Obama received a top-secret intelligence briefing on Thursday. As president-elect he will be receiving president-level daily intelligence briefings.
Analysts expect Obama to begin putting together a strategy for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Concern that al-Qaeda may try to test a new administration may also lend urgency to assembling the national security team quickly.
“We know that al-Qaeda and others try to test a new administration,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. “I don’t know of anything specific, but we do know that is a heightened period of concern.”
Also on Thursday, Obama returned telephone calls to nine world leaders to thank them for having called to congratulate him on his election, a spokeswoman said.
Obama spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said the president-elect spoke to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Sarkozy’s office said they spoke for 30 minutes and characterized the discussion as “extremely warm” as the president congratulated Obama on a “brilliant” election victory. The statement said they discussed international issues, particularly the financial crisis, and agreed to meet in the “quite near future.”
Harper’s office said in a statement that they spoke about an international financial summit in Washington on next Saturday and its importance for addressing the global financial crisis.
Obama had no plans to attend the meeting.
The prime minister’s office said the two leaders emphasized that there could be no closer friends and allies than the US and Canada, and vowed to maintain and further build upon the relationship. Harper’s office called it a warm exchange and said they agreed to talk again soon.
Calderon’s office said Obama pledged continued US support for Mexico’s fight against organized crime and drug trafficking. A statement from the Mexican president’s office said Obama told Calderon he was “conscious of the difficulty of the battle” and offered “decisive” US support.
Congress approved US$400 million in anti-drug aid for Mexico last June, but has yet to release the money.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday congratulated Obama on his election win in a letter — the first time an Iranian leader has offered such wishes to a US president-elect since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The Iranian leader also said in the letter that he hopes Obama will “use the opportunity to serve the [American] people and leave a good name for history” during his term in office.
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