US election results: Donald Trump insists he 'won' election in first tweets after losing to Joe Biden
When the news of Joe Biden's victory came through, Donald Trump was playing golf - but he was soon on Twitter.
Sunday 8 November 2020 07:41, UK
Donald Trump has once more insisted that he has won the election, tweeting for the first time since Joe Biden was announced as the next US president.
Mr Trump repeated unfounded claims of election fraud and suggested votes for his Democratic rival were not legal.
He wrote: "THE OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED INTO THE COUNTING ROOMS. I WON THE ELECTION, GOT 71,000,000 LEGAL VOTES. BAD THINGS HAPPENED WHICH OUR OBSERVERS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO SEE. NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WERE SENT TO PEOPLE WHO NEVER ASKED FOR THEM!"
He soon followed up with another tweet: "71,000,000 Legal Votes. The most EVER for a sitting President!"
At the time of his posts, there were 70,356,821 votes for Mr Trump and 74,523,535 votes for Mr Biden.
Mr Trump's comments come after Mr Biden took an unbeatable lead in Pennsylvania - picking up its 20 Electoral College votes and passing the 270 needed to gain the White House.
As the Saturday morning news swung Mr Biden's way, President Trump was swinging clubs at the Trump National Golf Club.
The 209th outing to the course as president should be one of his last, even if we don't yet know how long he'll stick around the 19th hole.
But expect "rough, bunkered and shanked" to pepper the political obituaries, much as they did his term in office.
"Trump, pack your crap and get out, you're done!" said 47-year-old Biden supporter Tracy Haag, who was among a crowd who had gathered at the end of the road into the course in Sterling, Virginia.
A raucous Saturday morning in this quintessential US suburb might extend to the trailer thump of a picnic hamper any other time. This weekend, it played host to a Trump/Biden cacophony contest of car horns, whistles, shouts and insults.
At one end of the street, Biden supporters sang Kiss Him Goodbye, (the "na-na-na-na, hay-hay-hay" one) and at the other, Trump supporters chanted "God Bless Trump".
Ms Haag added: "The lawsuits have no merit, they are lawsuits designed to waste American money and time. Joe Biden has won, he has a mandate. He's going to have more electoral votes than Trump had when he won in 2016."
Standing alongside her, 65-year-old Barbara Moore, a court stenographer from Arlington, Virginia, said: "I'm just happy that the exhaustion will be over, the stress of what every day was going to bring with him, the slurs and the misogyny. I'm happy it's over."
Mr Trump left the course after around four hours to return to the White House. As he was driven past cheering Trump supporters, he didn't betray the burden of a president on the precipice, posing with a beaming smile and double thumbs up.
His admirers loved it, but you have to wonder at the thoughts of the audience beyond.
Take potential donors to the legal fighting fund. Since Wednesday Team Trump has been sending out requests for donations to help with the costs of its election challenge.
Anyone parting with hard cash will want proof of a plan to underpin their investment. In these circumstances playing golf, perhaps, wasn't a good look.
Back in the White House, Mr Trump would have heard the celebrations of his defeat on the other side of the fence.
This is a city high on politics and the sound from Black Lives Matter Plaza carried into the White House grounds like an excited sports crowd.
Inside the building itself, the talk among staff was of a legal action plan that lacked any co-ordination. One source spoke of a presidency heading towards a "great anti-climatic ending".
His campaign manager, Bill Stepien, had a conference call with supporters during which they were told to "stay at the ready" at a moment's notice in case they were needed for rallies and protests. The message was "this isn't over".
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It's a message echoed by the Trump supporters who gathered outside his golf club.
Wally Bunyea, 72, a military veteran from New York, said: "Anybody who's got any sense at all can see that there is massive voter fraud and we have got to adjudicate every instance of that.
"We're fighting for the right to free and fair elections.
"There will come a point when someone has to admit defeat and if we can get rid of all the bad votes that were harvested and the illegal activity, somebody else might be conceding defeat."