At a meeting Wednesday at the White House, President Donald Trump had something he wanted to discuss with his advisers, many of whom have told him his chances of succeeding at changing the results of the 2020 election are thin as a reed.

He then proceeded to press them on whether Republican legislatures could pick pro-Trump electors in a handful of key states and deliver him the electoral votes he needs to change the math and give him a second term, according to people briefed on the discussion.

It was not a detailed conversation, or really a serious one, the people briefed on it said. Nor was it reflective of any obsessive desire of Trump’s to remain in the White House.

“He knows it’s over,” one adviser said. But instead of conceding, they said, he is floating one improbable scenario after another for staying in office while he contemplates his uncertain post-presidency future.

There is no grand strategy at play, according to interviews with a half-dozen advisers and people close to the president. Trump is simply trying to survive from one news cycle to the next, seeing how far he can push his case against his defeat and ensure the continued support of his Republican base.

By dominating the story of his exit from the White House, he hopes to keep his millions of supporters energized and engaged for whatever comes next.

The president has insisted to aides that he really defeated Joe Biden on Nov. 3, but it is unclear whether he actually believes it. And instead of conducting discreet requests for recounts, Trump has made a series of spurious claims, seizing on conspiracies fanned on the internet.

The latest was Thursday, when he falsely claimed on Twitter that Dominion voting machines switched hundreds of thousands of his votes to Biden, citing a report he had seen on the fringe network OANN, something even his supporters called ridiculous and a federal agency overseeing cybersecurity disavowed in a statement.

Advisers said his efforts were in keeping with one of his favorite pastimes: creating a controversy and watching to see how it plays out.

As a next step, Trump is talking seriously about announcing that he is planning to run again in 2024, aware that whether he actually does it or not, it will freeze an already-crowded field of possible Republican candidates. And, Republicans say, it will keep the wide support he showed even in defeat and could guarantee a lucrative book deal or speaking fees.

In the meantime, Trump has spent his days toggling between his White House residence and the Oval Office, watching television coverage about the final weeks of his presidency. His mood is often bleak, advisers say, though he is not raising his voice in anger, despite the impression left by his tweets, which are often in capital letters.

But the work of government has been reduced to something of a sideshow for the president. He has not made any public appearances except for a visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day since an angry statement a week ago.

And he has not spoken about the coronavirus pandemic or mentioned it on Twitter despite the staggering growth in positive cases and the number of West Wing aides and outside advisers who have been diagnosed with the virus in the past week.

Several advisers have bluntly told Trump that the chances of changing the election’s outcome are almost nonexistent, including in a meeting with him Saturday at the White House to which the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, dispatched aides, even as he has generally backed Trump’s desire to keep fighting.

While most Republicans have declined to publicly oppose the president, more have become vocal that the time has come, amid the growing pandemic, to allow a transition to take place.

“Look, I’m worried about this virus. I’m not looking at what the merits of the case are,” said Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, about Trump’s lawsuits in an appearance Thursday on CNN. “It would appear that Joe Biden is going to be the next president of the United States.”

Karl Rove, the architect of President George W. Bush’s presidency and an informal adviser to Trump, wrote in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that “closing out this election will be a hard but necessary step toward restoring some unity and political equilibrium.”

He added that after Trump’s “days in court are over, the president should do his part to unite the country by leading a peaceful transition and letting grievances go.”

A peaceful transition is not as much on Trump’s mind right now as settling scores both inside and outside the administration.

White House advisers have sent warnings to any government employees who might be looking for other jobs, have placed loyalists in the upper ranks of the Pentagon, and have been open to calls for intelligence officials to declassify documents related to the investigation into a possible conspiracy between the Trump campaign in 2016 and Russian officials.

And the president is considering firing the CIA director, Gina Haspel, although some administration officials said he may not go through with it.

The president has nursed a burning anger at Fox News for calling Arizona for Biden on election night, and has entertained suggestions from allies to start some kind of competing conservative-leaning news network, whether by trying to join forces with an existing property like OANN or Newsmax, or forming a digital network of his own, as Axios reported.

In a tweet Thursday, Trump continued his attacks on his once loyal supporters, declaring that Fox News’ “daytime ratings have completely collapsed.”

“Weekend daytime even WORSE,” he added. “Very sad to watch this happen, but they forgot what made them successful, what got them there. They forgot the Golden Goose. The biggest difference between the 2016 Election, and 2020, was @FoxNews!”

Several Republicans expressed doubt Thursday that Trump would ever be able to put together anything that could overtake Fox.

And allies acknowledge that he could not do both a presidential campaign and create a news network at the same time, and they questioned whether he would keep up his animus toward Fox if it were to offer him a lucrative contributor deal once he is out of office.

Some advisers had hoped that Trump would accept the state of the race by the end of this week, but a looming recount in Georgia may delay that. The president has told some advisers that if the race is certified for Biden, he will announce a 2024 campaign shortly afterward.

The president’s goal for now is to delay certification of the election results, a process that has begun in some states. But his approach to lawsuits aimed at delaying that certification has been as scattered as his own thinking about the future.

Advisers say there may be additional lawsuits filed, but it is not entirely clear when. It also is not clear who is leading the legal efforts.

Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, has been a source of enormous frustration for Trump advisers. Advisers have tried to tell Trump that the fraud Giuliani is offering hope of proving simply does not exist.

Trump is getting suggestions from an array of other lawyers, as well. They include Sidney Powell, the lawyer for his former national security adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who was at the Trump campaign headquarters over the weekend.

Advisers have nudged the president to stop talking about “fraud” because that has legal implications that his team has not been able to back up. So Trump has taken to pronouncing the election “rigged,” one of his favorite words but one with dangerous implications in terms of how his own supporters view the election’s ultimate outcome.

At a meeting Wednesday at the White House, President Donald Trump had something he wanted to discuss with his advisers, many of whom have told him his chances of succeeding at changing the results of the 2020 election are thin as a reed.

At a meeting Wednesday at the White House, President Donald Trump had something he wanted to discuss with his advisers, many of whom have told him his chances of succeeding at changing the results of the 2020 election are thin as a reed. He then proceeded to press them on whether Republican legislatures could pick pro-Trump electors in a handful of key states and deliver him the electoral votes he needs to change the math and give him a second term, according to people briefed on the discussion. It was not a detailed conversation, or really a serious one, the people briefed on it said. Nor was it reflective of any obsessive desire of Trump’s to remain in the White House. “He knows it’s over,” one adviser said. But instead of conceding, they said, he is floating one improbable scenario after another for staying in office while he contemplates his uncertain post-presidency future. There is no grand strategy at play, according to interviews with a half-dozen advisers and people close to the president. Trump is simply trying to survive from one news cycle to the next, seeing how far he can push his case against his defeat and ensure the continued support of his Republican base. By dominating the story of his exit from the White House, he hopes to keep his millions of supporters energized and engaged for whatever comes next. The president has insisted to aides that he really defeated Joe Biden on Nov. 3, but it is unclear whether he actually believes it. And instead of conducting discreet requests for recounts, Trump has made a series of spurious claims, seizing on conspiracies fanned on the internet. The latest was Thursday, when he falsely claimed on Twitter that Dominion voting machines switched hundreds of thousands of his votes to Biden, citing a report he had seen on the fringe network OANN, something even his supporters called ridiculous and a federal agency overseeing cybersecurity disavowed in a statement. Advisers said his efforts were in keeping with one of his favorite pastimes: creating a controversy and watching to see how it plays out. As a next step, Trump is talking seriously about announcing that he is planning to run again in 2024, aware that whether he actually does it or not, it will freeze an already-crowded field of possible Republican candidates. And, Republicans say, it will keep the wide support he showed even in defeat and could guarantee a lucrative book deal or speaking fees. In the meantime, Trump has spent his days toggling between his White House residence and the Oval Office, watching television coverage about the final weeks of his presidency. His mood is often bleak, advisers say, though he is not raising his voice in anger, despite the impression left by his tweets, which are often in capital letters. But the work of government has been reduced to something of a sideshow for the president. He has not made any public appearances except for a visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day since an angry statement a week ago. And he has not spoken about the coronavirus pandemic or mentioned it on Twitter despite the staggering growth in positive cases and the number of West Wing aides and outside advisers who have been diagnosed with the virus in the past week. Several advisers have bluntly told Trump that the chances of changing the election’s outcome are almost nonexistent, including in a meeting with him Saturday at the White House to which the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, dispatched aides, even as he has generally backed Trump’s desire to keep fighting. While most Republicans have declined to publicly oppose the president, more have become vocal that the time has come, amid the growing pandemic, to allow a transition to take place. “Look, I’m worried about this virus. I’m not looking at what the merits of the case are,” said Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, about Trump’s lawsuits in an appearance Thursday on CNN. “It would appear that Joe Biden is going to be the next president of the United States.” Karl Rove, the architect of President George W. Bush’s presidency and an informal adviser to Trump, wrote in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that “closing out this election will be a hard but necessary step toward restoring some unity and political equilibrium.” He added that after Trump’s “days in court are over, the president should do his part to unite the country by leading a peaceful transition and letting grievances go.” A peaceful transition is not as much on Trump’s mind right now as settling scores both inside and outside the administration. White House advisers have sent warnings to any government employees who might be looking for other jobs, have placed loyalists in the upper ranks of the Pentagon, and have been open to calls for intelligence officials to declassify documents related to the investigation into a possible conspiracy between the Trump campaign in 2016 and Russian officials. And the president is considering firing the CIA director, Gina Haspel, although some administration officials said he may not go through with it. The president has nursed a burning anger at Fox News for calling Arizona for Biden on election night, and has entertained suggestions from allies to start some kind of competing conservative-leaning news network, whether by trying to join forces with an existing property like OANN or Newsmax, or forming a digital network of his own, as Axios reported. In a tweet Thursday, Trump continued his attacks on his once loyal supporters, declaring that Fox News’ “daytime ratings have completely collapsed.” “Weekend daytime even WORSE,” he added. “Very sad to watch this happen, but they forgot what made them successful, what got them there. They forgot the Golden Goose. The biggest difference between the 2016 Election, and 2020, was @FoxNews!” Several Republicans expressed doubt Thursday that Trump would ever be able to put together anything that could overtake Fox. And allies acknowledge that he could not do both a presidential campaign and create a news network at the same time, and they questioned whether he would keep up his animus toward Fox if it were to offer him a lucrative contributor deal once he is out of office. Some advisers had hoped that Trump would accept the state of the race by the end of this week, but a looming recount in Georgia may delay that. The president has told some advisers that if the race is certified for Biden, he will announce a 2024 campaign shortly afterward. The president’s goal for now is to delay certification of the election results, a process that has begun in some states. But his approach to lawsuits aimed at delaying that certification has been as scattered as his own thinking about the future. Advisers say there may be additional lawsuits filed, but it is not entirely clear when. It also is not clear who is leading the legal efforts. Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer, has been a source of enormous frustration for Trump advisers. Advisers have tried to tell Trump that the fraud Giuliani is offering hope of proving simply does not exist. Trump is getting suggestions from an array of other lawyers, as well. They include Sidney Powell, the lawyer for his former national security adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who was at the Trump campaign headquarters over the weekend. Advisers have nudged the president to stop talking about “fraud” because that has legal implications that his team has not been able to back up. So Trump has taken to pronouncing the election “rigged,” one of his favorite words but one with dangerous implications in terms of how his own supporters view the election’s ultimate outcome.

