Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president and will take office on Jan. 20, 2025, but before that, he will have to complete a process known as the transition to the presidency. Trump's second go-around as commander-in-chief will see him work to implement his official platform, known as Agenda 47. 

Main elements
Both major candidates began planning for a presidential transition in the months leading up to the election, though a transition can't move ahead without a government agency called the General Services Administration (GSA). Trump will look to his transition teams "responsible for organizing the personnel vetting, policy planning and management agendas to turn campaign promises into governing," said the Center for Presidential Transition (CPT). 

Meanwhile, the presidential transition teams help the president-elect in selecting "more than 4,000 presidential appointees" and creating a "set of legislative, executive and agency proposals based on the campaign platform," said the CPT.

Complications
The 2020 election showed cracks in the transition process. Trump's "refusal to concede froze the ability of President Joe Biden's transition team to gain access to federal funding" for weeks, said Politico. The GSA eventually ascertained Biden's victory.

After that, Congress passed a 2022 law "allowing multiple leading presidential candidates to get transition resources before a winner is determined in a contested election," said Politico. The Presidential Transition Improvement Act states that the GSA must begin the transition within five days of the election for both candidates if neither has conceded. This means a candidate's campaign staff can "still have access to key operations of government" while "lawmakers battle over the final results," said The Washington Post.

The law "mandates federal support" for both candidates to begin a transition, said The Associated Press. But in an election where one candidate launches a barrage of legal challenges, this means the government "potentially bestowing enough backing that both sides can prepare an administration until mid-December." It's unlikely to occur in 2025 given Trump's large-margin victory, but it raises questions about future elections.

In Spain, where more than 200 people died after flash floods swept through the country last month, the debate over preparedness and response to extreme weather has become a national flashpoint for citizens furious at their elected officials for, many believe, not doing enough in the face of catastrophic storms. As Spain continues the painful process of rescue and recovery across its east, Spaniards have begun speaking out against what they claim has been governmental inaction and malfeasance during the storms.

Why are people so angry?
Fury over the government's "haphazard management of the crisis has been building" since the storms hit, as drinking water is unavailable for many, internet and mobile phone coverage "remains patchy" and entire city blocks are "clogged with piles of detritus, countless totaled cars and a ubiquitous layer of mud," said The Associated Press. Residents of Spain's Valencia region, which was hit hardest by the flooding, cite "tardy alerts from the authorities about the dangers of Tuesday's flooding" followed by a "late response by the emergency services when disaster struck," said Reuters.

Frustration is not limited to citizens. The floodwaters have opened rifts between elected officials, as well. Valencia's regional leader, a member of the conservative People's Party, has blamed the country's "socialist government and even the armed forces' military emergencies unit for the disaster and the delay in relieving it," said The Guardian. 

What have authorities done?
As of this week, Spanish authorities have deployed thousands of troops and rescue personnel across the affected regions, including nearly 8,000 soldiers to the hard-hit Valencian city of Paiporta "on top of the 5,223 Civil Guard personnel and 4,256 National Police officers that have already been mobilized," said CNN. 

With an eye to the future, Valencia's regional leader, Carlos Mazón, has put forward a more than $33 billion proposal for the "reconstruction of the flood-devastated areas, to be financed by the central government," while Prime Minister Sánchez has announced a "separate initial aid package" worth $11.4 billion, said the BBC.