President Trump appeared to temper his tone on Friday afternoon, issuing a statement that stood in sharp contrast to his rambling rant on Thursday night and his flurries of all-caps tweets baselessly alleging election fraud on Twitter. Though the statement still insinuated the existence of "illegal ballots" — something both election officials and the president's own campaign aides have failed to identify any evidence of — it lacked the defiance of his earlier addresses, and possibly even left room for his acceptance of a narrowing path to victory.
"We believe the American people deserve to have full transparency into all vote counting and election certification, and that this is no longer about any single election," Trump said, adding that "from the beginning we have said that all legal ballots must be counted and all illegal ballots should not be counted. … We will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee that the American people have confidence in our government. I will never give up fighting for you and our nation."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The week's best photosIn Pictures A cheesy chase, a cinema on water, and more
-
Ancient India: living traditions – 'ethereal and sensual' exhibitionThe Week Recommends Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism are explored in show that remains 'remarkably compact'
-
Crossword: May 30, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Starving Gazans overrun US-backed food aid hubspeed read Israeli troops fired warning shots at the Palestinians
-
Israel's Western allies pull back amid Gaza escalationspeed read Britain and the EU are reconsidering allegiance with Israel as the Gaza siege continues
-
Trump drops ceasefire demand after Putin callspeed read Following a phone call with Russia's president, Trump backed off an earlier demand that Putin agree to an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine
-
Pro-EU centrist beats Trump acolyte in Romania votespeed read The mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, defeated hard-right nationalist George Simion in the race for Romania's presidency
-
Israel-US 'rift': is Trump losing patience with Netanyahu?Today's Big Question US president called for an end to Gaza war and negotiated directly with Hamas to return American hostage, amid rumours of strained relations
-
Kurdish PKK militia to disband for Turkey talksspeed read The Kurdistan Workers' Party will disarm after four decades of armed conflict with Turkey, putting an end to 'one of the longest insurgencies in the Middle East'
-
US, China agree to lower tariffs for 90 daysspeed read US tariffs will fall to 30% from 145%, while China will cut its tax on US imports to 10% from 125%
-
India strikes Pakistan as tensions mount in Kashmirspeed read Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called it an 'act of war'
