The final days as President and Vice President of the United States could not be any different for Donald Trump and Mike Pence. While Trump still refuses to formally give a farewell speech or congratulate his successor, Joe Biden, Pence has put a call through to his successor, Kamala Harris, to congratulate her on their win, Yahoo reports.
Pence has gone the extra mile to pick up the reigns of affairs after Trump almost totally withdrew from his duties as president. After last week’s Capitol riot that almost left Pence and his family open to the onslaught of angry Trump supporters, the two men were estranged for a while, but they are back on speaking terms now, though many of Pence’s people are still furious about Trump’s actions and unguarded words against his vice president.
Trump is breaking so many transitions of power traditions. He is yet to officially concede defeat, congratulate Biden, or even invite him to the White House. The president has also stated that he will not be present at Biden’s inauguration or officially welcome him to the White House after the inauguration.
In fact, some people who have discussed with the president said he still insists that he won the election. But he does this in private now that he has been banned from many social media platforms including Twitter which he particularly favored. On Wednesday, Trump plans to attend a send-off ceremony at Joint Base Andrews before he is conveyed to his Palm Beach home instead of being present at the inauguration, CNN writes.
On the other hand, Pence has announced that he will be present at the inauguration. The Vice President has been the face of the administration in recent days. On Thursday, he dropped in on White House phone operators in the New Executive Office Building to appreciate their efforts and present them with gifts. He also attended a meeting on security procedures for inauguration day.
Before returning to the White House, he completed his rounds by stopping at the Capitol to appreciate the effort of the Capitol Police in protecting him and his family during the riot. On Friday, he flew on Air Force Two to West Virginia. There, he attended the memorial service of test pilot Chuck Yeager. As he stated while addressing the gathering, he represented Trump at the memorial.
The vice president has two military programs planned for Saturday and Sunday, one in California and the other in New York.
On Thursday, Trump gave out a statement about his foreign policy strategy. The president, who has refused to do much after that, stated that US troops in the Middle East are at an all-time low. He explained that his administration is committed to stopping wars, and described how much of an honor it has been to restore the US military.
Source: yahoo.com
