U.S. President Donald Trump has privately acknowledged he lost the presidency and that Joe Biden will replace him, Politico writes, noting that Trump also recognizes Congress will formally certify the results today.
According to the newspaper, to one person, Trump even confided he was "just disappointed we lost".
Trump’s acceptance has taken shape in recent weeks, according to three people who have spoken to Trump in that time span, with one conversation occurring a week ago. Trump admits his defeat, but still maintains he would have won a fair election, they said, despite no concrete evidence emerging of widespread voter fraud. He has even discussed his exit plans from Washington with staff, debating when to move to his South Florida Mar-a-Lago resort, according to one of the people.
Sometimes, Trump does still lapse back into the belief that maybe, just maybe, he could somehow eke out a win, most often when listening to his small group of lawyers. But mostly, he is continuing his fight to subvert the election for a Trumpian reason: to keep the attention on himself and give his supporters what they want, according to the people who have spoken with him. "The point is to still be relevant and still be talked about in the news," said one of the people.
Trump’s team hopes to secure 180 House members, along with 13 senators, to object to Biden’s Electoral College win, likely turning a traditionally short ceremony into a day-long event.
For the two months, Trump has falsely insisted he won the election, even as states across the nation certified wins for Biden and selected electors who voted last month to make Biden the 46th president.
But privately, Trump has told some allies he knows he won’t prevail. And even publicly, Trump has made statements about Biden that show he expects the Democrat will be in the White House.
