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The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has come to light for the first time since his failed reelection bid to participate in an annual presidential rite: visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
Trump, who honored veterans in a ceremony that took place during a steady rain, has spent the past few days hiding in the White House tweeting angry and baseless claims of voter fraud after his electoral defeat.
He has not made public comment since President-elect Joe Biden surpassed the 270 electoral votes on Saturday (local time) needed to win the presidency.
Although his official schedule has been devoid of public events, Trump has made several personnel moves: He fired Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and installed three loyalists in top defense positions.
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Patrick Semansky / AP
Donald Trump participates in a Veterans Day offering ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
Trump’s choice to serve as acting defense secretary, Christopher Miller, was one of the Pentagon’s top brass who joined the president for the solemn Veterans Day ceremony.
Meanwhile, his legal team has filed a series of lawsuits alleging voter fraud in the battlefield states that went for Biden.
The president’s reluctance to acknowledge the outcome of the race has stalled the transition process, as the Trump-appointed head of the General Services Administration has refrained from certifying Biden as the winner of the election.
The certification, known as verification, frees money for transition and paves the way for Biden’s team to begin implementing the transition process at agencies.
Alex Brandon / AP
President-elect Joe Biden and Jill Biden attend a service at the Korean War Memorial in Philadelphia at Penn’s Landing.
“I just think it’s a shame, frankly,” Biden said of Trump’s refusal to acknowledge the election results. President-elect and his wife, Jill Biden, commemorated Veterans Day with a visit to the Korean War Memorial in Philadelphia.
From his Twitter account on Tuesday (local time), Trump again raised unsubstantiated claims of “massive abuse of the vote count” and predicted that he would eventually win the race he had already lost.
Trump’s tweets were quickly flagged by the social network as controversial claims about voter fraud.
With the exception of weekend visits to his private golf club in Northern Virginia, Trump has been in the White House since Election Day, last appearing before the cameras to give a statement six days ago. .
His allies on Capitol Hill, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have encouraged the president’s unfounded accusations. They noted that they are willing to allow Trump to expose his election demands and unfounded allegations of voter fraud for the next few weeks, until the states certify the elections in early December and the Electoral College meets on December 14.
Trump was also accompanied at Arlington National Cemetery by First Lady Melania Trump, as well as Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen Pence.
