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View all search resultsIn a court filing, Trump asked to intervene in the Texas lawsuit, the latest litigation to try to undo Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's victory over the Republican incumbent in the Nov. 3 election. In a separate brief, lawyers for 17 states led by Missouri's Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt also urged the nine justices to hear the case.
The summit, held at a building on the White House complex, was put together in part to highlight Trump's role in pressing for quick progress on a vaccine. The Republican lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden but has refused to concede.
Austin, who would be the first Black US secretary of defense, was a surprise pick over Michele Flournoy, a former top Defense Department official who was considered the leading contender for the job. Flournoy would have been the first woman defense secretary.
President Donald Trump's administration has been using its waning days to ramp up pressure on China, a rare point of unity with President-elect Joe Biden who has signaled he will maintain a tough line, if not always the same bellicose tone
Trump has made debunked allegations that the election was "rigged" and has refused to concede defeat to President-elect Joe Biden. His campaign has filed a flurry of lawsuits in battleground states, although election officials in both parties have said they see no evidence of serious irregularities.
Trump made the request during an Oval Office meeting on Thursday with his top national security aides, including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, new acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the official said.
A week after Democrat Joe Biden clinched the election, Trump, a Republican, has refused to accept the outcome and has launched a flurry of dubious legal challenges to overturn the results. Election officials around the country have said they saw no evidence of serious irregularities.
Trump had split with Esper over a range of issues and was particularly angered by his public opposition to Trump's threats to use active duty military forces this summer to suppress street protests over racial injustice after police killed George Floyd in Minneapolis.