down across the globe.
- Two leading vaccine candidates -- one by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech and another by US firm Moderna -- have been shown to be 95 percent effective in trials, and Pfizer has already applied for emergency use approval from US health authorities.
Advisers to President-elect Joe Biden are planning for the increasing likelihood that the United States economy is headed for a “double-dip” recession early next year. They are pushing for Democratic leaders in Congress to reach a quick stimulus deal with Senate Republicans, even if it falls short of the larger package Democrats have been seeking, according to people familiar with the discussions.
President Donald Trump is appealing a federal judge's dismissal of his campaign's effort to block the certification of votes in Pennsylvania. The president and other plaintiffs filed notice of appeal to the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals on Sunday, a day after the judge issued a scathing order shooting down claims of widespread irregularities with mail-in ballots.
China must drop its illusion that its relations with the United States will automatically improve under President-elect Joe Biden's administration, a Chinese government advisor has said, adding that Beijing should be prepared for a tough stance from Washington.
Trump campaign legal team distances itself from Powell
- Perhaps Sidney Powell has gone too far for even Rudy Giuliani this time.
- The Trump campaign's legal team moved to distance itself Sunday from the firebrand conservative attorney after a tumultuous several days in which Powell made multiple incorrect statements about the voting process, unspooled unsupported and complex conspiracy theories and vowed to ``blow up'' Georgia with a ``biblical'' lawsuit.
- ``Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own. She is not a member of the Trump Legal Team. She is also not a lawyer for the President in his personal capacity,`` Giuliani and another lawyer for Trump, Jenna Ellis, said in a statement.
