WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, facing the prospect of leaving the White House in defeat in just 70 days, is harnessing the power of the federal government to resist the results of an election that he lost, something that no sitting president has done in American history.

In the latest sign of defiance, the president’s senior Cabinet secretary fueled concerns Tuesday that Trump would resist handing over power to President-elect Joe Biden after legal challenges to the vote. “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

Trump’s attorney general has at the same time authorized investigations into supposed vote fraud; his general services administrator has refused to give Biden’s team access to transition offices and resources guaranteed under law; and the White House is preparing a budget for next year as if Trump will be around to present it.

The president has also embarked on a shake-up of his administration, firing Defense Secretary Mark Esper as well as the heads of three other agencies while installing loyalists in key positions at the National Security Agency and the Pentagon. Allies expect more to come, including the possible dismissals of the directors of the FBI and the CIA.

But the rest of the world increasingly moved to accept Biden’s victory and prepared to work with him despite Trump’s refusal to acknowledge the results. Speaking with journalists, Biden called the president’s actions since Election Day “an embarrassment” that will not serve him well in the long run. “How can I say this tactfully?” Biden said. “It will not help the president’s legacy.”

The standoff left the United States in the position of the kind of country whose weak democratic processes it often criticizes. Rather than congratulating Biden and inviting him to the White House, as his predecessors traditionally have done after an election changed party control, Trump has been marshaling his administration and pressuring his Republican allies into acting as if the outcome were still uncertain, either out of faint hope of actually overturning the results or at least creating a narrative to explain his loss.

The president’s efforts to discredit with false claims both the election results and the incoming Biden administration is in many ways the culmination of four years of stocking the government with pliant appointees while undermining the credibility of other institutions in American life, including intelligence agencies, law enforcement authorities, the news media, technology companies, the federal government more broadly and now election officials in states across four time zones.

Throughout his presidency, Trump has tried to condition much of the American public not to believe anyone other than him, with evident success. Although the evidence shows there was no widespread conspiracy to steal the election in multiple states that Trump has invented, at least one poll showed that many supporters accept his claims.

Time will tell.

There's this saying that "who the gods wanna kill, they make him crazy first".

British PM referred to Trump as a previous president today, even Mexico do change mouth dey call Biden prospective american president.

Oga Trump that thing you're smoking no get brake o

proff010:
something that no sitting president has done in American history.

Trump has gone through terrible opposition during his first tenure, and couple with the kind of person he is, don't expect him to go down without a fight.

We might need to send Buratai and some other soldiers to forcefully eject Trump out of the white house

WorkTheTalk:
Trump has gone through terrible opposition during his first tenure, and couple with the kind of person he is, don't expect him to go down without a fight.

Even opposition in his Republican party, in Biden speech he said coalition of Republican, Democrats and other well meaning American joined hands to remove him.

Judging by most of the republican governors statement today shows that Trump lost the election squarely.

Trump is already muting contest again in 2024 as another option, what does that tell you he's beginning to come to terms with reality.

Anybody that thinks such massive electoral Fraud will be left to slide is a slowpoke ....Even mathematical formulas have proven there is no way Biden could have gotten 76 million votes , it's not mathematically possible except votes were manufactured... Trump broken all time GOP records on hispanic, black and gay votes yet lost to Biden , 55 percent of female voters voted for Trump yet he lost to Biden , the only surprising Demographics Trump did not do well was WHITE MALEs just Imagine that White Males ..

The Election was filled with Fraud

Goke7:
British PM referred to Trump as a previous president today, even Mexico do change mouth dey call Biden prospective american president.

Oga Trump that thing you're smoking no get brake o

British PM can never call him previous president when a winner has not been declared

Let's see how it goes