Trump Agrees To Pre-Transition Meetings With Officials, Signs Memorandum

President-elect Trump on Tuesday approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the White House, facilitating meetings between officials and their departmental and agency counterparts as part of the transition process set for January.

Susie Wiles, Trump’s incoming chief of staff, announced that the transition team had formalized the MOU with President Joe Biden’s administration, according to The Hill. This arrangement will enable Trump’s intended Cabinet nominees to start their preparations by deploying teams across various federal departments and agencies.

“This engagement allows our intended Cabinet nominees to begin critical preparations, including the deployment of landing teams to every department and agency, and complete the orderly transition of power,” Wiles said.

She said that these landing teams will be assimilated into federal agencies and departments, sharing access to documents and policies, The Hill reported. The identities of these team members will be shared with the Biden administration.

Additionally, the Trump transition team decided against using taxpayer funds for transition expenses or government facilities provided by the Government Services Administration, The Hill said. Despite this, the transition has yet to reveal its funding sources, although it promises to make its donors known publicly and has pledged not to accept foreign contributions.

Wiles’s statement did not confirm whether a similar MOU had been signed with the Justice Department for conducting background checks on incoming officials, nor did it indicate whether an ethics agreement to manage conflicts of interest would be released, the outlet reported. However, the transition team mentioned an existing