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As it happenedended

President lauds Operation Warp Speed success but says New York will have to wait for vaccine

Follow the latest updates 

Obama says Republicans 'humouring' Trump over election are putting democracy on 'dangerous path'

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Donald Trump broke his eight day silence with an update on Operation Warp Speed, the project to distribute a vaccine when it is approved by the Food & Drug Administration. 

The Rose Garden briefing comes on the day that most networks finally called Georgia for Joe Biden and North Carolina for the president, putting the electoral college votes at 306 to 232 in favour of the Democrat.

In a slight verbal stumble, the president came close to acknowledging that the administration may be in its last days. No formal statement was made regarding the election result. He did not answer any questions.

Trump is being tipped to announce a fresh presidential run in 2024 as he continues to refuse to acknowledge his election defeat to Mr Biden, now president-elect and preparing for government as Mr Trump fires out conspiracy theories in angry tweets from the Oval Office.

The president has meanwhile been branded an “elixir of racial anxiety” by his predecessor, Barack Obama, in an advanced extract from the latter’s new memoir A Promised Land, reflecting on the toxic political undercurrent the former real estate mogul and reality TV star was able to capitalise on to win the White House in 2016.

Mr Obama has also made his first remarks on the current undemocratic impasse in Washington, telling Scott Pelley on 60 Minutes that the Republican Party is “humouring” the incumbent in his delusional rejection of the outcome and taking the country down “a dangerous path”.

Read more: Follow live updates in our dedicated election liveblog

‘That word’s not even in our vocabulary’

“That’s not even in our vocabulary,” says Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller says of the word ‘concede’.

Speaking on Fox Business he said that the campaign will continue to pursue legal challenges and recounts, and investigate election fraud.

Mr Miller also claimed to have specific instances of irregularities in Pennsylvania and Georgia.

No evidence of electoral fraud has been uncovered to date.

Oliver O'Connell9 November 2020 17:15

What could Trump do by the end of his term in office?

Sanctions, arms sales and troop withdrawals could all be announced before January. 

Borzou Daragahi reports.

How Trump could wreak global havoc over the last 10 weeks of his rule

Sanctions, arms sales and troop withdrawals could all be announced before January

Oliver O'Connell9 November 2020 17:32

Lindsey Graham: Trump should run again in 2024

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham has added his name to the list of people that think that Donald Trump should run for the presidency in 2024.

He did not acknowledge that the president had lost the 2020 election, but said that if he “falls short” he should consider running again.

Rick Gaetz, a 2016 campaign aide, and former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, have also said that the president would likely seriously consider another run and should be on a shortlist of Republican contenders.

The president is yet to comment on the idea.

Trump should run again in 2024, says Lindsey Graham

Sen. Lindsey Graham said that Donald Trump should consider running for president again in 2024 if his legal challenges to the results of this year's election fail to keep him in the White House.  

Oliver O'Connell9 November 2020 17:44

Trump IS thinking about running in 2024, according to report

Citing two sources, Axios’ Jonathan Swan reports that Donald Trump has told advisers that he is thinking of running for the presidency in 2024.

Even as the president and his team insist that he is the winner of the 2020 election, this indicates that he knows he has lost and that Joe Biden will be sworn into office come January.

Oliver O'Connell9 November 2020 17:53

Defence Secretary Mark Esper fired

Just days after the election, and with only 72 days left of his administration, Donald Trump has fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper and replaced him with Christopher Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Centre.

Oliver O'Connell9 November 2020 18:00

The Trump campaign begins its week in the court

Perhaps not the best start: “I regret to inform you that your submission is defective…”

Oliver O'Connell9 November 2020 18:10

Reaction to Esper firing

The news of the firing of defence secretary Mark Esper has been greeted with apprehension and confusion — though some argue it has been on the cards for a long time.

Retired General Barry McCaffrey says that the decision “makes no logical sense” and may indicate that the president sees himself staying in office longer than January. “We ought to be apprehensive about what’s going on,” he said on Meet the Press Daily.

Senator Chris Murphy tweeted: “Like I said yesterday. Trump is creating a dangerously unstable national security environment during this transition period. Adversaries are watching.”

The BBC’s Anthony Zurcher asked: “So is this Trump doing a bit of symbolic score-settling (he didn't like how Esper questioned his use of troops to clear the area around the White House)? Or is Trump doing this to act like there's going to be a second term? Or is there some other, hidden reason?”

NBC national security correspondent Courtney Kube notes that Mr Esper has long been at odds with Trump and expected to be pushed out after the election. He was also working with Congress to ensure there are no more Confederate names on military bases — sure to irk the president.

“So the Sour Grapes massacre has begun…” tweeted The Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart.

It is just over a year since the president mistakenly referred to his defence secretary as "Mark Esperanto".

Oliver O'Connell9 November 2020 18:40

Pence is staying on message

"It ain’t over til it’s over… and this AIN’T over!" the vice president tweeted.

Oliver O'Connell9 November 2020 18:47

'What is happening?' — we’re all thinking it

Fox News anchor Sandra Smith was purportedly seen off-camera with a shocked reaction to the Trump administration’s claims of election fraud being repeated following the announcement of Joe Biden as president-elect.

In a clip being circulated online, the host of America's Newsroom and regular foil of White House spokespeople was heard asking "what is happening" as a guest repeated Donald Trump's allegations of election fraud.

Hot mic catches Fox News anchor dismay at Trump election fraud claims

Sandra Smith is a regular foil to the Trump administration’s spokespeople 

Oliver O'Connell9 November 2020 18:53

This sounds like a healthy workplace environment

Oliver O'Connell9 November 2020 19:12

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