Donald Trump commits to ‘seamless transition’ but won't attend Biden's inauguration
Video report by ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore
President Donald Trump has committed to a “seamless transition of power” as he conceded to President-elect Joe Biden - but has said he will not attend the inauguration.
In a tweet posted on Friday, President Trump wrote: "To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th."
The move is a break from a decades-long tradition, but perhaps unsurprising given the president's false but insistent claims of widespread voter fraud.
President-elect Biden says he agrees with Trum
p's decision to not attend after describing the incumbent as "not fit to serve" and "one of the most incompetent presidents in the history of the United States of America".
“It’s a good thing, him not showing up,” Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware. “He has exceeded even my worst notions about him. He’s embarrassed us around the world.”
It is customary for the person departing the White House to welcome their predecessor to the Oval Office and attend the swearing-in ceremony - as Obama did with Trump four years ago.
President Trump's latest move comes after he finally condemned his supporters who rioted and stormed the US Capitol building on Wednesday.
US Capitol Police said the riots had caused the death of one of its officers.
Trump spoke out against the violence, calling it a “heinous attack” that left him “outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem”.
He also said now that Congress has certified the results, the “new administration will be inaugurated on January 20” and his “focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power”.
Biden brands US Capitol rioters 'domestic terrorists' as calls grow to remove Trump from office
What is the 25th amendment and can it be used to remove Donald Trump from power?
What is QAnon and how did their presence dominate at the riot on the US Capitol?
IT comes as education secretary Betsy DeVos became the latest high-ranking official to quit her post over the attack.
DeVos resigned after saying the president’s rhetoric was the “inflection point” for the attack on the Capitol, with transportation secretary Elaine Chao and the US special envoy to Northern Ireland Mick Mulvaney earlier stepping aside from their positions.
President Trump did not address his role in inciting the violence in his video.
But he did tell his supporters that, while he knows they are “disappointed”, he wanted them to know “our incredible journey is only just beginning”.
Inside the Washington siege - Robert Moore on his report which stunned the world
There are now growing calls for the outgoing president to be removed from office.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said President Trump should immediately be removed or Congress may proceed to impeach him - again.
Speaker Pelosi joined those calling on the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to force Mr Trump from office.
Members of Congress were forced into hiding, offices were ransacked, and the formal congressional count of Electoral College votes was halted for more than six hours during the attack.
Democratic leaders of the House Appropriations Committee paid tribute to the life of officer Brian D Sicknick, who died on Thursday due to injuries sustained while on-duty at the Capitol.
They said the “tragic loss” of officer Sicknick “should remind all of us of the bravery of the law enforcement officers who protected us, our colleagues, Congressional staff, the press corps and other essential workers”.
Biden called the mob “domestic terrorists” and laid the blame for the violence squarely at Trump’s feet.