Trump floats improbable survival scenarios as he ponders his future

Georgia will re-count all paper ballots cast in the Nov. 3 presidential election by hand, the state's top election official said on Wednesday, a mammoth task that must be completed by Nov. 20.

Georgia to re-count presidential election ballots by hand

US President Donald Trump made his first official post-election appearance Wednesday for what should have been a moment of national unity to mark Veterans Day.

Donald Trump makes first public appearance since losing election

US President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that his longtime aide Ron Klain will be his White House Chief of Staff, thereby declaring his first White House personnel.&nbsp;

"Ron has been invaluable to me over the many years that we have worked together," the president-elect said in a statement on 59-year-old Klain who was his chief of staff when he was vice president during the Obama era.

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/progressives-wish-list-for-biden-starts-with-warren-and-sanders-342496">Progressives’ wish list for Biden starts with Warren and Sanders</a>

"His deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again," he said as quoted by the news agency AFP. &nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/united-states-of-america-is-back-in-the-game-joe-biden-tells-world-leaders-342283">United States of America is ‘back in the game’: Joe Biden tells world leaders</a>

Meanwhile, Donald Trump's refusal to accept Biden's victory continued as he reiterated election rigging without providing any pieces of evidence despite calls from some fellow Republicans to accept the verdict.&nbsp;

Trump, on Wednesday, tweeted voting in Wisconsin on Election day led to "possibly illegal suppression" and he was now "now preparing to win the state".&nbsp;

Trump's refusal to concede defeat also led to both him and Biden honouring military personnel on Veterans Day separately on a day that is marked as one of national unity.&nbsp;

US President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that his longtime aide Ron Klain will be his White House Chief of Staff, thereby declaring his first White House personnel.

US President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that his longtime aide Ron Klain will be his White House Chief of Staff, thereby declaring his first White House personnel. "Ron has been invaluable to me over the many years that we have worked together," the president-elect said in a statement on 59-year-old Klain who was his chief of staff when he was vice president during the Obama era. Also read | Progressives’ wish list for Biden starts with Warren and Sanders "His deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again," he said as quoted by the news agency AFP. Also read | United States of America is ‘back in the game’: Joe Biden tells world leaders Meanwhile, Donald Trump's refusal to accept Biden's victory continued as he reiterated election rigging without providing any pieces of evidence despite calls from some fellow Republicans to accept the verdict. Trump, on Wednesday, tweeted voting in Wisconsin on Election day led to "possibly illegal suppression" and he was now "now preparing to win the state". Trump's refusal to concede defeat also led to both him and Biden honouring military personnel on Veterans Day separately on a day that is marked as one of national unity.

Joe Biden makes first White House appointment, names Klain as Chief of Staff

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday (November 11) placed a memorial wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery to mark Veterans Day. It was be his first public appearance, other than two golf outings, since an angry White House news conference last Thursday in which he made unsubstantiated election fraud claims.

Trump lays wreath in first public appearance since Biden victory

President Donald Trump's campaign on Wednesday took another step in its legal strategy to upend his US election loss by filing a lawsuit in Michigan while Georgia announced a recount and President-elect Joe Biden focused on laying the foundation of his incoming administration.

The Republican president's team went to federal court to try to block Michigan, a Midwestern battleground state that he won in 2016, from certifying the November 3 election results. 
&nbsp;

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Trump trailed by roughly 148,000 votes, or 2.6 percentage points, in unofficial Michigan vote totals.

Biden has a slimmer lead of just over 14,000 votes, or 0.3 points, in Georgia, a southern state that has not been carried by Democrats since 1992.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced a hand recount of all ballots cast there, which he said was expected to begin this week and would be completed in time to certify the results by a Nov. 20 deadline.

"It'll take every bit of the time that we have left, for sure. It's a big lift," Raffensperger told a news conference.

Trump has declined to concede the election to Biden, instead of lodging a flurry of lawsuits in pivotal states to try to back up his unsupported claims of widespread voting fraud. The Michigan lawsuit also made allegations of misconduct in the voting, with the focus on the Democratic stronghold of Wayne County, which includes Detroit.

Jake Rollow, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of State, said the Trump campaign was promoting false claims to erode public confidence in Michigan's elections.

"It does not change the truth: Michigan's elections were conducted fairly, securely, transparently, and the results are an accurate reflection of the will of the people," Rollow said in a statement.

Prominent Republican lawmakers and other Trump allies have backed the president's strategy, saying he has the right to contest the election results. The suit was filed one day after Biden called Trump's failure to concede an "embarrassment."

Judges have tossed out several of the Trump lawsuits, and legal experts say the litigation has scant chance of changing the election outcome.

While acknowledging there was "no silver bullet" that would overturn the election, Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said Wednesday's developments were part of a process that could pave the way for a second Trump four-year term.

Earlier, the Trump campaign said it had evidence that a handful of dead people in Georgia had voted in last week's election.

Biden last Saturday clinched victory in the election as he won a series of battleground states to exceed the 270 electoral votes needed in the state-by-state Electoral College. Biden was winning the national popular vote by more than 5 million votes, with some states still counting ballots.

Biden planned to meet with advisers on Wednesday who is helping him prepare to take office on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.

Trump placed a memorial wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, his first public appearance other than two golf outings since Biden was projected the winner on Saturday.

While Trump made no remarks at the cemetery, in Twitter posts on Wednesday he kept up his narrative of voter fraud, referring to "a mountain of corruption &amp; dishonesty" while assailing pollsters.

Nearly 80% of Americans, including half of Republicans, say Biden won the election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday.

Trump's refusal to accept defeat, even as world leaders congratulate Biden and look to their future relations with the United States, caps a volatile nearly four years in office with the country deeply polarized and facing a sharp resurgence in coronavirus cases. During the campaign, Trump had refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power.

The Trump administration is not cooperating with Biden's transition team, which has been unable to move into federal government office space or tap funds to hire staff.

The election outcome in a small number of states remained undecided with Trump holding a lead in North Carolina and Biden ahead in Arizona in addition to Georgia. Recounts are unlikely to change the outcomes.

To remain in office, Trump would need to win all three undecided states plus overturn the results in one or more states in Biden's column.

President Donald Trump's campaign on Wednesday took another step in its legal strategy to upend his US election loss by filing a lawsuit in Michigan while Georgia announced a recount and President-elect Joe Biden focused on laying the foundation of his incoming administration.

President Donald Trump's campaign on Wednesday took another step in its legal strategy to upend his US election loss by filing a lawsuit in Michigan while Georgia announced a recount and President-elect Joe Biden focused on laying the foundation of his incoming administration. The Republican president's team went to federal court to try to block Michigan, a Midwestern battleground state that he won in 2016, from certifying the November 3 election results. Trump trailed by roughly 148,000 votes, or 2.6 percentage points, in unofficial Michigan vote totals. Biden has a slimmer lead of just over 14,000 votes, or 0.3 points, in Georgia, a southern state that has not been carried by Democrats since 1992. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced a hand recount of all ballots cast there, which he said was expected to begin this week and would be completed in time to certify the results by a Nov. 20 deadline. "It'll take every bit of the time that we have left, for sure. It's a big lift," Raffensperger told a news conference. Trump has declined to concede the election to Biden, instead of lodging a flurry of lawsuits in pivotal states to try to back up his unsupported claims of widespread voting fraud. The Michigan lawsuit also made allegations of misconduct in the voting, with the focus on the Democratic stronghold of Wayne County, which includes Detroit. Jake Rollow, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of State, said the Trump campaign was promoting false claims to erode public confidence in Michigan's elections. "It does not change the truth: Michigan's elections were conducted fairly, securely, transparently, and the results are an accurate reflection of the will of the people," Rollow said in a statement. Prominent Republican lawmakers and other Trump allies have backed the president's strategy, saying he has the right to contest the election results. The suit was filed one day after Biden called Trump's failure to concede an "embarrassment." Judges have tossed out several of the Trump lawsuits, and legal experts say the litigation has scant chance of changing the election outcome. While acknowledging there was "no silver bullet" that would overturn the election, Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said Wednesday's developments were part of a process that could pave the way for a second Trump four-year term. Earlier, the Trump campaign said it had evidence that a handful of dead people in Georgia had voted in last week's election. Biden last Saturday clinched victory in the election as he won a series of battleground states to exceed the 270 electoral votes needed in the state-by-state Electoral College. Biden was winning the national popular vote by more than 5 million votes, with some states still counting ballots. Biden planned to meet with advisers on Wednesday who is helping him prepare to take office on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20. Trump placed a memorial wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, his first public appearance other than two golf outings since Biden was projected the winner on Saturday. While Trump made no remarks at the cemetery, in Twitter posts on Wednesday he kept up his narrative of voter fraud, referring to "a mountain of corruption & dishonesty" while assailing pollsters. Nearly 80% of Americans, including half of Republicans, say Biden won the election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday. Trump's refusal to accept defeat, even as world leaders congratulate Biden and look to their future relations with the United States, caps a volatile nearly four years in office with the country deeply polarized and facing a sharp resurgence in coronavirus cases. During the campaign, Trump had refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. The Trump administration is not cooperating with Biden's transition team, which has been unable to move into federal government office space or tap funds to hire staff. The election outcome in a small number of states remained undecided with Trump holding a lead in North Carolina and Biden ahead in Arizona in addition to Georgia. Recounts are unlikely to change the outcomes. To remain in office, Trump would need to win all three undecided states plus overturn the results in one or more states in Biden's column.

Donald Trump files new lawsuit challenging poll results, Georgia announces recount 

Farewell Trump: Joe Biden's face masks get popular after US election results

While surgical masks have been highly sought after this year, Joe Biden rubber masks are also seeing some demand. Ogawa Studios, a Japanese manufacturer, began producing masks resembling the U.S. president-elect in the middle of October, ahead of last week's election.

Firm in Japan makes Joe Biden rubber masks

Georgia's secretary of state has ordered a full hand recount of the state's presidential election race. Donald Trump team had earlier demanded a recount in Georgia.

Georgia orders full hand recount of all votes in presidential race

For four years, Vice President Mike Pence has walked the Trump tight rope more successfully than anyone else in the president’s orbit, staying on his good side without having to echo his most incendiary rhetoric.

But in the final weeks of Pence’s term, his relationship with President Donald Trump is facing what may be the vice president’s toughest challenge yet.

Pence must now balance his loyalty to an enraged president making baseless claims of voter fraud against his own political future and reputation. He also has to deal with how Trump’s talk of running for president again in 2024 could leave him with no lane to run in. It also makes it difficult for Pence to even start raising money if the president is floating his own name.

So far, Pence appears to be handling the pressure much as he has over the past four years: appearing to be unflinchingly loyal while also steering clear of engaging in Trump’s pressure campaigns.

In the last few months of Pence’s time as vice president, his advisers want him focused on leading the coronavirus task force and helping the two Georgia Republicans facing runoffs that will determine whether the party maintains its Senate majority.

Those advisers said they would prefer that the vice president steer clear of the Trump campaign’s legal fights contesting the election results, and so far, Pence has been careful not to repeat Trump’s most baseless attacks on the electoral system while simultaneously remaining the good soldier.

In his brief remarks early Wednesday morning after election night — he kept them to 53 seconds — Pence tried to make what amounted to a non-endorsement of the president’s claim that the election was a “major fraud on our nation” into something that sounded like unquestioning support.

“As the votes continue to be counted, we’re going to remain vigilant, as the president said,” Pence told the crowd. “We’re going to protect the integrity of the vote.”

For almost a week afterward Pence was not seen or heard in public, though it was reported that he spent time with Trump in the Oval Office on Friday.

Then on Tuesday, he spoke to Republican senators at their weekly lunch, continuing his somewhat restrained tone while giving an update on where the campaign’s lawsuits stood and thanking senators for supporting Trump without making any demand that they fall in line, according to two people who attended the meeting.

Pence told the lawmakers he planned to travel to Georgia on Nov. 20 to campaign for Republican senators in the two runoff elections. He joked that he considered himself an honorary Iowan because of all the time he had spent campaigning for Sen. Joni Ernst, a seeming wink to his own presidential ambitions, which would most likely run through Iowa.

But in the same kind of nod to Trump’s claim for a second term that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the same day, he also told the lawmakers that he wanted to keep serving with them, as the president of the Senate, and that he thought he would.

In reality, Pence’s allies expect him to return to Indiana and make a living giving paid speeches and potentially writing a book. It will be the first time in a long time that Pence will live as a private citizen — he moved from the governor’s mansion in Indiana to temporary housing in Washington during the presidential transition four years ago to the Naval Observatory. He currently does not own a house.

But before he starts to think about what kind of house he will live in, and how to fill the years before the 2024 election cycle, he still has a role to play in the end of the 2020 election.

Pence has already faced an array of tests publicly and privately since Election Day, as he has had to calculate how far to go in supporting the president’s attempts to overturn the election.

In one of the most glaring examples, Corey Lewandowski, a Trump ally, pushed for Pence to travel to the Pennsylvania Convention Center last week to observe votes being counted, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The image of the vice president — who has strong support with the social-conservative wing of the Republican Party — descending on a counting center in a state where Trump’s campaign was making baseless claims of widespread fraud would have aided the president’s narrative that the election was being stolen. Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, vetoed the request, the person said.

The furthest he has gone, rhetorically, is lending his name to campaign fundraising emails that warn of “DEFENDING the Election from voter fraud.”

A campaign spokesman described his efforts on behalf of the president more effusively.

“Vice President Pence has been in constant contact with our team and extremely involved in the campaign’s legal efforts, doing everything we and the president have asked of him as well as leading efforts to raise money for the legal fund,” a Trump campaign spokeswoman, Ali Pardo, said in a statement.

But in his role as president of the Senate, Pence has a constitutionally designated role that could be a coda to Trump’s insistence that he won reelection — and awkward for the loyal vice president.

The Constitution calls on the vice president to oversee a joint session of Congress, to be held this time on Jan. 6, in which the votes from the Electoral College are officially counted. Typically, vice presidents simply read from a script and take no actions to interfere with the results.

In 2000, Vice President Al Gore had to certify the disputed election results after the Supreme Court effectively handed the presidential election to his opponent, George W. Bush.

“It was awkward and difficult for Vice President Al Gore in 2000, but that was his job,” recalled Michael Feldman, Gore’s former chief of staff. “The vice president has very few jobs as prescribed by the Constitution. Presiding over that process as president of the Senate is one of them.”

For Pence, the day he will have to announce Trump’s defeat is two months away. In the meantime, he has resumed more traditional duties of the job, appearing with the president on Wednesday at a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. And he postponed a family vacation to Florida, opting instead for a speaking engagement on Friday.

For four years, Vice President Mike Pence has walked the Trump tight rope more successfully than anyone else in the president’s orbit, staying on his good side without having to echo his most incendiary rhetoric.

For four years, Vice President Mike Pence has walked the Trump tight rope more successfully than anyone else in the president’s orbit, staying on his good side without having to echo his most incendiary rhetoric. But in the final weeks of Pence’s term, his relationship with President Donald Trump is facing what may be the vice president’s toughest challenge yet. Pence must now balance his loyalty to an enraged president making baseless claims of voter fraud against his own political future and reputation. He also has to deal with how Trump’s talk of running for president again in 2024 could leave him with no lane to run in. It also makes it difficult for Pence to even start raising money if the president is floating his own name. So far, Pence appears to be handling the pressure much as he has over the past four years: appearing to be unflinchingly loyal while also steering clear of engaging in Trump’s pressure campaigns. In the last few months of Pence’s time as vice president, his advisers want him focused on leading the coronavirus task force and helping the two Georgia Republicans facing runoffs that will determine whether the party maintains its Senate majority. Those advisers said they would prefer that the vice president steer clear of the Trump campaign’s legal fights contesting the election results, and so far, Pence has been careful not to repeat Trump’s most baseless attacks on the electoral system while simultaneously remaining the good soldier. In his brief remarks early Wednesday morning after election night — he kept them to 53 seconds — Pence tried to make what amounted to a non-endorsement of the president’s claim that the election was a “major fraud on our nation” into something that sounded like unquestioning support. “As the votes continue to be counted, we’re going to remain vigilant, as the president said,” Pence told the crowd. “We’re going to protect the integrity of the vote.” For almost a week afterward Pence was not seen or heard in public, though it was reported that he spent time with Trump in the Oval Office on Friday. Then on Tuesday, he spoke to Republican senators at their weekly lunch, continuing his somewhat restrained tone while giving an update on where the campaign’s lawsuits stood and thanking senators for supporting Trump without making any demand that they fall in line, according to two people who attended the meeting. Pence told the lawmakers he planned to travel to Georgia on Nov. 20 to campaign for Republican senators in the two runoff elections. He joked that he considered himself an honorary Iowan because of all the time he had spent campaigning for Sen. Joni Ernst, a seeming wink to his own presidential ambitions, which would most likely run through Iowa. But in the same kind of nod to Trump’s claim for a second term that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the same day, he also told the lawmakers that he wanted to keep serving with them, as the president of the Senate, and that he thought he would. In reality, Pence’s allies expect him to return to Indiana and make a living giving paid speeches and potentially writing a book. It will be the first time in a long time that Pence will live as a private citizen — he moved from the governor’s mansion in Indiana to temporary housing in Washington during the presidential transition four years ago to the Naval Observatory. He currently does not own a house. But before he starts to think about what kind of house he will live in, and how to fill the years before the 2024 election cycle, he still has a role to play in the end of the 2020 election. Pence has already faced an array of tests publicly and privately since Election Day, as he has had to calculate how far to go in supporting the president’s attempts to overturn the election. In one of the most glaring examples, Corey Lewandowski, a Trump ally, pushed for Pence to travel to the Pennsylvania Convention Center last week to observe votes being counted, according to a person familiar with the matter. The image of the vice president — who has strong support with the social-conservative wing of the Republican Party — descending on a counting center in a state where Trump’s campaign was making baseless claims of widespread fraud would have aided the president’s narrative that the election was being stolen. Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, vetoed the request, the person said. The furthest he has gone, rhetorically, is lending his name to campaign fundraising emails that warn of “DEFENDING the Election from voter fraud.” A campaign spokesman described his efforts on behalf of the president more effusively. “Vice President Pence has been in constant contact with our team and extremely involved in the campaign’s legal efforts, doing everything we and the president have asked of him as well as leading efforts to raise money for the legal fund,” a Trump campaign spokeswoman, Ali Pardo, said in a statement. But in his role as president of the Senate, Pence has a constitutionally designated role that could be a coda to Trump’s insistence that he won reelection — and awkward for the loyal vice president. The Constitution calls on the vice president to oversee a joint session of Congress, to be held this time on Jan. 6, in which the votes from the Electoral College are officially counted. Typically, vice presidents simply read from a script and take no actions to interfere with the results. In 2000, Vice President Al Gore had to certify the disputed election results after the Supreme Court effectively handed the presidential election to his opponent, George W. Bush. “It was awkward and difficult for Vice President Al Gore in 2000, but that was his job,” recalled Michael Feldman, Gore’s former chief of staff. “The vice president has very few jobs as prescribed by the Constitution. Presiding over that process as president of the Senate is one of them.” For Pence, the day he will have to announce Trump’s defeat is two months away. In the meantime, he has resumed more traditional duties of the job, appearing with the president on Wednesday at a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. And he postponed a family vacation to Florida, opting instead for a speaking engagement on Friday.

For Pence, the future is tied to Trump as much as the present is

The endeavored fix of a sculpture on the façade of a notable structure in the Spanish city of Palencia has been taunted for its "animation like appearance" in the most recent instance of Spanish workmanship rebuilding turned out badly.&nbsp;

In a trifecta for workmanship 'reclamation' extends that end up humorously twisted, a mid-twentieth century exterior in&nbsp;Palencia has joined the scandalous positions of 'Potato Jesus' and the battered 'Impeccable Conception.'&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/baroque-artist-murillos-valuable-painting-botched-up-by-spanish-restorer-308143">Baroque artist Murillo's valuable painting botched up by Spanish restorer</a>

The new rebuilding catastrophe is standing out as truly newsworthy in Spain after it arose that an endured mold on one of the city's most symbolic structures had gone through a patch up that didn't actually turn out as it should.&nbsp;

'It's more similar to an animation head than the creative head of one of Palencia's most symbolic structures,' insulted neighborhood painter Antonio Guzman Capel wrote in a Facebook with when shots of the sculpture.&nbsp;

<img alt="F" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="91820674-3d46-4ab9-bdd4-0a2f3579ab14" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Capture%205676.PNG" />

One online media client contrasted the new figure with 'sand models kids do on the seashore,' while another joked that "it seemed as though a plasticine model made in kindergarten".&nbsp;

The sculpture was apparently supplanted during rebuilding chip away at the recorded structure which dates from 1919 and now houses a Unicaja bank.&nbsp;

<img alt="F" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a17a52fe-53db-4ab3-b231-da1f8c9ed028" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Capture%2009823.PNG" />

It is hazy who is liable for the "reclamation".&nbsp;

It has been named the new Ecce Homo, concerning the now scandalous endeavors by Cecilia Giménez, who in 2012 at 82 years old chose to clean up a canvas in her nearby house of prayer.&nbsp;

<img alt="F" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="91d5db02-091b-4a1d-8680-bc4f411b9c0e" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/1605025045_1527085093-000-par7280635_0.jpg" />

The original work by Elias Garcia had decayed before the bungled rebuilding Photo: AFP&nbsp;

The tragic fix stood out as truly newsworthy over the world, yet changed the fortunes of the little Aragon town of Borja by drawing in sightseers and even motivated a drama.&nbsp;

Two years back another rebuilding endeavor additionally brought scorn when a 500-year-old St George's sculpture in a side of a little church in Navarra endured the outrage of fairly pompous paintwork.&nbsp;

<img alt="F" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d0c64cb2-9105-4037-a248-f899d59fcf5b" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/1605025063_dgixdr6w0aen1o3.jpg" />

Before and after images of the statue in the hamlet of Estella, Navarra/Twitter

Almudena Gonzalez, another nearby, composed on Facebook that the Palencia rebuilding 'makes me need to cry.'&nbsp;

'It's awful. What's more, to think about all the extraordinary craftsmen we have.'

The endeavored fix of a sculpture on the façade of a notable structure in the Spanish city of Palencia has been taunted for its "animation like appearance" in the most recent instance of Spanish workmanship rebuilding turned out badly.

The endeavored fix of a sculpture on the façade of a notable structure in the Spanish city of Palencia has been taunted for its "animation like appearance" in the most recent instance of Spanish workmanship rebuilding turned out badly. In a trifecta for workmanship 'reclamation' extends that end up humorously twisted, a mid-twentieth century exterior in Palencia has joined the scandalous positions of 'Potato Jesus' and the battered 'Impeccable Conception.' Also read: Baroque artist Murillo's valuable painting botched up by Spanish restorer The new rebuilding catastrophe is standing out as truly newsworthy in Spain after it arose that an endured mold on one of the city's most symbolic structures had gone through a patch up that didn't actually turn out as it should. 'It's more similar to an animation head than the creative head of one of Palencia's most symbolic structures,' insulted neighborhood painter Antonio Guzman Capel wrote in a Facebook with when shots of the sculpture. One online media client contrasted the new figure with 'sand models kids do on the seashore,' while another joked that "it seemed as though a plasticine model made in kindergarten". The sculpture was apparently supplanted during rebuilding chip away at the recorded structure which dates from 1919 and now houses a Unicaja bank. It is hazy who is liable for the "reclamation". It has been named the new Ecce Homo, concerning the now scandalous endeavors by Cecilia Giménez, who in 2012 at 82 years old chose to clean up a canvas in her nearby house of prayer. The original work by Elias Garcia had decayed before the bungled rebuilding Photo: AFP The tragic fix stood out as truly newsworthy over the world, yet changed the fortunes of the little Aragon town of Borja by drawing in sightseers and even motivated a drama. Two years back another rebuilding endeavor additionally brought scorn when a 500-year-old St George's sculpture in a side of a little church in Navarra endured the outrage of fairly pompous paintwork. Before and after images of the statue in the hamlet of Estella, Navarra/Twitter Almudena Gonzalez, another nearby, composed on Facebook that the Palencia rebuilding 'makes me need to cry.' 'It's awful. What's more, to think about all the extraordinary craftsmen we have.'

Appears like Trump? Spain laughs and groans at botched restoration of classical statue

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday promised the world a "smooth transition" after US elections but refused to recognize President-elect Joe Biden's victory, saying Donald Trump will remain in power.

"There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration," Pompeo said in an at-times testy news conference when asked about contacts with the Biden team.

"The world should have every confidence that the transition necessary to make sure that the State Department is functional today... with the president who is in the office on January 20 a minute afternoon will be successful," he said, referring to the date of the presidential inauguration.

World leaders including almost all US allies have congratulated Biden, who has achieved unassailable leads in key states as well as a commanding edge in the nationwide popular vote.

But Trump has refused to concede the November 3 election and has alleged massive fraud, calling for recounts and legal action.

Asked if the United States can still issue statements calling for free elections around the world, Pompeo said the question was "ridiculous."

"This department cares deeply to make sure that elections around the world are safe and secure and free and fair, and my officers risk their lives to ensure that that happens," he said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday promised the world a "smooth transition" after US elections but refused to recognize President-elect Joe Biden's victory, saying Donald Trump will remain in power.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday promised the world a "smooth transition" after US elections but refused to recognize President-elect Joe Biden's victory, saying Donald Trump will remain in power. "There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration," Pompeo said in an at-times testy news conference when asked about contacts with the Biden team. "The world should have every confidence that the transition necessary to make sure that the State Department is functional today... with the president who is in the office on January 20 a minute afternoon will be successful," he said, referring to the date of the presidential inauguration. World leaders including almost all US allies have congratulated Biden, who has achieved unassailable leads in key states as well as a commanding edge in the nationwide popular vote. But Trump has refused to concede the November 3 election and has alleged massive fraud, calling for recounts and legal action. Asked if the United States can still issue statements calling for free elections around the world, Pompeo said the question was "ridiculous." "This department cares deeply to make sure that elections around the world are safe and secure and free and fair, and my officers risk their lives to ensure that that happens," he said.

'Smooth transition to a second Trump administration': Mike Pompeo

Georgia's top election official on Wednesday said the state will conduct a recount of all paper ballots cast in the Nov. 3 presidential election.

"Mathematically, you actually have to do a full hand-by-hand recount of all because the margin is so close," Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said at a news conference. "We want to start this before the week is up."

(more details awaited)

Georgia's top election official on Wednesday said the state will conduct a recount of all paper ballots cast in the Nov. 3 presidential election. "Mathematically, you actually have to do a full hand-by-hand recount of all because the margin is so close," Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said at a news conference.

Georgia's top election official on Wednesday said the state will conduct a recount of all paper ballots cast in the Nov. 3 presidential election. "Mathematically, you actually have to do a full hand-by-hand recount of all because the margin is so close," Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said at a news conference. "We want to start this before the week is up." (more details awaited)

US election 2020: Georgia to conduct a full recount of election ballots

According to a survey nearly 80% of Americans, including more than half of Republicans, recognize President-elect Joe Biden as the winner, ignoring Donald Trump's refusal to concede.

