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Washington (CNN) – A pile of foreign leader messages for US President-elect Joe Biden sits in the State Department, but the Trump administration prevents him from accessing them, according to department officials familiar with the messages.
Traditionally, the State Department supports all communications for the president-elect, which is why many countries have started sending messages to the state over the weekend. But with the Trump administration banning Biden from accessing State Department resources because President Donald Trump refuses to accept Biden’s victory, dozens of incoming messages have not been received.
Biden’s team is in contact with foreign governments without the involvement of the State Department. And he made numerous phone calls with leaders, including Angela Merkel from Germany and Justin Trudeau from Canada. But they operate without the logistical and translation support provided by the State Department’s operations center.
“They would rather use State Department resources,” a source familiar with the situation said, noting that Biden’s team faces the unexpected challenge of facilitating these calls.
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The Trump administration has blocked access
Not only is the State Department blocking Biden from receiving messages and assistance to facilitate and prepare calls, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday refused to acknowledge Biden’s victory, saying “there will be a smooth transition to a second one. Trump administration ”, sparking diplomatic fury and unrest.
Biden is also prevented from receiving the president’s own intelligence information, known as the president’s daily summary. And if the Trump administration continues to block a typical inauguration day transition on January 20, there is concern that the Biden administration is trying to catch up when he takes office.
Foreign leaders have begun to realize that the State Department cannot put them in contact with the president-elect, and their teams have reached out to former Obama-era diplomats to ask for help in sending congratulatory messages to Biden’s team. sources told CNN. Some foreign governments feel they are navigating an unknown maze, foreign diplomats told CNN.
CNN asked the State Department and Biden’s transition team for comment.
In the past, the State Department has facilitated a smoother process.
“It has been helpful for state operations to make the calls and provide translation services, and we are grateful for the Bush administration’s cooperation in making it happen,” said Denis McDonough, who served in the Obama administration and worked with Obama during the transition.
Calls are not very delicate
Calls made at this time are not very sensitive, and even during a well-defined transition period, they typically aren’t made on secure lines, multiple sources explained.
“These calls in the past have been handled on open lines. These are congratulatory calls, “McDonough said. He added that both sides are providing readings, which is consistent with protocol.
Barack Obama used to make these calls to foreign leaders on his cell phone when he was president-elect, explained a State Department official who was working to arrange those calls at the time. But they’ve all gone through the operations center, which means there’s a government log of the calls he’s made.
State Department career officials are ready to help Biden’s team when the time comes.
“The agencies faithfully applied the law before the elections. The materials are ready, the offices are ready, everything is ready. They are waiting for the green light, ”said David Marchick, director of the Center for Presidential Transition at the Association for Public Service.
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What Biden’s team did
Operating without the support of the State Department at this time, Biden’s team, made up of many experienced former government officials, sent readings of all calls, helping keep records. They are making an effort to formalize the process and will use State Department resources when available, a source familiar with the situation said.
This is in stark contrast to the transition between the Obama and Trump administrations. At the time, President-elect Trump chose not to use State Department resources. Instead, he made his calls from Trump Tower and resisted using the government’s coordination and support system. That meant translators and staff waited without working while Trump made the calls himself, a State Department official told CNN at the time.
At any other time since Biden left the White House, he could have called the State Department operations center to call a foreign leader, State Department officials told CNN.
Former presidents and vice presidents can use the resource at any time. But now, because he’s president-elect, the Trump administration is blocking Biden from using that facility.
CNN’s Evan Pérez contributed to this report.
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