Donald Trump has admitted that his rival Joe Biden won the election - but still insists the contest was 'rigged'.
The outgoing US president, who up until now has insisted that he won the election, eventually said Mr Biden was the winner in a tweet this afternoon - nine days after the election result was called.
Repeating unfounded claims around election fraud, Mr Trump posted: "He won because the Election was Rigged.
"NO VOTE WATCHERS OR OBSERVERS allowed, vote tabulated by a Radical Left privately owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation & bum equipment that couldn’t even qualify for Texas (which I won by a lot!), the Fake & Silent Media, & more!"
In another tweet, he described mail-in elections as "a sick joke".
US government and industry officials have disputed his claims, saying that the November 3 vote and count unfolded smoothly with no more than the usual minor hiccups.
Mr Trump’s campaign has filed a number of legal challenges, complaining that poll watchers in key battleground states were unable to scrutinise the voting process.
However, many have been dismissed by judges, some within hours of their filing.
In Pennsylvania, the Trump campaign has filed more than 15 legal challenges in a bid to reclaim the state’s 20 electoral votes, but have so far offered no evidence of any widespread voter fraud.
Earlier this week, a federal appeals court rejected an effort to block around 9,300 mail-in ballots that arrived in the state after election day.
During a White House press conference, Mr Trump said only “time will tell” which administration will be in power next year.
He told the briefing he refuses to have another lockdown, despite coronavirus cases surging across the country, but suggested one could happen should he lose his legal challenges.
“This administration will not be going to a lockdown,” he said. “Hopefully whatever happens in the future, who knows, which administration it will be, I guess time will tell, but I can tell you this administration will not go to a lockdown.”
Mr Biden has not said whether he would order a lockdown, but in the week since he won the election the Democrat has devoted most of his public remarks to encouraging Americans to wear a mask and view the coronavirus as a threat that has no regard for political ideology.