WION Fineprint: Survey: Nearly 80% of Americans say Biden won White House

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/united-states-of-america-is-back-in-the-game-joe-biden-tells-world-leaders-342283">The United States of America is ‘back in the game’: Joe Biden tells world leaders</a> 
 
<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2020/11/08/168884-joe-biden-in-his-first-address-as-president-elect.jpg?itok=wtq9nlc9" /> 
 
Speaking in Delaware, Mr Biden said: “I’m letting them know that America’s back. We’re going to be back in the game. It’s not going to be America alone.” 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/international-observers-see-no-fraud-in-historic-us-vote-342284">International observers see 'no fraud in 'historic' US vote</a> 
 
<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2020/11/04/168241-untitled-design-4.jpg?itok=jpP1Ugvp" /> 
 
Despite Donald Trump’s repeated expressions of doubt on the US election's voting system, International observers from the Organisation of American States say they saw no instances of fraud or voting irregularities in the US presidential election.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/another-big-leap-spacex-set-to-launch-first-fully-crewed-iss-mission-342288">'Another big leap': SpaceX set to launch first fully-crewed ISS mission</a> 
 
<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2020/09/30/162385-untitled-design-24.jpg?itok=DgI5htRF" /> 
 
Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX is set to launch its first fully-crewed bound for the International Space Station on Saturday. It is the program's first six-month routine mission since the United States resumed crewed space flight in May after nine years of reliance on Russia. 
&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/brazilian-president-bolsonaro-sparks-outrage-over-his-homophobic-statement-342293">Brazilian President Bolsonaro sparks outrage over his homophobic statement</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2020/11/11/169307-untitled-design-4.jpg?itok=4oSFbnTt" /> 
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro drew criticism and sparked outrage and drew criticism over his homophobic outburst for telling Brazilians not to deal with Covid-19 like "a country of fags". 
 
<iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-european-union-mulls-a-school-to-train-imams-342277/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-at-the-sco-summit-pm-modi-takes-aim-at-china-pakistan-342273/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The United States of America is ‘back in the game’: Joe Biden tells world leaders Speaking in Delaware, Mr Biden said: “I’m letting them know that America’s back.

The United States of America is ‘back in the game’: Joe Biden tells world leaders Speaking in Delaware, Mr Biden said: “I’m letting them know that America’s back. We’re going to be back in the game. It’s not going to be America alone.” International observers see 'no fraud in 'historic' US vote Despite Donald Trump’s repeated expressions of doubt on the US election's voting system, International observers from the Organisation of American States say they saw no instances of fraud or voting irregularities in the US presidential election. 'Another big leap': SpaceX set to launch first fully-crewed ISS mission Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX is set to launch its first fully-crewed bound for the International Space Station on Saturday. It is the program's first six-month routine mission since the United States resumed crewed space flight in May after nine years of reliance on Russia. Brazilian President Bolsonaro sparks outrage over his homophobic statement Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro drew criticism and sparked outrage and drew criticism over his homophobic outburst for telling Brazilians not to deal with Covid-19 like "a country of fags".

Morning news brief: US polls, Bolsonaro’s homophobic statement and more

Jimmy Kimmel poked fun at the behest of Donald Trump as he refused to concede even after his political rival Joe Biden’s victory in the current US elections.&nbsp;

Trump has been crying voter fraud and delegitimized the former vice president’s win. In his recent episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, the host said, “the POTUS refuses to go-tus.”

He roasted Trump and said, “We have a reality show host who will not accept reality.”

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="383" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GJRRxC3yjm4" width="680"></iframe>

But Trump’s sole efforts aren’t as disturbing and worrisome when compared to the number of GOP figures, including Lindsey Graham and Mike Pompeo, backing the president.

“I’m less disgusted with our toddler in chief throwing his oatmeal at the wall than I am with the Republican Congresspeople who are going along with this,” Jimmy Kimmel continued.

“Even The Bachelorette had a more peaceful transition of power than the presidency,” he joked.

Jimmy Kimmel poked fun at the behest of Donald Trump as he refused to concede even after his political rival Joe Biden’s victory in the current US elections. Trump has been crying voter fraud and delegitimized the former vice president’s win.

Jimmy Kimmel poked fun at the behest of Donald Trump as he refused to concede even after his political rival Joe Biden’s victory in the current US elections. Trump has been crying voter fraud and delegitimized the former vice president’s win. In his recent episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, the host said, “the POTUS refuses to go-tus.” He roasted Trump and said, “We have a reality show host who will not accept reality.” But Trump’s sole efforts aren’t as disturbing and worrisome when compared to the number of GOP figures, including Lindsey Graham and Mike Pompeo, backing the president. “I’m less disgusted with our toddler in chief throwing his oatmeal at the wall than I am with the Republican Congresspeople who are going along with this,” Jimmy Kimmel continued. “Even The Bachelorette had a more peaceful transition of power than the presidency,” he joked.

Jimmy Kimmel roasts Trump: We have a reality show host who will not accept reality

Donald Trump is crying conspiracy over the Pfizer vaccine. His aides are blocking Biden's transition, and Americans are bombarding Trump's voter fraud hotlines with prank calls. WION's Palki Sharma tells you all that's happening in the U.S.

Gravitas: What's happening in the U.S.?

With his win in the US election, President-elect Joe Biden has told world leaders that America is “back in the game” as he received a series of congratulatory calls on Tuesday following his victory in the US election.&nbsp;

Speaking in Delaware, Mr Biden said: “I’m letting them know that America’s back. We’re going to be back in the game. It’s not going to be&nbsp;America alone.” 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/after-trumps-tariffs-and-insults-canada-is-relieved-at-bidens-win-342261">Also read: After Trump’s tariffs and insults, Canada is relieved at Biden’s win</a> 
 
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel all offered congratulations in calls to Biden, who a week earlier edged out Trump in the presidential election.

The transition team said Biden planned to work with the Europeans on fighting the Covid-19 pandemic as well as climate change -- one of many areas on which Trump sharply differed with the allies.

On the call with Merkel, who has been savaged by Trump over her welcome to migrants and Germany's modest defence expenditure, Biden in a statement "praised her leadership" and called for "revitalizing the trans-Atlantic relationship, including through NATO and the EU."

Johnson, who had a warm relationship with Trump, spoke for 20 minutes with Biden and wrote later on Twitter that he hoped to work with him on climate change, "promoting democracy and building back better from the pandemic," employing the slogan from the Democrat's campaign.

All fellow leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies have congratulated Biden as have some of Trump's closest allies, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

US media outlets concluded Saturday that Biden enjoyed unassailable leads in major states as well as a commanding edge in the nationwide popular vote.

But Trump has refused to concede and has vowed legal challenges, saying without evidence that there was massive electoral fraud.

Pompeo, Trump's secretary of state, made clear that Trump's stance was official government policy as he brushed aside a question on whether he was cooperating with the Biden transition team.

"There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration," Pompeo said in a sometimes testy news conference.

He said that "the world should have every confidence" in the functioning of the US government in the run-up and after the January 20 inauguration.

Asked if the United States can still be issuing statements seeking free elections around the world, Pompeo called the question "ridiculous" and said the United States was following standard procedures.

- Pompeo to visit allies -

Trump's failure to concede has no legal force in itself. But the General Services Administration, the usually low-key agency that manages the Washington bureaucracy, has refused to sign off on the transition, holding up funding and security briefings that would have let Biden get going on setting up the next administration.

A US commission that investigated the September 11, 2001 attacks had warned that presidential transitions pose security risks, after the shortened period for George W. Bush to prepare following a disputed election.

Pompeo was making his first public comment on the election outcome. One day earlier, Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper whom he had long seen as insufficiently loyal.

Pompeo's stance will be put to the test as he leaves Friday for a seven-nation tour of allies that have congratulated Biden.

He will head first to Paris and then Istanbul followed by the former Soviet republic of Georgia. He will then head to Jerusalem and three Gulf Arab allies -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday became the latest leader to congratulate Biden and urged closer ties despite the president-elect's vows to step up pressure on Erdogan, whom he has described as an "autocrat."

Russia, China, Mexico and Brazil are among the only nations that have not congratulated Biden.

Biden, an Irish-American long passionate about peace in Northern Ireland, also spoke Tuesday to Irish leader Michael Martin and a day earlier held telephone talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is expected to be a close ally of the incoming president.

With his win in the US election, President-elect Joe Biden has told world leaders that America is “back in the game” as he received a series of congratulatory calls on Tuesday following his victory in the US election.

