Related video: Biden hammers Trump for refusing to take action on Russia
Donald Trump is jetting out to Florida for Christmas after catching Republicans cold by issuing a video statement suggesting he could veto the $900bn Covid Relief Bill just passed by Congress, calling it a “disgrace” and demanding clauses related to overseas aid be removed and its $600 stimulus cheques upgraded to $2,000 before he would sign it.
Despite Mr Trump’s public insistence that he won the election, an email has been quietly sent out to White House staff giving them instructions on how to clear out their desks in preparation for Joe Biden’s team coming in, the latest tacit admission of defeat.
The president has also provoked fresh anger by issuing 20 lame duck pardons overnight to cronies including George Papadopoulos and Alex van der Zwaan, who lied to FBI special counsel Robert Mueller during the Russia investigation, ex-GOP congressmen Duncan Hunter, Chris Collins and Steve Stockman plus four Blackwater contractors involved in the Nisour Square massacre in Iraq.
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