'Don't ever talk to the president that way!' Trump blasts reporter who interrupts him to ask if he will concede - but admits he WILL leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for Joe Biden
- President Donald Trump took questions from reporters in the White House on Thursday - the first time he has fielded questions from journalists since losing the election to President-elect Joe Biden on November 3
- During a testy exchange with Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason, the president got angry, calling Mason a 'lightweight' after he asked Trump whether he would concede the election to Biden
- ‘Don’t ever talk to the president that way,’ Trump scolded Mason after the Reuters journalist interrupted the president to ask if he would concede
- Trump later said it's a 'very hard thing to concede' but admitted he will leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for Joe Biden, though he wouldn't say if he would attend the inauguration
- When asked if he'll leave on Inauguration Day in peaceful transition of power, Trump told reporters at the White House: 'Certainly I will. And you know that'
- Earlier on Thursday, the president played a round of golf at his Sterling, Virginia, club during which he grew angry while struggling at one particular hole, saying: 'I hate this f*****g hole!'
President Trump blasted a White House correspondent during a testy exchange on Thursday, branding the reporter ‘lightweight’ for speaking over him to ask if he would concede the election to President-elect Joe Biden.
‘I’m the President of the United States. Don’t ever talk to the president that way,' Trump told Reuters correspondent Jeff Mason on Thursday during a heated question-and-answer session in the White House.
Trump later said it's a 'very hard thing to concede' the election, but admitted he would leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for Joe Biden.
But he stopped short of admitting that meant he had lost - despite Biden's huge lead in Electoral College votes and refused to say if he would attend the inauguration.
The meeting was the first time the president had taken questions from the press since Election Day.
Trump spoke to reporters in the White House’s ornate Diplomatic Reception Room after holding a teleconference with members of the US military stationed across the globe.
He thanked the troops for their service and jokingly warned them not to eat too much turkey, then turned to the election after ending the call.
Earlier during the Thanksgiving holiday, the president spent time playing golf at his club in Sterling, Virginia, before going on a Twitter rant that took aim at the election results, kneeling NFL players, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the news media, including his once-favorite cable news network, the Fox News Channel. 
President Donald Trump is seen above on Thursday snapping at a White House reporter during a question-and-answer session.
In his 25 minute back-and-forth with the media, Trump didn't concede his loss and insisted his legal arguments would go ahead. He argued he has time until the inauguration - which is 55 days away - but admitted it's ticking fast.
He reiterated unproven conspiracy theories about voting machines changing votes for him to Biden, complained the election was 'rigged' and alleged Biden only got his record 80 million votes through 'massive fraud.'
The president grew angry with Reuters correspondent Jeff Mason (pictured above in 2017), who interrupted Trump while he was giving his answer about whether he would concede if the Electoral College voted for Joe Biden on December 14
Trump is trying to over throw the election results by going to court in battleground states but his legal cases have been going nowhere. States are in the process of certifying their results and the electoral college meets in about two weeks to name the winner.
'Time isn't on our side,' the president conceded.
Mason asked the president if he would consider offering a proper concession after the Electoral College meets on December 14. That is when Biden’s victory will be made official.
Trump, however, said that the Electoral College should not confirm Biden’s win.
‘Well if they do, they made a mistake, because this election was a fraud,’ the president said in response to Mason’s question.
‘Just so you understand, this election was a fraud,’ he continued.
Trump said it was inconceivable that Biden won, since the former vice president captured more votes in key swing states than Barack Obama did in his election victories.
‘[Biden] is beating Obama in swing states, which are the states that mattered for purposes of the election,’ the president said.
‘So no, I can’t say that [I will concede] at all. I think it’s a possibility… they’re trying to, look, between you people…’
At this point, Mason interrupts the president and begins to ask his next question before Trump finished giving his response.