With his win in the US election, President-elect Joe Biden has told world leaders that America is “back in the game” as he received a series of congratulatory calls on Tuesday following his victory in the US election. Speaking in Delaware, Mr Biden said: “I’m letting them know that America’s back. We’re going to be back in the game. It’s not going to be America alone.” Also read: After Trump’s tariffs and insults, Canada is relieved at Biden’s win British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel all offered congratulations in calls to Biden, who a week earlier edged out Trump in the presidential election. The transition team said Biden planned to work with the Europeans on fighting the Covid-19 pandemic as well as climate change -- one of many areas on which Trump sharply differed with the allies. On the call with Merkel, who has been savaged by Trump over her welcome to migrants and Germany's modest defence expenditure, Biden in a statement "praised her leadership" and called for "revitalizing the trans-Atlantic relationship, including through NATO and the EU." Johnson, who had a warm relationship with Trump, spoke for 20 minutes with Biden and wrote later on Twitter that he hoped to work with him on climate change, "promoting democracy and building back better from the pandemic," employing the slogan from the Democrat's campaign. All fellow leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies have congratulated Biden as have some of Trump's closest allies, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. US media outlets concluded Saturday that Biden enjoyed unassailable leads in major states as well as a commanding edge in the nationwide popular vote. But Trump has refused to concede and has vowed legal challenges, saying without evidence that there was massive electoral fraud. Pompeo, Trump's secretary of state, made clear that Trump's stance was official government policy as he brushed aside a question on whether he was cooperating with the Biden transition team. "There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration," Pompeo said in a sometimes testy news conference. He said that "the world should have every confidence" in the functioning of the US government in the run-up and after the January 20 inauguration. Asked if the United States can still be issuing statements seeking free elections around the world, Pompeo called the question "ridiculous" and said the United States was following standard procedures. - Pompeo to visit allies - Trump's failure to concede has no legal force in itself. But the General Services Administration, the usually low-key agency that manages the Washington bureaucracy, has refused to sign off on the transition, holding up funding and security briefings that would have let Biden get going on setting up the next administration. A US commission that investigated the September 11, 2001 attacks had warned that presidential transitions pose security risks, after the shortened period for George W. Bush to prepare following a disputed election. Pompeo was making his first public comment on the election outcome. One day earlier, Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper whom he had long seen as insufficiently loyal. Pompeo's stance will be put to the test as he leaves Friday for a seven-nation tour of allies that have congratulated Biden. He will head first to Paris and then Istanbul followed by the former Soviet republic of Georgia. He will then head to Jerusalem and three Gulf Arab allies -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday became the latest leader to congratulate Biden and urged closer ties despite the president-elect's vows to step up pressure on Erdogan, whom he has described as an "autocrat." Russia, China, Mexico and Brazil are among the only nations that have not congratulated Biden. Biden, an Irish-American long passionate about peace in Northern Ireland, also spoke Tuesday to Irish leader Michael Martin and a day earlier held telephone talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is expected to be a close ally of the incoming president.

United States of America is ‘back in the game’: Joe Biden tells world leaders

ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of video-sharing app TikTok, filed a petition late Tuesday with a US Appeals Court challenging Donald Trump's order to divest the app within 90 days.

China's ByteDance challenges Trump's TikTok order

Despite Donald Trump’s repeated expressions of doubt on the US election's voting system, International observers from the Organisation of American States say they saw no instances of fraud or voting irregularities in the US presidential election. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/united-states-of-america-is-back-in-the-game-joe-biden-tells-world-leaders-342283">Also read | United States of America is ‘back in the game’: Joe Biden tells World leaders&nbsp;</a> 
 
Election experts say it would be nearly impossible for foreign actors to disrupt a US election.

It started months before Election Day with false claims on Facebook and Twitter that mail-in ballots cast for President Donald Trump had been chucked in dumpsters or rivers. 
 
Trump’s supporters have readily echoed the president’s cries of an unfair election on Facebook and Twitter.

Tweets and retweets with terms such as “steal,” “fraud,” “rigged” and “dead” referring to the election spiked more than 2,800% from Nov. 2 to Nov. 6, according to an analysis by VineSight, a tech company that tracks misinformation. The company found more than 1.6 million retweets containing some of those words on Nov. 6 alone.

The OAS says the Election Day was peaceful, although there were efforts to intimidate poll workers as the votes were counted, and says the country’s mail-in ballots were a secure system.

Meanwhile, a week after the final polls closed, falsehoods about dead people voting and ballots being thrown out by poll workers are still thriving on social media, reaching an audience of millions.&nbsp;

False or misleading claims of electoral fraud are going viral on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Yesterday, asked for his view on President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the result of the election, Joe Biden said: “I just think it’s an embarrassment, quite frankly. I think it will not help the president’s legacy.

“I think that the whole Republican Party has been put in a position – with a few notable exceptions – of being mildly intimidated by the sitting president.”

He continued: “I understand the sense of loss. I get that. But I think the majority of the people who voted for the president…I think they understand that we have to come together.”

(With inputs from agencies)

Despite Donald Trump’s repeated expressions of doubt on the US election's voting system, International observers from the Organisation of American States say they saw no instances of fraud or voting irregularities in the US presidential election.

Despite Donald Trump’s repeated expressions of doubt on the US election's voting system, International observers from the Organisation of American States say they saw no instances of fraud or voting irregularities in the US presidential election. Also read | United States of America is ‘back in the game’: Joe Biden tells World leaders Election experts say it would be nearly impossible for foreign actors to disrupt a US election. It started months before Election Day with false claims on Facebook and Twitter that mail-in ballots cast for President Donald Trump had been chucked in dumpsters or rivers. Trump’s supporters have readily echoed the president’s cries of an unfair election on Facebook and Twitter. Tweets and retweets with terms such as “steal,” “fraud,” “rigged” and “dead” referring to the election spiked more than 2,800% from Nov. 2 to Nov. 6, according to an analysis by VineSight, a tech company that tracks misinformation. The company found more than 1.6 million retweets containing some of those words on Nov. 6 alone. The OAS says the Election Day was peaceful, although there were efforts to intimidate poll workers as the votes were counted, and says the country’s mail-in ballots were a secure system. Meanwhile, a week after the final polls closed, falsehoods about dead people voting and ballots being thrown out by poll workers are still thriving on social media, reaching an audience of millions. False or misleading claims of electoral fraud are going viral on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Yesterday, asked for his view on President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept the result of the election, Joe Biden said: “I just think it’s an embarrassment, quite frankly. I think it will not help the president’s legacy. “I think that the whole Republican Party has been put in a position – with a few notable exceptions – of being mildly intimidated by the sitting president.” He continued: “I understand the sense of loss. I get that. But I think the majority of the people who voted for the president…I think they understand that we have to come together.” (With inputs from agencies)

International observers see 'no fraud in 'historic' US vote

Donald Trump has refused to concede defeat but according to a survey 80% of Americans have accepted Joe Biden as next president. WION brings you a report.

Survey: 80% of Americans have accepted Joe Biden as their President

TikTok asked a Washington court Tuesday to stop an order from US President Donald Trump's administration from taking effect this week as the White House seeks to ban the Chinese-owned app in the United States.

Chinese company ByteDance is facing a Thursday deadline to restructure ownership of the app in the United States to meet US security concerns.

In its court petition, TikTok asked for more time, saying it has not received enough feedback on its proposed solution.

The company said in a statement that it had asked the government for a 30-day extension because it was "facing continual new requests and no clarity on whether our proposed solutions would be accepted" but it had not been granted.

It was turning to the court for that reason, it said.

US President Donald Trump signed a set of orders against the video platform this summer.

One required ByteDance to sell its US TikTok operations within 90 days, citing national security concerns.

The company also faced an order that would effectively ban the app from the country by the same date.

But on October 30, a Pennsylvania judge issued an injunction temporarily blocking the order aimed at banning it.

The order would have knocked the Chinese-owned video-sharing app offline by cutting it off from US businesses providing website hosting, data storage, and other fundamentals needed to operate.

Trump has accused the popular video-sharing app of handing over American user data to Beijing -- which the company flatly denies.

After negotiations with several US firms, ByteDance and TikTok proposed creating a new company with IT company Oracle as a technology partner and retail giant Walmart as a business partner.

The plan seemed to convince the administration, but the platform is still awaiting a green light.

TikTok said that with Thursday's "deadline imminent and without an extension in hand, we have no choice but to file a petition in court to defend our rights and those of our more than 1,500 employees in the US."

TikTok has 100 million users in the United States.

TikTok asked a Washington court Tuesday to stop an order from US President Donald Trump's administration from taking effect this week as the White House seeks to ban the Chinese-owned app in the United States.

TikTok asked a Washington court Tuesday to stop an order from US President Donald Trump's administration from taking effect this week as the White House seeks to ban the Chinese-owned app in the United States. Chinese company ByteDance is facing a Thursday deadline to restructure ownership of the app in the United States to meet US security concerns. In its court petition, TikTok asked for more time, saying it has not received enough feedback on its proposed solution. The company said in a statement that it had asked the government for a 30-day extension because it was "facing continual new requests and no clarity on whether our proposed solutions would be accepted" but it had not been granted. It was turning to the court for that reason, it said. US President Donald Trump signed a set of orders against the video platform this summer. One required ByteDance to sell its US TikTok operations within 90 days, citing national security concerns. The company also faced an order that would effectively ban the app from the country by the same date. But on October 30, a Pennsylvania judge issued an injunction temporarily blocking the order aimed at banning it. The order would have knocked the Chinese-owned video-sharing app offline by cutting it off from US businesses providing website hosting, data storage, and other fundamentals needed to operate. Trump has accused the popular video-sharing app of handing over American user data to Beijing -- which the company flatly denies. After negotiations with several US firms, ByteDance and TikTok proposed creating a new company with IT company Oracle as a technology partner and retail giant Walmart as a business partner. The plan seemed to convince the administration, but the platform is still awaiting a green light. TikTok said that with Thursday's "deadline imminent and without an extension in hand, we have no choice but to file a petition in court to defend our rights and those of our more than 1,500 employees in the US." TikTok has 100 million users in the United States.

TikTok files last-minute petition against Trump order

President Donald Trump on Monday announced by tweet that he had fired his defense secretary Mark Esper, further destabilizing a government already navigating Trump's refusal to concede election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden.

"Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service," Trump said on Twitter, announcing his replacement by Christopher Miller, the current head of the National Counterterrorism Center.

The firing of Esper, who had clashed with Trump over his suggestion of using military personnel to quash civic unrest, comes a week after the US presidential election.

Trump, who is pursuing so far flimsy claims of election fraud in the courts, has only until January 20 before he has to leave office and Biden takes over.

President Donald Trump on Monday announced by tweet that he had fired his defense secretary Mark Esper, further destabilizing a government already navigating Trump's refusal to concede election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden.

