President lauds Operation Warp Speed success but says New York will have to wait for vaccine
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Your support makes all the difference.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
Pompeo dodges Biden transition question
Secretary of state Mike Pompeo on Monday ignored a reporter’s question about whether he would cooperate with the Biden administration’s transition team, which has begun its work after the Democrat won the presidential election.
Josh Marcus reports.
Pompeo dodges question about cooperating with Biden transition
The Trump administration has yet to recognize president-elect Biden’s victory, even as he begins work on the presidential transition
Much-ridiculed press conference featured testimony of a sex offender
As if this couldn’t get any weirder.
At his bizarre press conference outside Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philadelphia, Rudy Giuliani called up several witnesses to testify of alleged irregularities at vote-counting facilities – and one, it turns out, is a convicted sex offender.
Andrew Naughtie reports.
Rudy Giuliani featured sex offender at Four Seasons press conference
President’s lawyer ridiculed for holding event outside landscape gardening business next to a sex shop
Trump legal adviser tests positive for Covid-19
Donald Trump’s chief adviser for his post-election legal and political battles has tested positive for the coronavirus — the sixth person to fall ill since the election night party in the East Room of the White House.
Key Trump legal adviser David Bossie tests positive for Covid-19, report says
David Bossie, the adviser leading Donald Trump’s post-election political and legal battle has tested positive for Covid-19, according to reports.
Pence taking vacation
As a source tells NBC’s Peter Alexander when asked about the prospects for Trump’s legal challenges to election results: “All you need to know is that Pence is going on vacation.”
With the White House also in the grip of a second coronavirus outbreak, it’s probably a good time to get out of town for some beach time.
Pelosi accuses Trump of sowing chaos with Esper ouster
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement on the ousting of Defence Secretary Mark Esper, accusing Donald Trump of sowing chaos in his final days in office.
“The abrupt firing of Secretary Esper is disturbing evidence that President Trump is intent on using his final days in office to sow chaos in our American Democracy and around the world. Continuity and stability are always important during a presidential transition; they are absolutely imperative at this moment, as this historically erratic Administration prepares for its departure.
“It is concerning that reports show that this firing was an act of retribution by the President, allegedly for Secretary Esper’s refusal to send active-duty military troops to crack down on peaceful demonstrations against police brutality. Most disturbingly, however, the timing of this dismissal raises serious questions about Trump’s planned actions for the final days of his Administration.
“Again and again, Trump’s recklessness endangers our national security. It is disturbing and dangerous that, at this precarious moment, our military will now be led by an official who has not been confirmed for this position by the Senate.”
Retiring congressman doesn’t understand ‘hold’ Trump has over party
A retiring Republican congressman has called on colleagues to speak out about Donald Trump, saying he “doesn’t understand” the “hold” the president has on GOP leaders.
In an interview with CNN's Jim Sciutto, Florida congressman Francis Rooney was asked why more GOP lawmakers haven't come forward to acknowledge Joe Biden’s presidential win.
"There will be books written about this hold that President Trump has over a lot of the Republican leadership and base, and I don't understand it," Rep Rooney said on Monday.
Retiring GOP congressman says he doesn’t understand ‘hold’ Trump has on party leaders
‘I think the peaceful transfer of power is a critical element of our democracy,’ Francis Rooney says
Trump hits out at ‘cesspool of Fake Votes’
In a tweet tour of swing state legal challenges, the president described Nevada as a “cesspool of Fake Votes” and promised to fight on in other states.
The tweets about Nevada and Pennsylvania were flagged as “disputed” by Twitter. The president continues to offer no evidence of voter fraud.
Trump is ‘not a good loser’, says first wife
‘I just want this whole thing to be over with, one way or the other,' president’s first wife says.
Ivana Trump says her ex-husband is ‘not a good loser’
‘I just want this whole thing to be over with, one way or the other,' president’s first wife says
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