Trump said he will 'certainly' leave the White House if the Electoral College elects Joe Biden

When asked if he would leave the White House if Joe Biden wins the Electoral College vote, President Trump said, "Certainly I will. Certainly I will. And you know that."
The president's remarks Thursday were the closest Trump has come yet to a concession in the November election, which was called by several news outlets weeks ago for President-elect Joe Biden.
Trump has not conceded to Biden, citing conspiracy theories about the election related to voter fraud and mail-in voting.
The General Services Administration began the formal transition process earlier this week, even as the president refuses to concede.
Members of the Trump administration have also started reaching out to Biden's team to offer help with the transition.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump said he "certainly" would leave the White House if the Electoral College elects President-elect Joe Biden.

When asked by a reporter Thursday if he would leave the White House if Biden wins the Electoral College vote, Trump said, "Certainly I will. Certainly I will. And you know that."

The president's remarks at the White House were the closest he has come yet to a concession of the November election, which was called by all major news outlets weeks ago for Biden.

The president has not conceded the election to Biden, and continued citing conspiracy theories about the election related to voter fraud and mail-in voting on Thanksgiving.

During the White House press conference, Trump claimed that "massive fraud has been found" in the November election results. "We're like a third world country," he said.

"We're using computer equipment that can be hacked," he continued.

His claims of voter fraud have been debunked by the US's top cybersecurity agency — the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Trump later fired the former department head Chris Krebs earlier this month. Lawsuits filed by Trump campaign lawyers and Trump supporters have also crumbled in recent weeks.

"I think that there will be a lot of things happening between now and the 20th of January," Trump told reporters at the White House.

The General Services Administration began the formal transition process to a Biden presidency earlier this week. The GSA reserves the power to formally call the election, but Trump-appointed GSA head Emily Murphy has yet to publicly acknowledge Biden as president-elect.

Members of the Trump administration have also started reaching out to Biden's team to offer help with the transition.

On Monday, the president tweeted that he recommended Murphy and her team move forward with "initial protocols" of the transition.

"Our case STRONGLY continues, we will keep up the good fight, and I believe we will prevail!" Trump tweeted on Monday. "Nevertheless, in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same."

Biden won the election nearly three weeks ago with 306 Electoral College votes — 270 being the required minimum to claim victory — and he leads Trump in the popular vote by more than 6 million ballots.