President Donald Trump on Monday announced by tweet that he had fired his defense secretary Mark Esper, further destabilizing a government already navigating Trump's refusal to concede election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. "Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service," Trump said on Twitter, announcing his replacement by Christopher Miller, the current head of the National Counterterrorism Center. The firing of Esper, who had clashed with Trump over his suggestion of using military personnel to quash civic unrest, comes a week after the US presidential election. Trump, who is pursuing so far flimsy claims of election fraud in the courts, has only until January 20 before he has to leave office and Biden takes over.

Trump tweets he has 'terminated' defense secretary Mark Esper

Since he was elected, President Donald Trump’s relationships with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill have mostly fallen into one of two categories: the unbreakable bond with his most ardent followers who defend him at all costs, and the tenuous, strained alliance with the rest who share his agenda but often cringe privately at his language and tactics.

Neither group is particularly well suited for the chore of trying to persuade Trump, who refuses to concede the election, that it is time to step aside — or at the very least, to stop spreading claims about the integrity of the nation’s elections that are contrary to considerable evidence. And there is little chance that Trump, who has been perplexed and sometimes enraged by the Republican institutionalists who might normally be expected to play such a role, would listen if they did.

The dynamic helps explain why, days after President-elect Joe Biden was declared the winner of the election, even Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, was unwilling to recognize the result. Instead, senators have tiptoed around — or in some cases blindly run past — the reality of Trump’s loss, and the lack of evidence to suggest widespread election fraud or improprieties that could reverse that result.

“There is no bipartisanship to speak of, in terms of how many members are willing to speak up — and would it matter to him? Would he listen?” said William Cohen, a former senator and House member from Maine who was one of the first Republicans to break from his party and support the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon. “Trump doesn’t care a whit about the House or Senate, and he rules by fear. He still can inflame his supporters — there are 70 million out there. He still carries that fear factor.”

By Monday evening, a club of only a few Republican senators known for their distaste for Trump — Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — had acknowledged Biden’s victory.

McConnell, who is poised to be the top Republican in Washington during the coming Biden administration, threw his support behind Trump, declining to recognize Biden’s victory as he argued Trump was “100% within his rights” to challenge the outcome.

Far from attempting to influence the president’s thinking, most Republicans have gone out of their way to avoid seeming to dictate what he should do.

“I look forward to the president dealing with this however he needs to deal with it,” Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican on McConnell’s leadership team, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, even as he noted that it “seems unlikely” that the outcome would change based on Trump’s legal claims.

Some of the Trump’s acolytes, on the other hand, have rushed to advance his baseless theories of fraud. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue of Georgia, both of whom are facing runoff elections in January, demanded the resignation of their state’s top election official, a fellow Republican, after he said there was no evidence of widespread fraud in the state’s elections.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican leader, also insisted that Trump was right to contest the results of the election.

“Every legal challenge must be heard,” McCarthy said. “Then and only then does America decide who won the race.”

In 1974, as Nixon faced the Watergate scandal and the strong likelihood of impeachment and conviction, a cadre of powerful Republican lawmakers marched to the White House and one by one, naming lawmakers in their own party who were prepared to vote to convict him, told him it was time for him to go. The message was clear, and Nixon announced his resignation the next day.

Expect no such reckoning for Trump, said Timothy Naftali, founding director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum and a professor at New York University.

“It’s very difficult for Republicans whose leader got 71 million votes, the most by any Republican standard-bearer ever, to simply just turn their backs on him,” Naftali said. “The issue is now not so much Trump as loyalty to Trumpism. And I think that’s why you see the contortions now. If you’re a Republican and you get this wrong, you’re going to be primaried out.”

There is a more immediate concern for the party, too. With Perdue and Loeffler facing elections whose outcomes are likely to determine control of the Senate, Republicans are reluctant to do anything to dampen the enthusiasm of their conservative base. Any hint that leaders were prodding Trump to exit the stage could provoke a Twitter rampage from the president that could turn his supporters against the party at a critical time.

“The Republican Party hemorrhaged seats in 1974 after Watergate, after the near-impeachment of a Republican president,” Naftali said, while they appear on track to gain House seats this year after Democrats’ impeachment of Trump. “So what is the lesson for politicos? The lesson is not to run away from Trump.”

Still, some Republicans have argued in recent days that it is crucial for members of their party to push back in a measured way against the president’s unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud.

On Monday, 31 former Republican members of Congress — many of them outspoken critics of the president — denounced Trump’s allegations in an open letter that called on him to accept the election results.

“We believe the statements by President Trump alleging fraud in the election are efforts to undermine the legitimacy of the election and are unacceptable,” wrote the group, led by former Rep. Tom Coleman of Missouri. “Every vote should be counted and the final outcome accepted by the participants because public confidence in the outcome of our elections is a bedrock of our democracy.”

Since he was elected, President Donald Trump’s relationships with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill have mostly fallen into one of two categories: the unbreakable bond with his most ardent followers who defend him at all costs, and the tenuous, strained alliance with the rest who share his agenda but often cringe privately at his language and tactics.

Since he was elected, President Donald Trump’s relationships with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill have mostly fallen into one of two categories: the unbreakable bond with his most ardent followers who defend him at all costs, and the tenuous, strained alliance with the rest who share his agenda but often cringe privately at his language and tactics. Neither group is particularly well suited for the chore of trying to persuade Trump, who refuses to concede the election, that it is time to step aside — or at the very least, to stop spreading claims about the integrity of the nation’s elections that are contrary to considerable evidence. And there is little chance that Trump, who has been perplexed and sometimes enraged by the Republican institutionalists who might normally be expected to play such a role, would listen if they did. The dynamic helps explain why, days after President-elect Joe Biden was declared the winner of the election, even Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, was unwilling to recognize the result. Instead, senators have tiptoed around — or in some cases blindly run past — the reality of Trump’s loss, and the lack of evidence to suggest widespread election fraud or improprieties that could reverse that result. “There is no bipartisanship to speak of, in terms of how many members are willing to speak up — and would it matter to him? Would he listen?” said William Cohen, a former senator and House member from Maine who was one of the first Republicans to break from his party and support the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon. “Trump doesn’t care a whit about the House or Senate, and he rules by fear. He still can inflame his supporters — there are 70 million out there. He still carries that fear factor.” By Monday evening, a club of only a few Republican senators known for their distaste for Trump — Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — had acknowledged Biden’s victory. McConnell, who is poised to be the top Republican in Washington during the coming Biden administration, threw his support behind Trump, declining to recognize Biden’s victory as he argued Trump was “100% within his rights” to challenge the outcome. Far from attempting to influence the president’s thinking, most Republicans have gone out of their way to avoid seeming to dictate what he should do. “I look forward to the president dealing with this however he needs to deal with it,” Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican on McConnell’s leadership team, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, even as he noted that it “seems unlikely” that the outcome would change based on Trump’s legal claims. Some of the Trump’s acolytes, on the other hand, have rushed to advance his baseless theories of fraud. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue of Georgia, both of whom are facing runoff elections in January, demanded the resignation of their state’s top election official, a fellow Republican, after he said there was no evidence of widespread fraud in the state’s elections. Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican leader, also insisted that Trump was right to contest the results of the election. “Every legal challenge must be heard,” McCarthy said. “Then and only then does America decide who won the race.” In 1974, as Nixon faced the Watergate scandal and the strong likelihood of impeachment and conviction, a cadre of powerful Republican lawmakers marched to the White House and one by one, naming lawmakers in their own party who were prepared to vote to convict him, told him it was time for him to go. The message was clear, and Nixon announced his resignation the next day. Expect no such reckoning for Trump, said Timothy Naftali, founding director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum and a professor at New York University. “It’s very difficult for Republicans whose leader got 71 million votes, the most by any Republican standard-bearer ever, to simply just turn their backs on him,” Naftali said. “The issue is now not so much Trump as loyalty to Trumpism. And I think that’s why you see the contortions now. If you’re a Republican and you get this wrong, you’re going to be primaried out.” There is a more immediate concern for the party, too. With Perdue and Loeffler facing elections whose outcomes are likely to determine control of the Senate, Republicans are reluctant to do anything to dampen the enthusiasm of their conservative base. Any hint that leaders were prodding Trump to exit the stage could provoke a Twitter rampage from the president that could turn his supporters against the party at a critical time. “The Republican Party hemorrhaged seats in 1974 after Watergate, after the near-impeachment of a Republican president,” Naftali said, while they appear on track to gain House seats this year after Democrats’ impeachment of Trump. “So what is the lesson for politicos? The lesson is not to run away from Trump.” Still, some Republicans have argued in recent days that it is crucial for members of their party to push back in a measured way against the president’s unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud. On Monday, 31 former Republican members of Congress — many of them outspoken critics of the president — denounced Trump’s allegations in an open letter that called on him to accept the election results. “We believe the statements by President Trump alleging fraud in the election are efforts to undermine the legitimacy of the election and are unacceptable,” wrote the group, led by former Rep. Tom Coleman of Missouri. “Every vote should be counted and the final outcome accepted by the participants because public confidence in the outcome of our elections is a bedrock of our democracy.”

Who’s going to tell him? Republicans shy from asking Trump to concede

With his defeat in the US presidential election, Donald Trump finds himself fighting against being tagged with a label he frequently applies to rivals but which runs completely counter to his own brand: "loser."

The Republican is pursuing legal action in several battleground states, though his lawyers have so far failed to substantiate claims of fraud and observers see the possibility of the courts overturning the result of the vote as vanishingly small.

Yet according to scholars and mental health professionals, the same authoritarian qualities that defined Trump's rise to power and his presidency make it almost impossible for him to digest a graceful concession to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden.