‘Don’t talk to me that way,’ Trump snapped at Mason. ‘You’re just a lightweight. Don’t talk to me that way. Don’t talk to… I’m the President of the United States. Don’t ever talk to the president that way.’
Trump then pivoted, saying: ‘Alright, I’m going to go with another question.’
In his 25 minute back-and-forth with the media, Trump didn't fully concede his loss and insisted his legal arguments would go ahead
The president reiterated unproven conspiracy theories about voting machines changing votes for him to Biden, complained the election was 'rigged' and alleged Biden only got his record 80 million votes through 'massive fraud'
Earlier during the Thanksgiving holiday, the president spent time playing golf at his club in Sterling, Virginia
It is not the first time the president has clashed with Mason.
Last month, Trump mocked Mason in the Oval Office for wearing a mask just weeks after the White House hosted an event in which several attendees, including the president himself, would later test positive for COVID-19.
On October 23, Mason attempted to ask Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a question in the Oval Office. 'This is Jeff Mason,' Trump explained to Netanyahu, relaying Mason's question. 'He's got a mask on that's the largest mask I think I've ever seen.'
In early September, Trump held a news conference at the White House during which he demanded that Mason remove his face covering while asking a question.
Mason started speaking when Trump cut him off and said: 'You're going to have to take that off, please. You can take it off. How many feet are you away?'
The reporter declined to remove his mask and politely raised his voice again, asking: 'Is that better?'
Trump rolled his eyes and responded: 'It's... better, yeah.'
And during a briefing back in May, the president asked Mason to remove his covering and then accused him of trying to be 'politically correct' for refusing.
While a concession speech may not be in the offing, the president did say on Thursday that he would leave the White House if Biden is confirmed as the next president by the Electoral College.
When asked whether he would vacate the building, allowing a peaceful transition of power in January, the president said: ‘Certainly I will. But you know that.'
But Trump renewed his unproven claims that ‘massive fraud’ and crooked officials in battleground states caused his election defeat.
He insisted that ‘a lot of things’ would happen between now and then that might alter the results.
‘This has a long way to go,’ Trump said, even though he lost.
Trump's administration has already given the green light for a formal transition to get underway.
But Trump took issue with Biden moving forward.
‘I think it’s not right that he’s trying to pick a Cabinet,’ Trump said, even though officials from both teams are already working together to get Biden's team up to speed.
And as he refused to concede, Trump announced that he will be traveling to Georgia to rally supporters ahead of two Senate runoff elections that will determine which party controls the Senate.
Trump said the rally for Republican Senators David Perdue and Sen Kelly Loeffler would likely be held on Saturday.
The White House later clarified he had meant December 5.
Earlier on Thursday, the president played a round of golf at his Sterling, Virginia, club during which he grew angry while struggling at one particular hole
One of the reasons Republicans have stood by Trump and his baseless claims of fraud has been to keep his loyal base energized ahead of those runoffs on January 5.
But Trump, in his remarks, openly questioned whether that election would be fair in a move that could dampen Republican turnout.
‘I think you're dealing with a very fraudulent system. I'm very worried about that,’ he said.
‘People are very disappointed that we were robbed.’
As for the Electoral College, Trump made clear that he will likely never formally concede, even if he said he would leave the White House.
‘It’s gonna be a very hard thing to concede. Because we know there was massive fraud,’ he said, noting that, ‘time isn’t on our side.’
Asked whether he would attend Biden's inauguration, Trump said he knew the answer but didn't want to share it yet.
When asked if he'd go to Biden's inauguration on January 20th, Trump replied: 'I don't want to say that yet. I mean I know the answer, I'll be honest, I know the answer, but I just don't want to say it yet.' He warned that 'a lot of things happening between now and January 20th' and the election results have a 'long way' to go.
But there were some signs that Trump was coming to terms with his loss.
At one point he urged reporters not to allow Biden the credit for pending coronavirus vaccines.
‘Don't let him take credit for the vaccines because the vaccines were me and I pushed people harder than they’ve ever been pushed before,’ he said.
