There is only one US president at a time – Obama tells Trump

President Barack Obama accuses Donald Trump of undue interference in US policies since his election

- The Obama administration says it is going to execute its duties until the new president is inaugurated in January 20, 2017

President Barack Obama of the United States has told president elect, Donald Trump, that there is only one US president at a time.

The outgoing president also told Trump that he remains in charge as US president till January 20, 2017, when he would complete his two-term presidency and handover to the incoming president.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Obama’s statement to the Republican president elect, followed what the White House termed as Trump’s undue interference in US policies since his election.

Recall that Donald Trump had on Thursday, December 22, directed the US ambassador to the UN, Ms Samantha Power, to veto the Security Council’s Resolution on Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory.

But the Obama administration disregarded Trump’s directive and abstained from voting on the resolution.

After the resolution came up on Friday, December 23, the president-elect and his team criticised the administration for abstaining from the vote.

In response, the White House, through the deputy national security advisor for strategic communications, Mr Ben Rhodes, said the UN Security Council’s Resolution was a policy issue that Trump should not meddle in.

He said: "On the President-elect, the first thing I’d just say is that there’s one President at a time.

“President Obama is the President of the United States until January 20th, and we are taking this action (abstention), of course, as U.S. policy.

Rhodes said when Obama made his decision and when the vote took place, there was no communication between the White House and the president-elect or his staff.

“So I’m not aware that President Obama and the President-elect spoke about this, but again, I’m not — President Obama definitely made no reference to that, so I can’t confirm that this hasn’t come up at all, but I’m not aware of any particular conversation they had about this.

“We did hear from the President-elect’s team. Again, our position has been there’s one President at a time.

“We’re going to make our decision on this and, frankly, believe that it’s important that there’s a principle here that the world understands who is speaking on behalf of the United States until January 20th and who is speaking on behalf of the United States after January 20th," Rhodes said.

The aide said Trump and his team will have every opportunity after January 20th to pursue their own policies, to take different approaches.

He said the Obama administration was reflecting the simple principle that has guided the president-elect transitions historically, which is that there is one president at a time.

Rhodes noted that the present administration was going to execute its duties until the new team is in place and the new president is inaugurated.

Meanwhile, the United States has issued a new bill into law to address the threat posed by Boko Haram terrorists in the North-East.

According to Premium Times, an analysis of factors that have helped Boko Haram fester and recruit must come to grips with issues of poor socio-economic environment and access to justice in Nigeria’s north-east, the United States said.

The U.S. issued the position in a new law, S. 1632 – ‘An Act to require a regional strategy to address the threat posed by Boko Haram’ – signed last week by outgoing American President, Barack Obama.