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Harris Praises Biden in 1st Appearance since he Ended Campaign

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an event honoring National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship teams from the 2023-2024 season, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on July 22, 2024. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an event honoring National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship teams from the 2023-2024 season, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on July 22, 2024. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
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Harris Praises Biden in 1st Appearance since he Ended Campaign

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an event honoring National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship teams from the 2023-2024 season, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on July 22, 2024. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)
US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an event honoring National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship teams from the 2023-2024 season, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on July 22, 2024. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

US Vice President Kamala Harris lauded President Joe Biden's accomplishments in her first public appearance on Monday since he announced he was leaving the presidential race and endorsed her as his successor.
"Joe Biden's legacy over the last three years is unmatched in modern history," Harris said at a White House event to honor college athletes. "Every day, our president, Joe Biden, fights for the American people and we are deeply, deeply grateful for his service to our nation."
Harris did not specifically refer to her new status as the leading Democratic candidate for president, after Biden announced on Sunday he was stepping aside under growing pressure from fellow Democrats.
She said in a post on X that she would visit what had been the Biden campaign headquarters in Delaware - now the Harris campaign headquarters - on Monday afternoon. She said Biden, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week, was feeling better.
Campaign officials and allies have already made hundreds of calls on her behalf, urging delegates to next month's Democratic Party convention to join in nominating her for president in the Nov. 5 election against Republican Donald Trump.

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Biden, Trump Security Advisers Meet to Pass Ceremonial Baton

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan (L) hands a baton to incoming National Security Advisor Mike Waltz during an event at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, on January 14, 2025. (AFP)
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan (L) hands a baton to incoming National Security Advisor Mike Waltz during an event at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, on January 14, 2025. (AFP)
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Biden, Trump Security Advisers Meet to Pass Ceremonial Baton

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan (L) hands a baton to incoming National Security Advisor Mike Waltz during an event at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, on January 14, 2025. (AFP)
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan (L) hands a baton to incoming National Security Advisor Mike Waltz during an event at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, on January 14, 2025. (AFP)

Top advisers to US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump put aside their differences - mostly - for a symbolic "passing of the torch" event focused on national security issues on Tuesday.

Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan passed a ceremonial baton to US Congressman Mike Waltz, Trump's pick for the same job, in a revival of a Washington ritual organized by the nonpartisan United States Institute of Peace since 2001.

The two men are normally in the media defending their bosses' opposing views on Ukraine, the Middle East and China.

On Tuesday, Waltz and Sullivan politely searched for common ground on a panel designed to project the continuity of power in the United States.

"It's like a very strange, slightly awkward version of 'The Dating Game,' you know the old game where you wrote down your answer, and that person wrote down their answer, and you see how much they match up," said Sullivan.

The event offered a preview of what may be in store on Monday when Trump is inaugurated as president. This peaceful transfer of power, a hallmark of more than two centuries of American democracy, comes four years after Trump disputed and never conceded his loss in the 2020 election.

This time the two sides are talking. Sullivan, at Biden's request, has briefed Waltz privately, at length, on the current administration's policy around the world even as the Trump aide has regularly said the new team will depart radically from it.

Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Biden's envoy Brett McGurk are working together this week to close a ceasefire deal in the region for hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Asked about the key challenges facing the new administration, Waltz and Sullivan on Tuesday both pointed to the California wildfires and China.

Sullivan also highlighted a hostage deal and artificial intelligence as key issues.

Waltz pointed to the US border with Mexico, an area where Trump has ripped Biden's approach.

But he credited the Biden administration with deepening ties between US allies in Asia.

For all the bonhomie between the two men, and the talk of the prospects for peace in the Middle East, Waltz painted a picture of the grimmer decisions awaiting him in his new job.

"Evil does exist," he said. "Sometimes you just have to put bombs on foreheads."