Trump wouldn't say if he would attend rival Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20th
As for whether or not he plans to formally declare his candidacy to run again in 2024 - as he has discussed with aides - Trump he didn't ‘want to talk about 2024 yet.’
All states must certify their results before the Electoral College meets on December 14, and any challenge to the results must be resolved by December 8.
Trump's last hope could be January 6, 2020, which is when Congress meets to formally certify the results of the electoral college.
But the transition process has already begun.
The General Services Administration, led by a Trump appointee, announced this week that federal agencies and the Biden Transition Team could start communicating. The president elect is starting to name his cabinet.
In his remarks on Thursday, Trump repeated a conspiracy theory pushed by members of his legal team that votes from Dominion Voting Systems machines lost votes for him or switched votes from him to Biden.
Dominion said there was no problem with their machines nor is there any evidence of what Trump alleges.
'We're using computer equipment that can be hacked,' the president complained about the election.
'We're like a third world country. We have machines that nobody knows what the hell they're looking at. I mean you take a look at all the mistakes they made,' he said.
'This election was a fraud, just so you understand this election was a fraud,' he said.
He said there was proof of what he was talking about on the internet.
'If you look, just take a look anywhere on the internet. You will see many, many people where they're experimenting with this stupid machinery. Wherever you send it a certain way the votes go from Trump to Biden,' Trump said.
President Donald Trump on Thursday took his first questions from reporters after the election
President Trump made his remarks after he spoke to U.S. troops for the Thanksgiving holiday
President Trump started his Thanksgiving with a round of golf
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And he challenged Biden's vote tally.
'I know one thing Joe Biden did not get 80 million votes,' he said. 'The only way he got 80 million votes is through massive fraud.'
The current tally of the popular votes stand at: 80,045,066 (51%) for Biden and 73,897,658 (47%) for Trump. Additionally,
'You have to really take a look at what's going on. They're finding tremendous discrepancies in the votes, and nobody believes those numbers those numbers are incorrect numbers,' he said of the vote tallies.
He provided no evidence of his claim. State officials have said they've found no evidence of election fraud in the November contest.
'I thought I was going to win it, and essentially I did win it. It's very very close, it's very very close,' he said.
The election results are not close. Biden has 306 electoral votes and only needs 270 to win the presidency. Trump has 232.
Trump played coy when asked about his own Thanksgiving plans for his last one at the White House, saying he 'can't say what's first or last.' He added that it might be the 'first one of a second term.'
President Trump said he would go to Georgia on Saturday, December 5, to campaign for Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue
President Trump's motorcade arrives at his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va, on Thanksgiving Day
Specifically, Trump complained about results in states he won in 2016 but lost to Biden in November, specifically calling out Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia.
'You will find tens of thousands of false ballots,' he promised.
He alleged voters in Pennsylvania who tried to vote were told they already had, said he was winning in Wayne County in Michigan but then said canvassers wouldn't certify for him, claimed there were 'tremendous discrepancies' in Wisconsin, and faulted Democrat Stacey Abrams for his loss in Georgia.
Trump accused Abrams, who worked on voter registration in Georgia, with harvesting votes.
'Ballot harvesting', as it's called, is when a third party collects an individual's legal vote and turns it into state officials. The practice is legal
'You're not allowed to harvest,' Trump said.
He also railed against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who led a hand recount of the state that certified Biden's win, an 'enemy of the people.'
'I understand the Secretary of State, who is really an enemy of the people, the Secretary of State, and whether it's republican or not,' Trump complained.
Georgia officials are doing another recount at Trump's request.
Biden became the first Democrat to carry the state of Georgia since 1992 and many Democrats credited Abrams' get-out-the-vote operation in the state for his victory there.
Trump is going to Georgia on Saturday, December 5, to campaign for Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. The two candidates are in a January 5th runoff election. Republicans need to win both seats in order to maintain their control of the Senate.
