Several aides leave the White House but Trump once again claims he won the election

US President Donald Trump once again said he won the presidential election.

"We won this election easily, by a big margin... This election was rigged, we cannot allow that to happen," Trump said at a Republican-led hearing in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters

He also accused Democrats of widespread fraud, including adding extra ballots to ballot boxes, voting on behalf of dead people and denying observers access to polling stations.

Earlier, Mr. Trump personally ordered the start of the transition of power. He assigned the GSA and his team to "do what needs to be done" according to the initial procedures to transfer power to Mr. Biden. According to the US leader, he made such a decision "in the best interests of the country."

According to official figures, Mr. Trump lost Pennsylvania, which has 20 electors. In addition, according to preliminary figures, Democratic candidate Joe Biden won the election. Trump did not recognize this and disputed the results in the courts of several states.

Meanwhile, some aides on Mr. Trump's team are leaving work and returning home for the holidays.

“It’s a pretty small team,” said an adviser to Mr Trump’s campaign.

President Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results are being carried out with a legal battle led by lawyer Rudy Giuliani. However, most of Mr. Trump’s advisers believe that this legal battle will not bring positive results.

“The window is closing. There is a very good chance that he (Trump) will run again in 2024. But if he wants to do that, he doesn’t want to diminish his position by playing the loser,” said Stephen Moore, an informal economic adviser to Mr. Trump.

In recent days, President Trump and his campaign have suffered heavy blows in their efforts to overturn the election results. On November 24, Pennsylvania certified the election results in favor of Mr. Biden. Meanwhile, the White House also confirmed that Mr. Biden will soon have access to the president's daily intelligence reports.

On Capitol Hill, senators from states close to Mr Trump, such as West Virginia, Tennessee and Louisiana, called on the president to begin the transition process and consider his legacy.

At the White House, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows informed staff about the transition of power on the evening of November 23 (US time). “Our work here is not done,” Mr. Meadows noted.

“He (Trump) will put the processes in place. But that doesn’t mean he’s giving up this fight,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said on Fox News.

In his rare public appearances, Trump has not answered questions from reporters about whether he will concede. According to Politico, he has avoided questions from the press for 21 days, a long time for a president who is not afraid of cameras like Trump.