A White House official said Trump’s administration is following all the protocols relating to government transitions. But the president has often claimed Democrats are ‘trying to steal the election’

Donald Trump will accept the result of a free and fair election, a White House official said.

The statement came despite the president having repeatedly claimed that the Democrats were trying to “steal the election”.

Trump has insisted he will contest the results of the election – which saw Joe Biden being elected as the 46th president of the United States – with his campaign launching a flurry of lawsuits in several states.

However the White House official, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the president’s administration is following all the protocols relating to government transitions.

Trump, who has spent months trying to undermine the election results with unproven allegations of fraud, pledged on Saturday to go forward with a legal strategy that he hopes will overturn state results that gave Biden the win in Tuesday’s vote.