The president said he spoke to them about his concerns about Georgia's voting.
'I told them today I said listen you have a fraudulent system, you have a system with the flick of a switch or the putting in a new chip can change the course of history,' he said.
President Trump faulted Democrat Stacey Abrams for his loss in Georgia
Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, an 'enemy of the people' - Raffensperger presided over a hand recount that confirmed Biden's victory
President Donald Trump called into a hearing-style event in Pennsylvania where lawyer Rudy Giuliani leveled charges of voter fraud on Wednesday
In Pennsylvania Trump's legal team is trying to stop certification of the state's 20 electoral votes for Biden.
Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney who is leading the charge in trying to overturn the election, testified at a Republican-led hearing of sorts on Wednesday, which Trump called into to implore GOP officials in the state to find he won Pennsylvania.
'This election has to be turned around. We won Pennsylvania by a lot and we won all of these swing states by a lot,' Trump said via a cellphone his attorney Jenna Ellis held up to a microphone.
Trump also tried to subvert results in Michigan. He met with two state lawmakers at the White House to discuss the election.
But, despite his efforts, the two men said they haven't seen any evidence that would change the fact that Biden won their state.
'We have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan and as legislative leaders, we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan's electors, just as we have said throughout this election,' Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield said in a joint statement after their meeting with President Trump last week.
In Wisconsin, Republicans filed a lawsuit Tuesday asking the state Supreme Court to block certification of the presidential election results as a recount is ongoing. The state is supposed to certify its results on Tuesday, December 1.
Trump says COVID vaccines will start going out NEXT WEEK as he brags about his accomplishments in Thanksgiving call with U.S. troops
President Donald Trump spent time on his call with U.S. troops bragging about his own record, noting the record stock market high this week and claiming COVID vaccines will start being delivered in the next week or two.
At least three COVID vaccines show remarkable efficacy, a promising result as America sees more than 12.9 million infections and more than 263,000 deaths for the virus.
The candidates are in Phase 3 clinical trials, the last step before seeking the go-ahead from the Food and Drug Administration.
Trump said distribution will begin soon with frontline workers and high risk populations.
'We are rounding the curb,' he said on a call with troops stationed overseas. 'The vaccines are being delivered literally starting next week and week after, and the frontline workers and seniors and doctors, nurses, a lot of people going to start getting.'
President Donald Trump said COVID vaccines will start going out next week with healtcare workers and at-risk populations getting them first
President Trump made his announcement on his traditional Thanksgiving call with troops
The FDA is meeting Monday to talk to Pfizer about giving an emergency authorization for its vaccine to be used.
Trump said the rapid development of the vaccine was a 'medical miracle.'
'Some people call that a medical miracle really a miracle. It could have taken four or five years to do this normally. It probably would have taken four or five years, just getting it through the FDA. We pushed it very hard,' he said.
Gen. Gustave Perna, who is leading Operation Warp Speed's effort to distribute coronavirus vaccines nationwide, told ABC News that he believes the FDA's authorization, which he calls 'D-Day,' could occur between Dec. 10 and Dec. 14. Once it's authorized, he said, '24 hours later, vaccines are on the street.'
Trump, in his overseas call, also bragged about Tuesday's record achievement in the stock market: the Dow hit 30,000 points for the first time.
'You're doing an incredible job and your country is doing well. We just set a record in the stock market over 30,000 in the Dow Jones industrial average,' he said.
The president spoke with different members of service stationed around the world.
'Don't eat too much turkey,' he told them.
'How is Kuwait doing,' he said in his conversations with Army, Marine, and Air Force personnel stationed in Kuwait.
He also spoke with Navy service members on the USS Winston S Churchill in the Red Sea, members of the Space Force in Colorado and Coast Guard forces in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
On the teleconference, all the service members wore face masks. Trump did not wear one.
