Biden: Trump refusal to concede 'an embarrassment'

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The White House budget office is directing government agencies to put together Trump's proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2022, which is due to go into effect two weeks after Biden will take office.

The move by the Office of Management and Budget meshes with other moves from the Trump campaign to deny that Biden will be president in 10 weeks and stall the transition as Trump fights the election in the courts.

The Trump-appointed head of the General Services Administration has also declined to acknowledge Biden's victory, making it impossible for his transition team to get the funds needed to physically move office and to obtain access to sensitive government documents.

“If President Trump wants to waste time and resources on a budget that will never see the light of day, that’s his decision," Alexandra Weinroth, spokeswoman for the Democratic-led House Budget Committee told Politico.

“But we look forward to receiving the budget of our 46th President, Joe Biden, in February.“

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has posted the letter George HW Bush left for Bill Clinton in the White House on his inauguration day on 20 January 1993 after losing the presidential election to his bitter rival.

"Your success now is our country's success. I am rooting hard for you," Bush stated in the letter.

Clinton, who herself was defeated by Trump in the 2016 White House race, described that letter as "gracious" in a post on her Instagram page.

"Here’s how it’s done in America," she said. "Since the very beginning, American presidents have accepted the will of the people and participated in a peaceful transfer of power. That's what makes our democracy so unique, and so enduring."

Clinton's post does not name Trump - but it's still a clear criticism of Trump's refusal to concede the election, and support a transition, so far.

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We covered President-elect Biden's press conference a little earlier, where he described President Trump's refusal to concede as "an embarrassment" that would "not help" Trump's legacy.

Biden said the foreign leaders he had already spoken to were hopeful that America's democratic institutions would be viewed once again as strong and enduring after the transition.

You can watch more from Biden here:

BBCCopyright: BBC

The UK government has blamed a "technical error" for a Boris Johnson tweet congratulating Joe Biden on his victory which also had the name "Trump" in the background.

The "Trump" wording is not immediately obvious in the image in Johnson's tweet.

However, the Guido Fawkes website found that by manipulating the colours of the image, the word "Trump" could be seen in the background, in a smaller font, in the message to Biden.

The message also had the word "second term" buried in it, the website added.

Government officials later admitted two separate messages had been prepared before the US election result was known, and the alternative had been "embedded" in the other by mistake.

"As you'd expect, two statements were prepared in advance for the outcome of this closely contested election," a government spokesman said.

"A technical error meant that parts of the alternative message were embedded in the background of the graphic."

You can read our full story here.

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It's well known that throughout the Trump presidency, Fox News was Trump's outlet of choice. He's often phoned in to the station's programmes and Fox's opinion show hosts have been ardent Trump defenders.

But has that relationship now soured?

In recent months, Trump has remarked that Fox has changed.

And then the outlet drew the ire of the president when it became the first to call Arizona for Biden - at 23:20 local time on election night, with just 73% of the vote in.

(Note that the BBC still has not projected the result for Arizona, as we consider it too early.)

Trump was reportedly enraged by the projection and had his staff call the Fox election desk to get them to roll back, according to the Washington Post.

A few days later, Fox News ended up calling the presidency for Biden, just minutes after CNN led the way.

And then on Monday, Fox cut away from a briefing by White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany when she mentioned "illegal votes", without providing any evidence.

However, it's also worth noting that even as the channel seems to have moved away from the president's good graces, many Fox opinion programme anchors have still backed the president and his unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.

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Rumours that votes have somehow been stolen from Donald Trump continue to flourish on social media and the latest story centres around footage from CNN’s election night coverage.

A short clip that has been widely shared on Twitter shows the vote tallies for both candidates in the swing state of Pennsylvania at the bottom of the screen.

When Pennsylvania flashes back up seconds later, Joe Biden’s total has risen by close to 20,000 votes and exactly the same number has been subtracted from Donald Trump.

The clip is genuine but CNN says it simply shows an error that was quickly fixed.

“For one brief moment, the Trump votes and Biden votes in Armstrong County, PA were transposed in the data feed that went to CNN and all NEP [National Election Pool] members. It was quickly fixed and the accurate report was restored,” according to a CNN source.

