Donald Trump has said that he will leave the White House when the electoral college votes for Democratic president-elect Joe Biden in the closest the outgoing president has come to conceding defeat, writes The Guardian.
Trump has so far defied tradition by refusing to concede defeat, instead making a series of baseless claims about alleged ballot fraud and launching legal attempts to challenge the outcomes in several states such Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Speaking to reporters on the Thanksgiving holiday, Trump said if Biden was certified the election winner by the electoral college, he would depart the White House.
Trump’s comments, made to reporters at the White House after speaking to troops during the traditional Thanksgiving Day address to US service members, appear to take him one step nearer to admitting defeat.
Asked if he would leave the White House if the college vote went against him, Trump said: “Certainly I will. And you know that. If they do, they’ve made a mistake”.
However, Trump said it would be “a very hard thing to concede” and declined to say whether he would attend Biden’s inauguration, which is due to take place on 20 January.