ROBBIE GRAMER
Shortly before the Biden administration clinched a 60-day ceasefire deal in Lebanon in late November, national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN called Rep. MIKE WALTZ (R-Fla.) to update him on the plans — and give the incoming Trump administration time to process and react to the developments before they were made public.
It was the start of a formidable working relationship between JOE BIDEN’s national security adviser and DONALD TRUMP’s incoming one — one of the most significant channels of communication between the two camps during the fast-moving transition period.
There’s no love lost between their two bosses, but Sullivan and Waltz have developed a cordial working relationship — and kept their conversations hermetically sealed off from politics — according to three administration officials and two Trump transition officials. All officials were granted anonymity to discuss internal transition matters.
That’s no small feat given the hyper-partisan cloud of acrimony descending on Washington as Trump prepares to take office.
The two check in regularly and have done multiple in-person deep dives on national security issues for an hour or more with one another, according to one administration official and one Trump transition official.
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