UNITED STATES President Donald Trump has filed an appeal against a weekend ruling that dismissed his team’s complaints about election results in Pennsylvania.
And his lawyers also formally requested a recount of the vote in Georgia, where president-elect Joe Biden’s lead of 12,670 votes — 0.25 per cent of the total — is below the 0.5 per cent that allows defeated candidates to demand recounts.
The legal manoeuvres show that the Republican has not given up hope of overturning the result, and combine with efforts by the White House to put political pressure on state legislatures to interfere with the selection of the electoral-college delegates due to formally confirm the next president on December 14.
Mask-off outbursts by Maga insiders and most strikingly, the destruction and reconstruction of the presidential seat, with a huge new $300m ballroom, means Trump isn’t planning to leave the White House when his term ends, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER



