This time the incoming US leader is getting more pushback than co-operation from the outgoing one. A few more degrees of difficulty are being added to President-elect Joe Biden's already Herculean tasks.
Republican claims of voter fraud, election-stealing, and a lack of federal interest in providing immediate pandemic aid to citizens will make it hard for Biden to receive any honeymoon bounce with the public at home.
Biden is already facing the prospect of dealing with a Republican-controlled Senate unless the Democrats can pick up two seats in Georgia in January.
Overseas, Biden will find it harder to make progress on tough issues.
The assassination of a top scientist in Iran appears to be an attempt to sink any relaunch - while the boat is still in dock - of the Obama administration's nuclear deal that Trump has spent years sabotaging.
Biden wants to drop sanctions that Trump imposed, if Tehran returns to the strict rules of the pact.
Tehran blames Israel for the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, whose car was apparently fired on. A number of officials involved in the nuclear programme have previously met grisly ends.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considers Iran a implacable threat and has no time for the 2015 deal, saying "there must be no return to the previous nuclear agreement".
There have been a number of recent attacks on Iran in apparent attempts to provoke and weaken the regime and degrade its capabilities.
And Trump, after the US election, reportedly considered missile strikes on Iran.
Any strong reaction from Iran now would give Trump the chance to let loose without having to deal with the consequences himself. It makes more sense for Iran to bide its time even as it is firing up its rhetoric.
Closer to home, Australia's relations with China remain in a chilly bin long after Canberra sought a probe into the origin of the pandemic.
Wine has been added to the list of Australian goods - including beef, coal, barley, seafood, sugar and timber - effectively barred from China's markets. Anti-dumping tariffs of up to 212 per cent have been imposed on Australian wine imports.
It makes New Zealand's own export tightrope seem a bit thinner.
The trade war once again shows China using its economic clout for political influence but it is already pushing regional neighbours into closer defence cooperation and will likely result in export rethinks. "We are saying to our exporters, you should spread your risk," Australian Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said.
The arrival of a more multilateral-inclined US administration will accelerate the reassessments of relations with China occurring in countries around the world.