This, they warn, could make the post-election, pre-inauguration period a particularly unstable time for the country.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history at New York University, told AFP that Trump had tried to establish an "authoritarian model of the presidency" based on "arrogance, brutality, and the idea that he must be defended from his enemies."

"It's easier to claim the whole election was a fraud than admit that his policies turned his people against him in numbers sufficient to ensure his defeat" added the author of the forthcoming book: "Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present."

Having claimed victimhood at the hands of ignoble forces that coalesced against him, "we can expect him to continue in this vein and delay the public humiliation of a concession speech," she said.

"We should be watchful of what he might do over the next months in a vindictive spirit," she argued.

That conclusion was shared by John Gartner, a Baltimore-based psychologist who is among a growing number of mental health professionals who have publicly warned that Trump is a "malignant narcissist."

People who have this personality type -- first coined by famed psychoanalyst Erich Fromm to explain "the quintessence of evil" -- exhibit narcissism, antisocial personality disorder, paranoia, and sadism.

Gartner said he was worried that Trump may attempt to pursue a "Nero decree" or "scorched Earth" strategy as a means to deal with his loss.

But he added he was hopeful that given the stinging loss, the president would start to lose his grip on some of his followers.

- 'Nobody to bail him out'&nbsp;&nbsp;-&nbsp;

For Mary Trump, the president's niece and one of his most strident critics, her uncle's decision to declare himself the winner of the election and accuse his rival of cheating spoke of his desperation at circumstances he wasn't accustomed to.&nbsp;

"Donald has never been in this place before where there's nobody to bail him out, there's nobody to buy him out," the clinical psychologist, who wrote a memoir on her uncle over the summer, told MSNBC.

In her book, she argued that the president is a product of his "sociopath" father Fred Trump, who created an abusive and traumatic home life.

Trump has built his public persona on the idea of being a winner -- first in the rough-and-tumble world of New York real estate, and later on the show "The Apprentice," where he pitched the mythology of his business acumen, despite his numerous corporate bankruptcies.

He's also sought to contrast his record as a big business boss with the life-choices of his rivals. In 2015, he famously dubbed the late senator John McCain a "loser" and said of the Vietnam veteran and prisoner-of-war, "I like people who weren't captured."

Just weeks before the election, meanwhile, Trump told supporters in Georgia that Biden was the "worst candidate in the history of presidential politics."&nbsp;

"Could you imagine if I lose?" he mused, before adding: "Maybe I'll have to leave the country?"

Lawrence Douglas, author of "Will He Go? Trump and the Looming Election Meltdown in 2020," argued there are prudential reasons why remaining in high office is beneficial.

In addition to being hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, he is facing defamation cases by women who have accused him of sexual misconduct and even potential criminal charges stemming from his business practices -- with his immunity ending when he is no longer president.

But beyond that, Trump's refusal to concede helps keep his connection alive with his base, said Douglas. "In defeat, his brand will remain irresistible to his supporters."

With his defeat in the US presidential election, Donald Trump finds himself fighting against being tagged with a label he frequently applies to rivals but which runs completely counter to his own brand: "loser.

With his defeat in the US presidential election, Donald Trump finds himself fighting against being tagged with a label he frequently applies to rivals but which runs completely counter to his own brand: "loser." The Republican is pursuing legal action in several battleground states, though his lawyers have so far failed to substantiate claims of fraud and observers see the possibility of the courts overturning the result of the vote as vanishingly small. Yet according to scholars and mental health professionals, the same authoritarian qualities that defined Trump's rise to power and his presidency make it almost impossible for him to digest a graceful concession to Democratic President-elect Joe Biden. This, they warn, could make the post-election, pre-inauguration period a particularly unstable time for the country. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a professor of history at New York University, told AFP that Trump had tried to establish an "authoritarian model of the presidency" based on "arrogance, brutality, and the idea that he must be defended from his enemies." "It's easier to claim the whole election was a fraud than admit that his policies turned his people against him in numbers sufficient to ensure his defeat" added the author of the forthcoming book: "Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present." Having claimed victimhood at the hands of ignoble forces that coalesced against him, "we can expect him to continue in this vein and delay the public humiliation of a concession speech," she said. "We should be watchful of what he might do over the next months in a vindictive spirit," she argued. That conclusion was shared by John Gartner, a Baltimore-based psychologist who is among a growing number of mental health professionals who have publicly warned that Trump is a "malignant narcissist." People who have this personality type -- first coined by famed psychoanalyst Erich Fromm to explain "the quintessence of evil" -- exhibit narcissism, antisocial personality disorder, paranoia, and sadism. Gartner said he was worried that Trump may attempt to pursue a "Nero decree" or "scorched Earth" strategy as a means to deal with his loss. But he added he was hopeful that given the stinging loss, the president would start to lose his grip on some of his followers. - 'Nobody to bail him out' - For Mary Trump, the president's niece and one of his most strident critics, her uncle's decision to declare himself the winner of the election and accuse his rival of cheating spoke of his desperation at circumstances he wasn't accustomed to. "Donald has never been in this place before where there's nobody to bail him out, there's nobody to buy him out," the clinical psychologist, who wrote a memoir on her uncle over the summer, told MSNBC. In her book, she argued that the president is a product of his "sociopath" father Fred Trump, who created an abusive and traumatic home life. Trump has built his public persona on the idea of being a winner -- first in the rough-and-tumble world of New York real estate, and later on the show "The Apprentice," where he pitched the mythology of his business acumen, despite his numerous corporate bankruptcies. He's also sought to contrast his record as a big business boss with the life-choices of his rivals. In 2015, he famously dubbed the late senator John McCain a "loser" and said of the Vietnam veteran and prisoner-of-war, "I like people who weren't captured." Just weeks before the election, meanwhile, Trump told supporters in Georgia that Biden was the "worst candidate in the history of presidential politics." "Could you imagine if I lose?" he mused, before adding: "Maybe I'll have to leave the country?" Lawrence Douglas, author of "Will He Go? Trump and the Looming Election Meltdown in 2020," argued there are prudential reasons why remaining in high office is beneficial. In addition to being hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, he is facing defamation cases by women who have accused him of sexual misconduct and even potential criminal charges stemming from his business practices -- with his immunity ending when he is no longer president. But beyond that, Trump's refusal to concede helps keep his connection alive with his base, said Douglas. "In defeat, his brand will remain irresistible to his supporters."

Why can't Trump accept his defeat?

US President-elect Joe Biden's transition team is considering taking a legal route over a federal agency's delay in recognising the Democrat's victory over Donald Trump in November 3 vote.

The General Services Administration (GSA) normally recognises a presidential candidate when it becomes clear who has won an election so that a transition of power can begin. The delay is costing the Biden team access to millions of dollars in federal funding and the ability to meet with officials at intelligence agencies and other departments.

That has not yet happened despite US television and news networks declaring Biden the winner on Saturday after he secured enough electoral votes to secure the presidency.

Trump has notably refused to concede defeat. He has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that there was widespread voting fraud and has filed a raft of lawsuits to challenge the results.

The law does not clearly spell out when the GSA must act, but Biden transition officials say their victory is clear and a delay is not justified.

Election officials across the country say there has been no evidence of significant fraud, and legal experts say Trump's efforts are unlikely to succeed.

According to Reuters, a Biden transition official said it was time for the GSA's administration to grant what is known as an ascertainment recognising the president-elect, and said the transition team would consider legal action if it was not granted.

"Legal action is certainly a possibility, but there are other options as well that we're considering," said the official.

The transition team needs to be recognised to access funds for salaries, consultants and travel, as well as access to classified information. In addition, the team has no access to the State Department, which usually facilitates calls between foreign leaders and the president-elect.

US President-elect Joe Biden's transition team is considering taking a legal route over a federal agency's delay in recognising the Democrat's victory over Donald Trump in November 3 vote.

US President-elect Joe Biden's transition team is considering taking a legal route over a federal agency's delay in recognising the Democrat's victory over Donald Trump in November 3 vote. The General Services Administration (GSA) normally recognises a presidential candidate when it becomes clear who has won an election so that a transition of power can begin. The delay is costing the Biden team access to millions of dollars in federal funding and the ability to meet with officials at intelligence agencies and other departments. That has not yet happened despite US television and news networks declaring Biden the winner on Saturday after he secured enough electoral votes to secure the presidency. Trump has notably refused to concede defeat. He has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that there was widespread voting fraud and has filed a raft of lawsuits to challenge the results. The law does not clearly spell out when the GSA must act, but Biden transition officials say their victory is clear and a delay is not justified. Election officials across the country say there has been no evidence of significant fraud, and legal experts say Trump's efforts are unlikely to succeed. According to Reuters, a Biden transition official said it was time for the GSA's administration to grant what is known as an ascertainment recognising the president-elect, and said the transition team would consider legal action if it was not granted. "Legal action is certainly a possibility, but there are other options as well that we're considering," said the official. The transition team needs to be recognised to access funds for salaries, consultants and travel, as well as access to classified information. In addition, the team has no access to the State Department, which usually facilitates calls between foreign leaders and the president-elect.

Biden camp likely to take legal action over agency's delay in recognising transition

President-elect Joe Biden is mulling legal actions against the federal agencies delay in recognising the democrats victory in US presidential race.

Your Story: Joe Biden mulls over legal actions as transition might delay

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he had "terminated" Defense Secretary Mark Esper, signaling he may use his final months in office after defeat at the polls to settle scores within his administration.

Donald Trump fires Defense Secretary Mark Esper

Donald Trump could be the first President in history to deny Americans a peaceful transfer of power. WION's Palki tells you how past Presidents - despite their defeat, gracefully made their exit.

Gravitas: How Presidents of the past made way for the new leader

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Who’s going to tell him? Republicans shy from asking Trump to concede