“This is normal and occasionally happens throughout states on election nights.”

One of the videos in circulation on Twitter now has 1.3 million views and has been shared tens of thousands of times, another version on YouTube claims “massive fraud”. Reports by pro-Trump news sites suggest it’s evidence that votes are being “swapped” between the two candidates.

Andrew Parsons/10 Downing StreetCopyright: Andrew Parsons/10 Downing Street

As we reported earlier, Biden on Tuesday held separate phone talks with several European leaders.

The US president-elect's transition team has now provided read-outs of those conversations:

• Biden told French President Emmanuel Macron about his desire to strengthen ties with America's oldest ally. They also discussed the coronavirus outbreak, climate change and global economy among other issues
• Speaking to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Biden talked about revitalising the trans-Atlantic relationship, tackling Covid-19 and climate change
• In phone talks with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Biden highlighted his desire to strengthen the enduring personal, cultural, and economic bilateral ties between the two countries. He also reaffirmed his support for the peace process in Northern Ireland
• And during a conversation with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Biden expressed his desire to strengthen the special relationship and re-double co-operation on key issues of mutual concern

Trump fired Defence Secretary Mark Esper on Twitter, saying he was “terminated”. It is unusual to make such personnel changes during a presidential transition.

So who’s next?

Many here in Washington think it could be CIA Director Gina Haspel. Trump never had much time for her, and things got worse when she reportedly baulked at his request to declassify documents relating to the Russia investigation. Describing it as a “Russia Hoax”, Trump wanted people to see for themselves what was in the material.

Others say FBI Director Chris Wray is next: among other offences, Wray apparently did not fire people in the way the president wanted him to. Trump hoped Wray would get rid of some of the individuals who had investigated his campaign aides in 2016 during the Russia investigation.

But everyone is vulnerable. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo once said he would remain in his job till the president “tweets me out of office”.

Working for the president means a high level of uncertainty about one’s position. For some, the job also involves doomscrolling on Twitter and wondering when they will hear about the next sacking.

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North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis has narrowly held his Senate seat after his Democratic challenger conceded one week after the election.

"I just called Senator Tillis to congratulate him on winning re-election to a second term in the US Senate and wished him and his family the best in their continued service in the months and years ahead,” Cal Cunningham said in a statement.

"The voters have spoken and I respect their decision,” he added.

The race became the most expensive in US Senate history, according to the Associated Press. Both campaigns and outside groups spent about $282m (£212m) in total.

Cunningham out-fundraised his opponent but sank in the polls after an extramarital affair with a public relations consultant was revealed.

With North Carolina settled, all eyes will now turn to Georgia, where the two senate seats currently held by Republicans will be decided in a runoff election. in January.

If the Democrats win both seats - which won't be easy - they could still flip control of the Senate. That's because, in the event of a 50-50 tie, the vice-president is the tie-breaker, and Kamala Harris is due to take office in January.

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Trump will tomorrow make his first public appearance since Biden's victory was projected on Saturday.

He and his wife Melania will visit Arlington National Cemetery to mark Veterans Day and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The event, which normally draws thousands, will not be open to the public this year due to the pandemic.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie is due to attend. His planned annual speech for Veterans Day was cancelled today after it was confirmed that he met face-to-face last week with Housing Secretary Ben Carson, who has tested positive for Covid-19. Wilkie tested negative for the virus on Monday.

Trump held no public events on Monday or Tuesday. He was pictured golfing on Saturday when the news of Biden's victory was announced and returned to the Virginia golf club on Sunday.

His last public remarks were on Thursday, when he delivered a post-election briefing from the White House. He has been on Twitter frequently since then, tweeting today: "WE WILL WIN!"

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Twitter alternative Parler has become the most-downloaded app in the US as conservatives flock to the self-styled "free speech" app after the US election.

It follows a clampdown on the spread of election misinformation by Twitter and Facebook in recent days.

Owner Dan Bongino said over the weekend the service was adding "thousands to users per minute".

But the sudden boom also caused technical issues for users - some reported problems registering and a slowdown of the app as its servers attempted to deal with the influx.

