WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Monday revived baseless allegations of election fraud, reversing his initial acceptance of last week's midterm results after Democrats swept both chambers of Congress in a crushing defeat for his Republican Party.
"Does anybody really believe that this 'Election' was honest. How could the Polls be so wrong???" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, offering no evidence of wrongdoing.
"Some early voting 'dumps' were so large that it was impossible to win, no matter how many people went to vote," he added.
"It's all about the machines, which are far more important than the voter!"
The extraordinary reversal came six days after Americans delivered a sweeping rejection of Trump's party, handing Democrats their biggest House majority in nearly two decades and control of the Senate.
Trump initially struck an unusually conciliatory tone, congratulating his opponents and acknowledging they had fought a successful campaign.
"I am absolutely willing to accept those results," he told The New York Times on election night, adding that he looked forward to working with Democrats.
He subsequently praised their campaign on Fox News, declaring: "I think the Democrats did a good job. I really do."
But on Thursday, Trump demanded that votes cast for two minor candidates in Alaska's still-undecided US Senate election be transferred to the trailing Republican incumbent, Dan Sullivan.
"There is no other fair solution!" he insisted, despite Alaska's election laws providing for ranked-choice voting.
Monday's accusations went further, casting doubt on the legitimacy of the elections nationwide.
They echoed Trump's repeated and unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from him by Democrat Joe Biden.
His refusal to accept that defeat sparked dozens of unsuccessful legal challenges and culminated in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.
Democrats reacted furiously to the president's latest accusations.
"Donald Trump's pathetic return to election denialism was inevitable," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said.
"He can whine all he wants, but nothing will stop this inescapable truth: For the last two years of his presidency, Trump will face the largest Democratic congressional majorities in decades, all because he has been an unprecedented failure."
Trump offered no details of the supposed irregularities, identifying neither the voting machines he questioned nor specific evidence that ballots had been improperly counted.
Pre-election polls had generally pointed toward Democratic gains, although they underestimated the scale of the party's victories.
Election officials across the country reported largely trouble-free voting.
The Republican president had previously blamed his party's defeat on his absence from the ballot, despite repeatedly urging supporters during the campaign to vote as though he were running himself.
He also acknowledged that the deeply unpopular war with Iran, which sent fuel prices soaring, had contributed to the losses.
The Democrats' commanding congressional majorities will give them extensive powers to investigate his administration and obstruct his legislative agenda when the new Congress takes office in January.
Trump, however, will retain his presidential veto and considerable executive powers.