Biden administration, Trump team work closely to handle global crises together during transition

From Gaza, to Lebanon and Ukraine, the Biden Administration is cooperating closely with Trump transition officials to hand over the reigns and, even stabilize some regional hotspots, before President-elect Donald Trump officially takes office later this month. 

Within weeks of the election, President Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan held and unannounced meeting with Trump’s choice for the post, Florida Congressman Mike Waltz. Both stressed the importance of a smooth transition as several global crises rage around the globe. 

“[White House national security adviser] Jake Sullivan and I have had discussions. We’ve met,” Waltz told Fox News Sunday anchor Gillian Turner. 

“For our adversaries out there that think this is a time of opportunity that they can play one administration off the other, they’re wrong, and we are — we are hand in glove. We are — we are one team with the United States in this transition,” he continued. 

Sullivan later echoed Waltz’s sentiments, nearly verbatim. 

“Other actors, particularly our enemies, look at transitions as moments of opportunity… the imperative on us is to lash up more tightly than is typical and send a common, clear message to both friends and adversaries,” Sullivan told GZERO World’s Ian Bremmer in an interview. 

Other Biden Administration officials, like CIA Director Bill Burns, have praised the cooperation in several global hotspots with the incoming administration despite policy differences that defined the presidential campaign. 

In an appearance on NPR’s " All Things Considered" podcast, Burns said his agency has been collaborating with incoming Trump nominees, especially on ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas fighters in Gaza. 

“You know, at this point, I still think there's a chance [for a ceasefire]. I mean, I've learned the hard way not to get my hopes up. I do think there remains a chance to get a deal. And we'll certainly — in this administration — work very hard at that right up until January 20,” Burns told host Mary Louise Kelly. “And I think the coordination with the new administration on this issue has been good. So, I think there's a chance.” 

Release of Hamas' hostages

Burns reiterated the administration’s main goals for the ceasefire, which includes securing the release of any hostages taken by Hamas fighters that remain alive after more than a year of war. 

President-elect Trump in public statements has expressed similar priorities. In a post to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said “there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East” if the hostages are not released by the time he is sworn in as president. 

Burns also confirmed that the close cooperation has not been limited to the Israel-Gaza war, noting that he has had “a couple of conversations” with Trump’s nominee to replace him at CIA, former Trump intelligence official John Ratcliffe, about the Russia-Ukraine war. 

The ongoing European conflict presents perhaps President Trump’s toughest challenge, but one that he has promised to solve. On Thursday, Trump said that he has proposed a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss an end to the war. 

Putin is willing to meet

"He wants to meet, and we are setting it up,” Trump said at a Mar-a-Lago meeting with Republican governors. "President Putin wants to meet. He has said that even publicly and we have to get that war over with. That's a bloody mess.” 

The Kremlin confirmed that Putin is willing to meet with Trump with no preconditions as the war continue to rage after nearly three years and heavy casualties. 

“We need a mutual desire and political willingness to engage in a dialogue,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov told reporters on Friday. “We see that Mr. Trump also declares his readiness to solve issues via dialogue. We welcome that.”

While that conflict has shown little signs of stabilizing before President Trump takes office again on Jan. 20, the cooperation between the Biden administration and the transition has secured a victory in Lebanon, where a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah is holding after a year-long conflict. 

Lebanon

On Thursday, Lebanon’s parliament elected a new president after U.S. encouragement, ending a two year vacancy in the post. The candidate, General Joseph Aoun, promised to enforce the disarming of Hezbollah. Before its war with Israel, the Iran-backed, designated terrorist group exercised significant influence over Lebanese politics and possessed a larger arsenal of weapons and rockets than the Lebanese Armed Forces. 

The Trump transition team and the Biden Administration reportedly worked closely together in the push for Aoun’s election in an attempt to stabilize the country politically and cement the ceasefire deal with Israel, according to Axios. 

After his election, Aoun pledged to do his part to respect the ceasefire deal and promised implement policies to disarm Hezbollah, which operates as paramilitary group inside Lebanon once and for all. 

“I pledge to execute my role as the head of the armed forces to insist on the right of the state to have a monopoly over weapons,” Aoun told parliament in a speech after his election. 

Aoun’s election was praised by Biden’s special envoy to the region, Amos Hochstein, who called it “a step toward peace, security and stability.” 

The White House also said in a statement that the election is “a moment of historic opportunity as Lebanon works to implement commitments under the cessation of hostilities and establish durable peace and stability for the Lebanese people.” 

Before Hochstein traveled to Lebanon this week, NSA Sullivan reportedly coordinated the administration’s position on presidential election with his counterpart Waltz, agreeing in principle that Hezbollah should not be allowed to stage a political comeback after its military decimation through the presidential elections. 

The joint position reportedly allowed envoy Hochstein to emphasize that though he spoke for the Biden Administration, the incoming Trump Administration was in agreement with the United States’ position on the election, per Axios. 

Aoun’s election, some experts say, is the best opportunity for more stability, not only internally, but between Lebanon and its neighbors, including Israel. 

“Aoun was seen as the candidate that can bring stability after much instability in Lebanon," Kelly Petillo, a researcher in Middle Eastern affairs at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told DW. 

This would go a long way towards Trump’s promises for a comprehensive Middle East peace to end the fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed proxies that followed the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel.