Donald Trump has said only “time will tell” who will be in the White House in January, in his first public address for a week.
Speaking about Operation Warp Speed – the US government’s pandemic vaccine programme – he said his administration would not go into lockdown.
He added: “Whatever happens in the future who knows… which administration will be… I guess time will tell but I can tell you this administration won’t go into lockdown.”
It appeared to be the first time Mr Trump has not insisted he won the election.
Click The Image To Know More About ELEOS SPECIALIST HOSPITAL👇
Mr Trump also attempted to take credit for Pfizer’s vaccine breakthrough saying: “As a result of Operation Warp Speed, Pfizer announced on Monday that its China virus vaccine was more than 90% effective.
“Pfizer said it wasn’t part of Warp Speed, but that turned out to be an unfortunate misrepresentation.”
READ ALSO: Donald Trump Wins Election Lawsuit In Pennsylvania
The pharmaceutical firm insists it is not involved in the programme and has not accepted any money from the US to develop tests or manufacture the drug.
However, the White House has pledged nearly $2bn in orders for the vaccine which covers Pfizer’s own spend on its development and guarantees a US market for the drug.
The president said he expects a coronavirus vaccine to be available for the entire population as soon as April.
He also said he expects an emergency use authorisation for Pzifer’s vaccine “extremely soon”.
Analysis: Does Donald know his White House days are numbered?
Alistair Bunkall, news correspondent in the US
Seven days America has waited to hear from Donald Trump and when he finally came out of self-imposed isolation he was a changed man.
The president largely stuck to script, refusing to expound on the election and avoiding any of his trademark deviations.
The hyperbole was still there though: “Operation Warp Speed is the single greatest mobilisation in US history,” he proclaimed. “Unequalled and unrivalled anywhere in the world.”
US networks heard him out and then cutaway. This wasn’t the concession speech they wanted but there was the tiniest hint that Mr Trump might be accepting his fate.
“…whatever happens in the future, who knows which administration it will be, I guess time will tell…”
Hours before he spoke in the White House Rose Garden, news networks declared Arizona for Biden and North Carolina for Trump, completing the electoral map pending recounts.
Biden’s victory of 306 electoral college votes to Trump’s 232 is both considerable but also a mirror image of the 2016 result. A result that at the time a close aide described as “Landslide. Blowout. Historic.”
And then there was his hair, the usual wavy blonde mop when he visited Arlington National Cemetery two days ago, was now very grey.
It would be irrelevant if it were not for the fact he is a man who has long carefully cultivated his image, and the hair is a central feature. He knows those things don’t go unnoticed.
Donald Trump took no questions. He didn’t appear up for the fight. Perhaps, just perhaps, he knows his time in The White House is coming to an end.
