President finally concedes, calls for smooth transition

WASHINGTON – With 13 days left in his term, President Donald Trump finally bent to reality on Thursday amid growing talk of trying to force him out early, acknowledging he’ll peacefully leave after Congress affirmed his defeat.

Trump led off a video from the White House by condemning the violence carried out in his name a day earlier at the Capitol. Then, for the first time, he admitted that his presidency would soon end – though he declined to mention President-elect Joe Biden by name or state that he had lost.

“A new administration will be inaugurated on January 20,” Trump said in the video. “My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power. This moment calls for healing and reconciliation.”

The address, which appeared designed to stave off talk of a forced early eviction, came at the end of a day when the cornered president stayed out of sight in the White House. Silenced on some of his favorite internet lines of communication, he watched the resignations of several top aides, including a Cabinet secretary.

Trump’s video Thursday, released upon his return to Twitter after his account was restored, was a reversal from the one he put out just 24 hours earlier in which he said to the violent mob, “We love you. You’re very special.” His refusal to condemn the violence sparked a firestorm of criticism and, in the new video, he at last denounced the demonstrators’ “lawlessness and mayhem.”

As for his feelings on leaving office, he told the nation that “serving as your president has been the honor of my lifetime” while hinting at a return to the public arena. He told supporters “that our incredible journey is only just beginning.”

Just a day earlier, Trump unleashed the destructive forces at the Capitol with his claims of election fraud at a rally that prompted supporters to disrupt the congressional certification of Biden’s victory.