President Trump appeared in public for the first time since the election was called for Joe Biden to take part in a Veterans Day remembrance ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday.
He was joined by Vice President Mike Pence as he bowed his head in silent prayer and presented a wreath at the nation’s monument to America’s war dead.
Trump has made no public comments since media organizations projected that presumptive President-elect Biden had amassed the 270 electoral votes needed to win. Instead, he has been holed up, meeting with advisers and firing off angry tweets alleging — without evidence — that he was the victim of fraud in battleground states.
He has also made several personnel moves, firing Defense Secretary Mark Esper and installing loyalists in senior Pentagon roles as his legal team launched challenges to election results.
He emerged on a wet Wednesday morning to take part in the remembrance rite, saluting a wreath laid before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as dignitaries, including first lady Melania Trump, looked on from beneath umbrellas.
He made no public comments, in keeping with convention and the somber tone of the occasion.
Minutes earlier, Biden marked Veterans Day with a visit to the Korean War Memorial in Philadelphia, where he laid a wreath with his wife, Jill.
The day marked a brief respite from the back-and-forth over election results.
A day earlier, Biden criticized Trump’s refusal to accept the outcome. “I just think it’s an embarrassment, quite frankly,” he said.
Trump had spent the day using his Twitter account to make unsubstantiated claims of “massive ballot counting abuse” and to claim he would ultimately be crowned the victor.
The president did leave the White House during the weekend, twice playing golf at his private club in northern Virginia. However, he has not spoken before cameras in six days.
