President-elect Biden tees up agenda as Trump mulls his defeat on the green

‘It is important to respect and promptly accept the result,’ retiring Republican senator says — in rebuke of Trump’s legal challenges

Joe Biden has ousted Donald Trump as president of the United States after a contentious pandemic-altered campaign of heated rhetoric that further exposed the country’s deep political divisions as a legal fight looms. For the next president, the hard part is still ahead: governing a nation in which 70 million people voted for his opponent.

"America, I'm honoured that you have chosen me to lead our great country,” the president-elect tweeted. “The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not. I will keep the faith that you have placed in me."

The incumbent and his top aides sensed defeat on Saturday, preparing a statement from the president refusing to concede and vowing an aggressive legal challenge in multiple battleground states where the final margin will be relatively close.

Follow live: Biden wins US election, latest updates 

In a surreal scene, Mr Trump — who for years criticised then-president Barack Obama’s golf habit — was on the links at his Sterling, Virginia, club when the Associated Press and major US networks called Pennsylvania for Mr Biden. Its 20 electoral college votes made the former vice president and longtime Delaware senator the president-elect.

Unless what experts are calling a longshot legal effort to overturn the results in the Keystone State, Nevada, Georgia and other battlegrounds is successful at terminating the thousands of votes he would need to pull ahead in the race to 270 electoral votes, Mr Biden will be sworn in on 20 January.

Mr Trump will return to civilian life and an uncertain future.

On one hand, he will be a popular former chief executive: he already has garnered 70.6 million votes, second only in American history to the man that has defeated him. His conservative political base adores him and showed its support in the race’s final month by packing his campaign rallies shoulder-to-shoulder despite the fast-spreading coronavirus.

He owns luxury golf courses and resort properties, and has been rumoured to be interested in starting his own TV network. There are already talks about another presidential bid in 2024, and it is likely that he would enter the GOP primary as the frontrunner — with a national operation, experience running two mostly successfully campaigns, and a proven ability to raise tons of campaign cash.

Read more: Can Trump run again in 2024?

On the other, when the government jumbo jet usually known as Air Force One — rebranded Executive One for such flights — ferries him to South Florida in just over 70 days, he will face legal and financial problems. He owes unknown creditors at least $400m (£304m). Most of that, $300m, is due over the next few years, according to documents obtained and first reported by The New York Times.

What’s more, there are at least a dozen federal and state investigations into Mr Trump, his 2016 campaign and his business dealings, according to a list compiled by the Times. The list includes alleged hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and others; allegations the Trump team offered a pardon to his former personal attorney Michael Cohen; possible insurance claim inflation; potentially misused charitable trusts; allegations of campaign finance violations; and self-dealing within The Trump Organisation, the family business he founded.

The list does not stop there: federal investigators also are looking into a number of matters related to his murky tax situation. Mr Trump was all smiles as he left his Northern Virginia golf club on Saturday, posing for photojournalists in the day’s press pool through the windows of a US Secret Service armoured SUV.

As for Mr Biden, his election was greeted by massive celebrations in many US cities, including New York, Philadelphia and others. The same was true in Washington, where Biden supporters gathered near the White House. Someone set up a large speaker. The song blaring around 2pm as Mr Trump wrapped his round of golf: “YMCA,” the upbeat tune by the Village People that the president used as his walk-off song during his 2020 campaign rallies.

Since he took the lead in Pennsylvania and other swing states early on Wednesday, Mr Biden has urged national unity even as the emerging final vote tally shows an almost evenly-divided country along ideological lines that pit a red tribe against a blue one.

Read more: What happens if Trump refuses to concede?

“We may be opponents — but we are not enemies,” he tweeted Friday night. “We are Americans.”

As Mr Biden prepared for a Saturday evening national address, his first as president-elect, the Trump team was sending clear signals about its legal strategy.  

“Courts set aside elections when they’re illegal,” Rudolph Giuliani, the former US attorney and New York City mayor, told reporters. “In this particular case, I don’t know if there’s enough evidence to set aside the entire election, certainly not around the country. Maybe in Pennsylvania. There’s certainly enough evidence to disqualify a certain number of ballots."

The president’s team is still playing electoral maths, trying to get enough ballots thrown out to lower Mr Biden’s count, now at 290, and get the president to 270. But even if a federal judge nullified enough ballots to hand Pennsylvania to the president, Mr Biden would still be in line to become the next commander-in-chief. He would have exactly 270 electoral votes.

Some senior Republican lawmakers let the White House know they are, if not excited about a Democrat winning, eager for an end to what some have called “The Trump Show”.

“After counting every valid vote and allowing courts to resolve disputes, it is important to respect and promptly accept the result,” retiring Tennesse GOP Senator Lamar Alexander said on Satuday. “The orderly transfer or reaffirming of immense power after a presidential election is the most enduring symbol of our democracy."