Pfizer is meeting with the FDA on Monday to discuss emergency use authorization of its COVID vaccine
President Trump led a round of applause for the troops when he finished his call with themWhen one of the commanders thanked him for doing the call, saying it raised morale during the holiday, Trump replied: ''I love doing it and I'm so proud of it.'
He also said repeatedly the military is in better shape after his four years in the White House, claiming its equipment is in 'tippy-top' shape.
'Your equipment is getting newer and newer and better and better,' he told crew members of the Churchill.
'On the Army, we just made a tremendous purchase of equipment,' he said.
And he praised one service man who said he was a golfer. The 'only exercise there is,' said the president who had played a round before speaking with them.
The president spoke from the Diplomatic Room of the White House.
Teed off after teeing off! Trump tears into Twitter claiming it makes up 'false trends' and demanding section 230 be repealed - after losing it on the golf course and blasting 'I hate this f*****g hole!!!'
President Trump split his Thanksgiving holiday between lashing out at his enemies on Twitter, playing golf, and holding a news conference.
Early in the day, the president appeared grumpy earlier in the day on Thursday, when he was caught on camera using foul language after he flubbed a golf shot while playing at his course in Sterling, Virginia.
‘I hate this f*****g hole!’ Trump said after he chipped a ball into the water.
Later, the president took to Twitter to blast the social media company, accusing them of making up 'negative stuff' for their trending section, and called for the repeal of Section 230, a part of a law that shields internet companies from liability for the content that users post.
But within half an hour the number one trending topic in the United States was 'DiaperDon' - a reference to the president sitting behind a small desk at a news conference earlier in the day.
Trump retweeted and wrote more than a dozen tweets on Thursday, including several just hours after he grew visibly angry with a Reuters reporter during the question-and-answer session at the White House.
Trump also retweeted his favorite commentators - who falsely suggested there’s still a chance he can overturn the results of the election - and also vented his frustration at the media, Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez, kneeling NFL players, and Fox News.
The president agreed with a tweet by conservative commentator David J Harris Jr, who said that Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was 'in panic mode!'
President Trump on Thursday blasted Twitter, accusing it of manipulating its trending topics so as to make him look bad
‘Twitter is sending out totally false “Trends” that have absolutely nothing to do with what is really trending in the world,’ the president tweeted on Thursday. ‘They make it up, and only negative “stuff”'
Twitter users relentlessly mocked the president for the small desk from which he spoke during his White House news conference. The sight of Trump sitting at the desk prompted Twitter users to trend the topic ‘Resolute Desk’ - the much larger desk where the president sits in the Oval Office. Another trending topic on Twitter was the hashtag #DiaperDon, a reaction to an image of the president sitting at his smaller desk
The president on Thursday night repeated past grievances about the November 3 election which he lost to President-elect Joe Biden. He also took aim once again at Twitter, claiming that it was conspiring to make him look bad.
Trump posted a tweet linking to an opinion column written by a blogger with The Federalist, a pro-Trump, conservative-leaning news site.
The opinion piece listed ‘five more ways Joe Biden magically outperformed election norms.’
It suggested that that Biden’s win was fraudulent since it defied several metrics that have historically been used to gauge who would win a presidential election.
‘A must read. Impossible for Biden to have overcome these, and even greater, odds!’ Trump tweeted when linking the article.
The president then posted another tweet complaining about media coverage of his Thanksgiving Day message to US troops stationed abroad.
‘I gave a long news conference today after wishing the military a Happy Thanksgiving, & realized once again that the Fake News Media coordinates so that the real message of such a conference never gets out,’ the president tweeted.
‘Primary point made was that the 2020 Election was RIGGED, and that I WON!’
Trump spoke to reporters in the White House’s ornate Diplomatic Reception Room after holding a teleconference with US military leaders stationed across the globe.
He thanked them for their service and jokingly warned them not to eat too much turkey, then turned to the election after ending the call.
