WASHINGTON: In a week that began with the Electoral College claiming Joe Biden’s victory and ending with Vice President Mike Pence taking a new Covid-19 vaccine, with a massive national security gap in the middle, President Trump it has been largely out of sight.
Instead, six weeks after the election, the president remains focused on his fruitless efforts to undo the results, advisers say. He pays close attention to the television coverage of state hearings on alleged election fraud, although there has been no evidence of widespread fraud and, in tweets and phone calls, he has urged his advisers and lawyers to continue.
In early Saturday tweets, Mr. Trump they mocked fellow Republicans, “Don’t be weak fools!” and urged them to join a protest in Washington next month.
“He’s still in the fighting mode for every vote,” said Trump-loyal Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., SC), who this week acknowledged Biden’s victory and said the president’s path to annulment. lar results are “very, very narrow.”
An administration official described the president’s strategy for overturning election results as, “We throw a giant plate of spaghetti at the wall and hope he sticks at least one noodle.”
At an Oval Office meeting Friday with Sidney Powell, a lawyer he fired from his legal team last month, the president discussed the possibility of appointing a special lawyer to investigate his election fraud claims, according to people familiar with the meeting. The president does not have the power to appoint a special counsel.
At a meeting with Sidney Powell, who was shown speaking last month, the president discussed the possibility of appointing a special lawyer to investigate her allegations of election fraud.
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The president and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, removed Ms. Powell from Trump’s legal team last month after Trump told advisers he found her claims, including that Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s president who died in 2013, he was behind the election apparatus: too crazy. During the meeting, the idea of deploying the military to help in their struggle to answer the election results was raised and dropped, said one of the people.
One person claimed that White House attorney Pat Cipollone and chief of staff Mark Meadows firmly withdrew the president’s effort to appoint Ms. White’s special counsel. Mike Flynn, the former national security adviser whom Trump pardoned last month, was also at the meeting.
Ms. Powell and Mr. Giuliani did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the meeting, which was first reported by the New York Times. The White House declined to comment.
Earlier in the week, the president in a meeting with Ken Cuccinelli, DHS No. 2, raised the possibility of the department confiscating election machines as part of the effort to prosecute allegations of election fraud, according to people familiar with the meeting. . Lawyers and Mr. Meadows retreated to the meeting, saying the agency did not have the authority to do so, and Mr. Cuccinelli agreed, people said.
On Thursday, Mr Giuliani called Mr Cuccinelli and again pushed the agency to take control of the election machines, people said. He was again told that the agency does not have the authority to do so.
Cuccinelli, asked to comment, said he could not talk about “active federal investigations.”
On other occasions, President and First Lady Melania Trump have shown signs of doubt about the prospect of leaving the White House. The president told advisers before the couple canceled their traditional Thanksgiving trip to Florida that it would be their last chance to celebrate the White House vacation. At a recent meeting in the Oval Office, Trump began filling bags with White House trinkets for his visitors, telling them he didn’t know what to do with the items, according to a person briefed on the meeting.
The first shipments of a Covid-19 vaccine this week marked a breakthrough for the Trump administration. Some of the president’s supporters say they would like to see him do more to capitalize on the achievement.
Trump acknowledged the historic development by tweeting a video statement last week. But he did not attend an event on Friday in which Mr. Pence received a shot fired on live television to promote his safety, instead of tweeting during the event about a “Russian farce.” The White House said the president, who previously had a coronavirus, will get the shot when his medical team determines the right time.
And as new details have emerged about an alleged Russian piracy that compromised parts of the U.S. government with a level of sophistication that surprised even veteran security experts, Trump was silent for days. Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican and a frequent critic of the president, boasted of the White House’s “inexcusable silence and action” on piracy.
Mr. Trump, in his first comments on Saturday on Twitter, he contradicted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other administration officials, dismissing his gravity and questioning whether Russia was responsible. He then quickly pivoted into the election, saying voting machines could have been infiltrated, an idea government experts have refuted.
“President Trump must overcome his complaints about the election and govern for the remainder of his term,” Tom Bossert, Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser, wrote in an opinion piece last week about the hack . “This moment requires unity, purpose and discipline.”
Asked why Americans haven’t heard much from the president this week, White House spokesman Brian Morgenstern told reporters, “There’s a lot of work that’s not necessarily public.”
Judd Deere, another White House spokeswoman, said Trump is focused on securing stimulus payments for Americans, funding the government, responding to the pandemic and distributing vaccines.
Advisers say the president has been in contact with lawmakers and has paid close attention to stimulus talks, which have yet to result in an agreement. He is said to have been informed about vaccine distribution efforts. The president has not attended a meeting of the coronavirus working group in months, including one last week.
Some of the president’s closest allies are worried that his efforts to reverse the election will tarnish his legacy and hurt the Republican Party, which will face two elections next month in Georgia that will decide the balance of power in the Senate. Units. The president held a rally in Georgia, but on a Saturday officials had prepared to never materialize. Advisers say he can visit the state just before the Jan. 5 election.
“It simply came to our notice then. He should stop worrying, “said Stephen Moore, the president’s economic adviser, adding that Trump should focus on his successes in the economy and the vaccine.
Trump has told friends he will never formally grant the election and advisers say he remains determined to maintain control of the Republican party. He has polled advisers on whether he should immediately announce a 2024 campaign to indicate he is still in the lead, asking one person, “Do you think I will continue to be the party leader if I don’t show up?”
People close to Mr. Trump are divided on whether he will actually campaign again, but he says he will continue to float the idea, potentially suppressing the ambition of a large gang of potential Republican challengers. He intends to play king in GOP races, the aides say, and target those he deems disloyal.
Some advisers say Mr. Trump continues to pressure his allegations of fraud to raise more money; his claims generated more than $ 207 million for his campaign, the Republican Party and its PAC leadership between the election and the end of November, and his fundraising resources have continued ever since.
Many senior Republicans, including Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, recognized Mr. Biden as president-elect after Monday’s vote in the Electoral College.
Trump has continued to pressure major Republicans to contest the results when Congress is convened to count and certify election votes next month. McConnell has warned it would be detrimental to Republicans running in 2022.
The president has also continued to discuss with advisers the possibility of pardoning a large number of people, including members of his family and his personal lawyer, Mr Giuliani. At one point, according to an administration official, he said he was considering forgiving “everyone I’ve talked to.”
—Michelle Hackman contributed to this article.
Write to Rebecca Ballhaus to [email protected], Alex Leary to [email protected] and Dustin Volz to [email protected]
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