Launched in 2018, Parler has proved particularly popular among Trump supporters and right-wing conservatives. Such groups have frequently accused Twitter and Facebook of unfairly censoring their views.

Read our full story here

US Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris' ancestral Indian village has been celebrating her election victory.

Thulasendrapuram, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, was the home of Ms Harris' maternal grandfather.

People lit firecrackers and walked with pictures of Harris, who visited the village in her childhood.

Ms Harris will be the first South Asian-American and first black vice president of the United States.

Biden is asked after his address what message Trump is sending by not conceding that he lost the race.

"I think it's just an embarrassment quite frankly," Biden says. "How can I say this tactfully?" he pauses, adding: "I think it will not help the president's legacy."

"I know from my discussions with foreign leaders thus far that they are hopeful the United States' democratic institutions are viewed once again as being strong," he continues.

"I think at the end of the day it's all gonna come to fruition on 20 January," he says, adding that Republican senators will soon come to recognise his victory.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Biden is asked what his plan is if the Trump administration does not co-operate with a transition of power for now.

"It would be nice to have it but it's not critical," he says, adding that no legal action is planned by his team at the moment. The Trump administration has not approved the process of handing over the reins of government, meaning the Biden team has not yet been able to move in or begin examining sensitive information.

"We're going to do exactly what we're doing if he had conceded," he continues.

Asked about his message to Trump if he is listening right now, Biden says with a grin: "Mr President, I look forward to speaking with you."

He says he has not yet had a chance to speak with Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, who he worked with for decades in Washington before joining the White House under Obama.

Biden adds that he has already spoken to six world leaders to let "them know America's back".

"We're going to be back in the game," he says, calling the conversations "very fulsome [and] energetic".

"Obamacare is the law that every American should be proud of," says Biden about the law that is loathed by conservatives. He goes on to tout the effects of the law on the American economy and society.

"It's why people with pre-existing conditions are protected in this country. It's a law that delivered vital coverage to 20 million Americans who did not have coverage. It's a law that reduced prescription drug cost for nearly 12 million seniors."

He adds: "If you're sick, if you struggling, if you're worried about how you're going to get going or go through the day, we will not abandon you.

"That is a promise. We will not leave you to face these challenges alone," he adds.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Biden begins his speech by blaming "far right ideologues" for trying to "strip healthcare access away from the American people".

"I'm not naive to the fact that healthcare is an issue that has divided the American people in the past," he acknowledges, adding that the healthcare act known as Obamacare is still quite popular.

He says 58% of Americans support keeping it in place, while 38% support removing it.

He says that the law he and President Obama helped pass has allowed Americans to think less about the costs of their treatment "and has spared countless families from financial ruin".

"The Affordable Care Act was developed to bring a stop to that inhumanity," he says, calling removing it "cruel and needlessly divisive".

Read more about how the law affects Americans: The lives that can be shaped by the Supreme Court

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Harris is now speaking live from Delaware about the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, the signature healthcare reform law that extended healthcare coverage to millions of Americans.

Her address comes as the Supreme Court hears arguments in a case that could see the healthcare law dismantled. The suit, brought by 18 Republican states, aims to rule the law unconstitutional.

According to the Urban Institute think tank, over 20 million Americans could lose their healthcare coverage if Obamacare is overturned.

"Each and every vote for Biden was a vote to expand the healthcare act, not take it away during a global pandemic," Harris says.

Biden is speaking next.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has drawn scrutiny after refusing to answer questions during a press conference about a transition of power.

*There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration," he said, when asked about how the process was going.

He continued: "The world should have every confidence that the transition necessary to make sure the state department is functional today, successful today and successful with the president who is in office on 20 January - a minute after noon - will also be successful."

Critics argue that the top US diplomat's words sound somewhat different to statements he has made about other countries' elections - he has urged leaders to accept election results and commit to the democratic process.

Yesterday, Pompeo had this to say about Myamar's elections: "The United States will continue to closely monitor the electoral process. We call on all relevant authorities to ensure tabulation of votes and resolution of complaints is undertaken in a transparent and credible manner.”