Trump repeated grievances and angrily denounced officials in Georgia and Pennsylvania, two key swing states that helped give Biden the win.
The president on Thursday spoke to reporters from a small desk in the Diplomatic Reception Room after holding a teleconference with US military leaders
Trump was widely ridiculed on Twitter as social media users mocked the size of the desk that he was photographed sitting at during his Thursday news conference
The relatively small size of the desk led to the hashtag #DiaperDon becoming a trending topic
One Twitter user wondered whether Joe Biden's aides 'set up this visual'
'This mini resolute desk will never not make laugh,' tweeted one Twitter user. 'Resolute Desk' was also trending on Twitter late on Thursday, drawing Trump's ire
'Moved from the Resolute Desk to the Coffee Table of Despair,' tweeted another Twitter user
Trump then took aim at Twitter after the social media site’s trending topics painted the president in an unfavorable light.
‘Twitter is sending out totally false “Trends” that have absolutely nothing to do with what is really trending in the world,’ the president tweeted on Thursday.
‘They make it up, and only negative “stuff”.
‘Same thing will happen to Twitter as is happening to Fox News daytime.
‘Also, big Conservative discrimination!’
Twitter users relentlessly mocked the president for the small desk from which he spoke during his White House news conference.
The sight of Trump sitting at the desk prompted Twitter users to trend the topic ‘Resolute Desk’ - the much larger desk where the president sits in the Oval Office.
Another trending topic on Twitter was the hashtag #DiaperDon, a reaction to an image of the president sitting at his smaller desk.
The president then tweeted: ‘For purposes of National Security, Section 230 must be immediately terminated!!!’
Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act protects internet companies from liability for the material users post on their networks.
'No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider,' the law states.
Trump has long accused social media networks of being biased against conservatives and Republicans.
Since the November 3 election, Twitter has been more aggressively labeling Trump’s tweets with warnings about its accuracy as the president has made numerous claims about alleged voter fraud.
Trump and his attorneys have yet to substantiate allegations of widespread voter fraud that he claims cost him the election.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump praised a Pennsylvania judge who placed a hold on the certification process for down-ballot races in the Keystone State.
‘A brilliant woman of courage!’ the president tweeted on Thursday. He was reacting to a tweet posted by David J. Harris Jr, a conservative commentator who linked to a news story on his web site about the case.
Harris’ headline read: ‘Judge Blocks Certification of Pennsylvania Election Results.’
But the headline and the article incorrectly suggest that the decision by Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia A. McCullough will have any impact on the presidential race.
The state has already certified the results of the presidential election, with Democrat Joe Biden winning its 20 electoral college votes.
Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, sent a ‘certificate of ascertainment’ to the national archivist in Washington with the slate of electors who support President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Pennsylvania’s 20 electors, a mix of elected Democrats, party activists and other staunch Biden backers, will meet in the state Capitol on December 14.
McCullough’s ruling on Wednesday temporarily blocks the portion of the election that had yet to be certified - namely the state legislature results. A majority of the legislature is controlled by Republicans.
The president on Thursday also retweeted a post from Harris which links to an article about the ‘voter fraud hearing’ led by Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis.
Trump also retweeted another post by Harris, this one claiming that 'AOC is in panic mode!'
Trump on Thursday also retweeted a post from Harris whose web site includes a news story about a lawsuit filed in Georgia by two pro-Trump attorneys - Sidney Powell and Lin Wood
The president also retweeted a post by Harris linking to a news story about the 'voter fraud hearing' in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, led by Trump campaign lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis
Trump also reacted negatively to a news story about the Texans' Deshaun Watson and the Lions' Matthew Stafford who were seen kneeling on their respective sidelines during the national anthem just before kickoff at Ford Field in Detroit. The Texans won the game 41-25
The post was linked to a news story about a lawsuit filed by pro-Trump attorneys Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, who are suing Georgia because of an 'unlawful election.'
