PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has appeared to finally acknowledge president-elect Joe Biden will succeed him in the White House.
Speaking from the Rose Garden, Trump told reporters he would never put the US back into lockdown but added the caveat that “time will till” if another administration does.
The remarks represent the closest the President has come to acknowledging his election defeat to Biden, who was projected the winner nearly a week ago.
Trump also indicated that a coronavirus vaccine could be available to the entire population of the US by as soon as April with the President expecting Pfizer’s vaccine to receive emergency use authorisation “extremely soon”.
He did so, however, against a backdrop of a rising cases of the virus, which has so far killed over 235,000 Americans.
While he hinted at the possibility of an incoming Biden administration, Trump has yet to formally concede the race and did not mention the Irish-American Democrat by name.
"Ideally, we won't go to a lockdown. I will not go, this administration will not be going to a lockdown," he said. "Hopefully the, the - uh - whatever happens in the future - who knows which administration it will be. I guess time will tell."
Trump has spent the past week accusing the Democratic Party of vote-rigging with the President sharing several videos and claims on Twitter that have all been largely debunked.
During a previous address from the White House briefing room, the President claimed that if "legal" votes were counted he would "easily win" the election.
Trump made the claims without providing any concrete proof of wrongdoing.
While several lawsuits have been launched, challenging the results in key swing states, at least one of those cases has already collapsed after the legal firm representing Trump quit.
Biden, meanwhile, has continued to solidify his victory over Trump after securing victory in Georgia, becoming the first Democrat since Bill Clinton in 1992 to claim victory there.
