Trump has lost the election but he is still president for 10 more weeks
Ten weeks is a long time for an outgoing president to quietly and gracefully plan his departure - especially this president.
Tuesday 10 November 2020 15:08, UK
Donald Trump might have lost the US election but he still has 10 more weeks in the top job.
Democrat Joe Biden claimed victory during the weekend and started work on the transition, but Mr Trump has yet to give any sign that he will concede the election and vacate the White House in January.
Instead, he is digging his heels in, firing out tweets on Monday alleging voter fraud in Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, without offering evidence.
He has been given qualified support by the Attorney General William Barr who has told federal prosecutors to look into "substantial" allegations of voting irregularities but urged them not to pursue "fanciful or far fetched claims."
Spurred on by Mr Trump's tweets and a bizarre news conference by his lawyer Rudy Giuliani outside a Philadelphia landscaping business, some Republicans have complained about problems with signatures, postmarks on postal ballots and the inability of their poll watchers to scrutinise the counts.
Mr Trump himself is backed by his sons Don Jr and Eric, both of whom have pushed for their father to hold firm and tweeted or re-tweeted claims of voter fraud.
Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka has been more careful, however, saying on Twitter that "every legally-cast vote should be counted".
On Monday, even Fox News was showing signs of having had enough.
The channel cut away from a press conference by White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who was making claims about illegal voting.
Fox News host Neil Cavuto explained: "Unless she has more details to back that up, I can't in good countenance continue to show you this."
And for some Republicans, the Trump campaign's undermining of democracy has gone too far.
Maryland's Republican Governor Larry Hogan said on Twitter that there was "no defence" for the claims and Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger called for an end to the spreading of "debunked misinformation," adding: "This is getting insane".
Meanwhile, President Trump, according to some, seems intent on settling old scores during his remaining weeks in the job - in between trips to the golf course.
On Monday he announced on Twitter that he had "terminated" defence secretary Mark Esper.
Mr Esper appeared to have been unaware of Mr Trump's plans until White House chief of staff Mark Meadows called him minutes before the tweet, according to US defence officials quoted by Reuters.
He had opposed the president on a number of issues, including threats to use military forces to suppress protests during the summer following the police killing of George Floyd.
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said: "The abrupt firing of Secretary Esper is disturbing evidence that President Trump is intent on using his final days in office to sow chaos in our American democracy and around the world."
Adam Smith, the Democrat who leads the House Armed Services Committee, said Mr Trump's decision was "childish" and "reckless".
Paul Frymer, professor of politics at Princeton University, described the way Mr Esper was fired as "typical of (Trump's) whole presidency".
He added: "He can't control his impulses or temper and he demands loyalty to him over policy, constitution or anything else."
It is this demand that has previously put him on a collision course with defence establishment that has tried to avoid being seen as a political instrument of the Trump administration.
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Mr Esper's predecessor Jim Mattis quit in 2018, later saying Mr Trump was the "first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people - does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us."
Some have speculated that Dr Anthony Fauci, the US infectious disease specialist who has contradicted Mr Trump's coronavirus claims, could be next on the "termination" list.
Dr Fauci, however, is not a political appointment, meaning Mr Trump cannot fire him directly but could try to sideline him.
According to reports, Mr Trump also discussed firing FBI director Christopher Wray and CIA director Gina Haspel before the election because he believed they were not loyal to him.
Whatever happens, one thing is clear: Mr Trump is unlikely to spend the next 10 weeks graciously accepting the end of his term.