Biden won Georgia's 16 electoral college votes, defeating Trump by slightly more than 12,000 votes.
The link to the news story on Harris' site alleges that AOC is 'in trouble,' though the basis for that claim is unclear.
Trump also reacted negatively to a news story about the two quarterbacks of the Houston Texans and the Detroit Lions, the NFL teams who faced off against each other in the Thanksgiving game on Thursday.
The Texans' Deshaun Watson and the Lions' Matthew Stafford were seen kneeling on their respective sidelines during the national anthem just before kickoff at Ford Field in Detroit. The Texans won the game 41-25.
Trump has been a vocal critic of professional athletes who kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice. He demanded that NFL owners fire players who do so after the Colin Kaepernick controversy.
Kaepernick, the former 49ers quarterback, ignited a fierce, nationwide debate in 2015 and 2016 by kneeling on the sidelines during the Star Spangled Banner.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump kicked off his Thanksgiving with a round of golf at his Trump National Golf Club in Virginia and a lot of whining on Twitter, insisting there was no way Biden won the 'rigged' election and slamming Fox News.
Trump left the White House Thursday morning for 18 holes at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia.
But before and after his game, his focus was on the presidential election - which he still insists he won - instead of the holiday.
'Just saw the vote tabulations. There is NO WAY Biden got 80,000,000 votes!!! This was a 100% RIGGED ELECTION,' Trump complained about his Democratic rival.
Twitter flagged the tweet, noting on it: 'This claim about election fraud is disputed.'
The president has refused to concede the election even as his legal cases challenging the results in battleground states have gone nowhere, his campaign has turned up no evidence of major voter fraud, and states have begun to certify Biden's victory.
The current tally of the popular votes stand at: 80,045,066 (51%) for Biden and 73,897,658 (47%) for Trump. Additionally, Biden has 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232.
The 2020 contest saw a record number of votes. Biden was the first candidate to earn over 80 million.
Trump also got in a dig at Fox News. The news organization infuriated him by being the first on election night to call Arizona for Biden.
The president retweeted a tweet on the network seeing declining ratings and added his own commentary: 'Will go down much further. Weekend daytime even worse, dead. They still don’t get it. Fantastic alternatives! The late/great Roger Ailes is seriously missed, but I still won LEGAL VOTES by a lot!!!'
Ailes, who was ousted from Fox News in 2016 over charges of sexual harassment, advised Trump on the presidential debates that year. He died in 2017 and some credit him for Trump's rise in politics.
And Trump retweeted a tweet about a lawsuit Sidney Powell, the attorney dumped from his legal team, brought about in Georgia.
And he complained about Pennsylvania, where his legal team is trying to stop certification of the state's 20 electoral votes for Biden: 'A total FRAUD. Statehouse Republicans, proud, strong and honest, will never let this travesty stand!'
Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney who is leading the charge in trying to overturn the election, testified at a Republican-led hearing of sorts on Wednesday, which Trump called into to implore GOP officials in the state to find he won Pennsylvania.
'This election has to be turned around. We won Pennsylvania by a lot and we won all of these swing states by a lot,' Trump said via a cellphone his attorney Jenna Ellis held up to a microphone.
'We got 11 million votes more than we had four years ago in 2016. And we got many more votes than Ronald Reagan had when he won 49 states,' Trump said, pointing to an election forty years ago when the population was considerably smaller.
Trump did receive 73 million votes - the most ever of an incumbent president. But Biden won over 80 million votes and the electoral college, which hands him the White House.
The Trump team has shown no evidence of voter fraud in Pennsylvania or any other state.
Trump had switched into holiday mode earlier in the day, writing 'HAPPY THANKSGIVING' atop a retweet from the SCOTUS blog, which covers Supreme Court cases. It reported that: 'Just before midnight on the night before Thanksgiving, the Supreme Court blocked New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from enforcing attendance limits at religious services. The vote is 5-4, with Roberts and the three liberals dissenting.'
