US first lady Melania Trump has publicly backed her husband on Twitter after it was reported she had told him to accept his crushing election loss to Joe Biden.
Her comments were made amid conflicting narratives about the advice the president is getting from his inner circle.
Ms Trump - in echoes of her husband - called for only legal votes to be counted in the election, citing the need to protect democracy with “complete transparency”.
Her first election-related tweet following Mr Biden’s projected win followed a report by CNN that said she had told Mr Trump to accept his loss, and that son-in-law Jared Kushner had separately approached him about conceding.
CNN painted a picture of a divided inner circle, reporting that the president’s sons Donald Jr. and Eric wanted him to keep fighting the election results following his baseless claims of voter fraud.
The news outlet stood by its reporting after Trump campaign senior advisor Jason Miller earlier said it wasn’t true that Mr Kushner had flagged conceding the election.
“Given undetermined electoral outcomes in multiple states and serious voting irregularities and lack of transparency in others, Jared has advised @realDonaldTrump to pursue all available remedies to ensure accuracy,” Mr Miller said on Twitter.
Mr Trump has made it clear he does not plan to concede anytime soon, saying on Sunday that the election was “far from over”.
“Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor,” the statement said.
“Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated.”
While the Trump campaign has mounted legal challenges to the results in several states, no evidence has emerged of widespread irregularities that would overturn the results of the election.
Axios reported that almost everyone in the president's camp had accepted the election loss and considered the legal fight futile.
Reuters also reported that Mr Trump’s allies had privately admitted his chances of overturning the election results were slim. They were preparing for a concession while calling for time to let the legal challenges run their course.
“He should allow the recounts to go forward, file whatever claims there are, and then if nothing changes he should concede,” a Trump advisor told Reuters.
One adviser said White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who is in quarantine after testing positive to COVID-19, would likely be the aide who would raise with Mr Trump the idea of conceding.
Another former adviser said Vice President Mike Pence or Mr Kushner would have the job of telling the president when it was time to concede.
Democratic representative James Clyburn said the Republican Party had a responsibility to help convince Mr Trump his time was up, as GOP politicians appeared divided over the president’s claims.
"What matters to me is whether or not the Republican Party will step up and help us preserve the integrity of this democracy," Mr Clyburn told CNN
George W Bush is one of the most prominent Republicans to , with the former president congratulating him and describing the election as “fundamentally fair”.
Republican senators Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski have also congratulated Mr Biden.
Mr Romney said Mr Trump had "every right to call for recounts” but should be careful with his “choice of words”.
He said he “would prefer to see the world watching a more graceful departure, but that’s that’s just not in the nature of the man.”
Several Republicans have argued it is too early to call the election, with Texas Senator Ted Cruz telling Fox News the media had tried to get everyone to "coronate" Mr Biden but "we do not know who has prevailed in the election".
Mr Pence, meanwhile, has gone quiet in recent days.
Former Republican governor and Trump ally Chris Christie said lots of Republicans were trying to “feel their way around” the president’s response to the election result.
"That’s why, to me, I think it was so important early on to say to the president: if your basis for not conceding is that there was voter fraud, then show us,” Mr Christie told ABC’s This Week program.
"Because if you can’t show us, we can’t do this. We can’t back you blindly without evidence.”
