Donald Trump emerges from election gloom to hold rare work meeting

President Donald Trump, who has largely vanished from public view since his election defeat, was to emerge Friday for a White House meeting on the COVID-19 vaccine drive, reports news agency AFP. For 10 days the Republican has been consumed by his pursuit of a conspiracy theory that Democrat Joe Biden won through massive ballot-rigging. However, Trump’s claims were shot down.

“Biden did not win, he lost by a lot!” Trump asserted falsely again late Thursday while tweeting commentary on the Fox News evening show starring his booster Sean Hannity.

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Notably, Trump was absent from his normal presidential duties and silent about dramatically soaring coronavirus infection rates around the country and steadily rising deaths. Friday’s midday (1700 GMT) work session was marked as an “update” on Operation Warp Speed, the government partnership with pharmaceutical companies to create and distribute a vaccine.

The closed meeting marked a rare change in the president’s public daily schedule which has mostly been empty since the election. He has gone more than a week now without speaking in public or taking questions from journalists.

Despite a healthy majority of ballots tallied for Biden and days of failed attempts by Trump lawyers to present proof of significant irregularities, White House trade advisor Peter Navarro said his side remained convinced of victory.

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“We think he won that election,” he said. “We are moving forward here at the White House under the assumption that there will be a second Trump term.” Biden, meanwhile, is steadily preparing to take over on January 20 and the list of world leaders accepting that he will be the new president keeps lengthening.

Senator James Lankford told Tulsa Radio KRMG earlier this week that he was giving Trump until Friday to allow Biden access to the daily presidential intelligence briefing or “I will step in.”