The Supreme Court late Wednesday temporarily barred New York from enforcing attendance limits at houses of worship in areas designated as hard hit by the coronavirus.
President Trump tosses a golf ball from his cart as he plays golf at his club in Virginia
President Donald Trump kicked off his Thanksgiving with a round of golf at his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia
President Trump drives a golf cart on his course near Washington D.C.
President Trump gives a fist bump to a fellow golfer
President Donald Trump holds his phone as he stands next to a golf cart on his course
President Trump in his golf cart with security in golf carts around him
The court's 5-4 vote granted requests made by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and two Orthodox Jewish congregations who were fighting Gov. Andrew Cuomo's October 6 decision about houses of worship in areas designated red and orange zones, where attendance was capped at 10 and 25 people, respectively.
New Justice Amy Coney Barrett ruled in the majority whereas the court's three liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts dissented.
In two previous cases this year, the court on 5-4 votes turned away similar requests by churches in Nevada and California. Those votes occurred before the death of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The president is having Thanksgiving dinner with his immediate family.
'The First Family will be celebrating the day with immediate family for dinner at the White House. The President and First Lady wish everyone across the country a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving,' said Stephanie Grisham, the chief of staff to first lady Melania Trump, in a statement.
She did not detail who was included in the immediate family, which could consist of the president's adult children from his first marriages and the first lady's parents, who live near the White House.
In his Thanksgiving proclamation, President Trump encouraged Americans to gather and give thanks.
'I encourage all Americans to gather, in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings,' he said in a statement.
Trump's urging Americans to gather for the holiday comes as daily deaths from COVID-19 in the United States have surpassed 2,100 for the first since May as millions of Americans continue to ignore CDC travel guidance and dire warnings from health experts that Thanksgiving could be the 'mother of all superspreader events'.
Don Jr., the president's oldest son who tested positive for coronavirus a couple of weeks ago, posted a message to Instagram he is 'done with Rona' and will spend Thanksgiving with family.
He videotaped the message on Wednesday with girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, noting the couple will be eating their 'back up meal' that day and then enjoying a second Thanksgiving feast.
'I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to be cleared to be with my family but I got the medical OK I’m all done with the Rona,' he noted.
President Trump returns to the White House after a round of golf on Thanksgiving - both before and after the game he tweeted on the election
President Trump checks his phone while on the golf course
President Trump, in red jacket, driving his golf cart on his golf course
President Trump takes aim as he plays golf on Thanksgiving day
President Trump on his golf course
President Trump walks back to his golf cart
Supporters cheer as President Donald Trump passes them outside the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are spending Thanksgiving at the White House instead of traveling to Mar-a-Lago, where they'll have dinner with immediate family
Don Jr., the president's oldest son who tested positive for coronavirus a couple of weeks ago, posted a message to Instagram he is 'done with Rona' and will spend Thanksgiving with family
Lara Trump posted a photo of a roadtrip to an undisclosed location with husband Eric Trump and their kids'I got cleared and we get to spend Thanksgiving the way it’s meant to be,' he said in the video message.
And Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law, posted a photo to Instagram of her, husband Eric Trump and their two kids taking a road trip to an unnamed location.
The president is also reaching out to friends who could be having a tough time over the holidays.
Eric Bolling, the Sinclair TV host whose son died of an accidental drug overdose in 2017, tweeted that Trump called him on Thanksgiving Day.
'3 years ago today: A difficult first holiday without my Eric Chase.. the empty Thanksgiving seat being too real having just lost our son. The phone rang: 'Eric, Melania and I want to tell you how much we feel for you today' That call just came again. Thank you @realDonaldTrump,' he wrote.
Last year on Thanksgiving, Trump made a surprie visit Afghanistan where he met with President Ashraf Ghani and served Thanksgiving dinner to U.S. troops stationed there.
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