The President’s refusal to concede, as MeSlop has beforehand reported, stems partially from his perceived grievance that Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama undermined his own presidency by saying Russia interfered within the 2016 election and will have impacted the result, individuals round him have mentioned.
Trump continues to maintain a grudge towards those that he claims undercut his election by pointing to Russian interference efforts, and he has prompt it’s honest sport to not acknowledge Joe Biden because the President-elect, despite the fact that Clinton conceded on election night time in 2016 and the Trump transition was in a position to start instantly.

Trump can also be persevering with to course of the emotional scars of shedding to a candidate he repeatedly mentioned throughout the marketing campaign was an unworthy opponent whose win would quantity to humiliation. He once more made no public appearances on Thursday, skipping the primary coronavirus job pressure briefing at the White Home in additional than six months. He’s planning to take part in a digital Asian Pacific Financial Cooperation summit Friday, a senior administration official told MeSlop.

Trump has heard from a large number of associates and enterprise associates who’ve been urging him to at least let the transition start, even when he would not need to concede, one other supply who can also be conversant in the President’s considering told MeSlop. His reply: No. You are improper. “Completely improper,” in accordance to one supply.

When Trump has been told to get Rudy Giuliani and different members of his authorized group off the case, the President has disagreed. He desires to proceed the combat, and folks shut to the President have even expressed concern that he’s shopping for into Giuliani’s false claims that his authorized efforts can change the election’s end result. He has proven no indicators of backing down, at the same time as these round him proceed indicating that the tip is close to. These allies have expressed fear {that a} sizable faction of the nation thinks the election was stolen from Trump and that Biden is not receiving nationwide safety briefings.

The chums and associates, this supply mentioned, have been imploring the President to take into consideration the long run. They’ve told him he’s making it more durable on himself, that he’ll have a tough time getting individuals to keep at his accommodations, and even borrowing cash if he continues this conduct. He’ll harm his model, they’ve told him. The President thinks that is improper.

His response is that he had greater than 70 million individuals voting for him, which he thinks conveys final energy and authority — and may convey the White Home as nicely. Biden leads by almost 6 million votes, with 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232.

“A very powerful factor we’d like to consider is that Donald is in a singular place for him,” mentioned Mary Trump, the President’s niece who wrote a damning account of his household life. “He’s by no means in his life been in a scenario that he cannot get out of both by utilizing any person else’s cash, utilizing connections, utilizing energy. And never solely is he in a singular place, he’s able of being a loser, which in my household, definitely, so far as my grandfather was involved, was the worst attainable factor you possibly can be.”

Trump is listening to his associates, this supply mentioned, however hurriedly ends conversations as a result of he disagrees. He would not need to hear what he would not imagine.

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Contained in the White Home, it appears as if many individuals have determined to let this play out, both as a result of they need to or as a result of they haven’t any alternative. Son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner is taking part in it cool, this supply mentioned, whereas daughter Ivanka Trump has just about eliminated herself from this, as MeSlop reported final week.

Ivanka is nicely conscious she has a enterprise she would possibly need to return to, or perhaps a future political life, the supply mentioned.

The President, this supply mentioned, “would not see” how dangerous the aftermath of all of this could possibly be for the nation, and for democracy itself. As typical, he’s centered on himself — not Covid-19, nor the transition.

Trump has even been told there is no such thing as a want to concede and to simply let the transition proceed. It would not register, at least not but.

In one other week or 10 days, this supply mentioned, it could possibly be a special story.

However he’s nonetheless not prepared now, if ever, to concede.

Pamela Brown, Kevin Liptak and Katelyn Polantz contributed to this story.