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

• Asked whether he would leave the White House if Joe Biden wins the Electoral College vote, President Donald Trump said: "Certainly I will. Certainly I will. And you know that."
• The president's remarks Thursday were the closest he'd come to a concession to President-elect Joe Biden in the US election.
• Trump has not conceded, citing conspiracy theories about the election as justification.
• The General Services Administration began the formal transition process this week, and the Electoral College is scheduled to formally vote on December 14.
• Members of the Trump administration have also started reaching out to Biden's team to offer help with the transition.

President Donald Trump on Thursday said he "certainly" would leave the White House if the Electoral College's electors vote for President-elect Joe Biden.

Asked by a reporter whether he would leave the White House if Biden won the formal Electoral College vote — which is scheduled for December 14 — Trump said: "Certainly I will. Certainly I will. And you know that."

The president's remarks at the White House were the closest he'd come to a concession of the US election to Biden.

The president has not conceded, and he continued to spread conspiracy theories about the election on Thursday.

Taking questions from reporters at the White House, Trump claimed "massive fraud has been found" in the 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 fired the CISA department head, Chris Krebs, last week. Lawsuits filed by Trump campaign lawyers and Trump supporters disputing the election results 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.

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

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

On Monday, the president tweeted that he was "recommending" Murphy and her team move forward with "initial protocols" of the transition (Murphy had announced in a letter earlier that day that she was doing so). Despite endorsing the transition, Trump declined to concede.

"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.