Related video: Biden hammers Trump for refusing to take action on Russia
Republicans have been caught cold by Donald Trump after the president issued a video statement suggesting he could veto the $900bn Covid Relief Bill just passed by Congress, calling it a “disgrace” and declaring that clauses related to overseas aid must be removed and its allotment of $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.
- Trump turns on Pence as Lincoln Project ad ‘gets in his head’
- Republicans ‘plot to stop Biden rejoining Paris and Iran deals’
- West Wing insiders call president’s election scheming ‘pathetic’
- Trump and GOP sued for ‘conspiracy to disenfranchise black voters’
- Kayleigh McEnany dodges question on how Trump can stay in power
