Former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, on Sunday said President Donald Trump is boxing in Joe Biden on national defense issues.
In an interview on NBC News’ “Meet The Press,” Mullen, who served as the Joint Chiefs chair from Oct. 1, 2007 to Sept. 30, 2011, said “national security issues do not wait” for presidential transitions.
"This is going to be a particularly difficult transition in that arena ... and our enemies always try to look and take advantage of a transition period,” he warned.
Mullen lamented that Trump is limiting Biden’s options in crucial areas.
“You like to do all you can to not box in the president… to give him as many options as possible,” he said.
“This is obviously the opposite case right now,” he said with the delayed transition to the Biden team.
According to Mullen, President George W. Bush “set the tone.”
“His desire was to make sure President [Barack] Obama had a vote,” Mullen said of Bush’s successor.
“It appears the current administration is trying to lock in as many issues as possible to make it much more difficult for Biden to govern,” he said.
“Historically that has never been the case,” he added.
“The [coronavirus] pandemic, the challenge we have in the economy, national security issues do not wait… our allies look at us at a time of real fragility,” he said.