WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump on Sunday appeared for the first time to acknowledge that Joe Biden won the White House, but made clear he would not concede and would keep trying to overturn the election result. Trump's statements came in tweets that included several baseless claims about the Nov. 3 vote, which state and federal officials said was safe and secure.
Trump, without using Biden's name, tweeted "He won," something Trump had not said before publicly, though he said the Democrat's victory was only "in the eyes" of the media. Biden defeated Trump by winning back a trio of battleground states that switched from the Democratic column in 2016 - Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania - and topped the 270 electoral vote threshold to clinch the presidency. Biden so far has 78.8 million votes, the most ever by a winning candidate, to Trump's total - more than 73 million.
"If the president's prepared to begin to recognize that reality, that's positive," Biden's incoming chief of staff, Ron Klain, told NBC's "Meet the Press." Still, Klain said, "Donald Trump's Twitter feed doesn't make Joe Biden president or not president. The American people did that."
A Republican governor said "it was good actually" to see Trump's tweet that Biden won.
"I think that's the start of an acknowledgment. We want to make sure that there is a smooth transition," Arkansas' Asa Hutchinson said on NBC.
The president has previously refused to accept the results of the election and, in a later tweet Sunday, he dug in again, saying, "I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go." Even while seemingly acknowledging Biden's victory, he also argued without evidence the former vice president only won because the election was "rigged."
Trump then made claims about access for poll watchers and about vote tabulations and asserted, "WE WILL WIN!" Twitter soon posted warning labels about the tweets.
There has been no widespread fraud in the 2020 election. In fact, election officials from both political parties have stated publicly the election went well and international observers confirmed there were no serious irregularities.
Trump's campaign has tried to mount legal challenges across the country, but many of the lawsuits have been thrown out and none have included any evidence the outcome might be reversed.
Nearly two weeks after Election Day, Trump has neither called Biden nor made a formal concession, and White House officials have insisted they are preparing for a second term.
In recent days, Trump appeared to be inching closer to acknowledging the reality of his loss. In comments Friday in the Rose Garden about a coronavirus vaccine, Trump said his administration would "not be going to a lockdown" to slow the spread of COVID-19, and added "whatever happens in the future, who knows which administration it will be? I guess time will tell."
Trump on Sunday renewed his attacks on an election technology firm, Dominion Voting Systems, without evidence of any serious irregularities. Dominion has said it "denies claims about any vote switching or alleged software issues with our voting systems."
The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, a federal agency that oversees U.S. election security, said in a statement last week the "November 3rd election was the most secure in American history." The agency said, "There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised."