President Trump is "frustrated," according to close associates 2:28
(CNN) -
President Donald Trump's inner circle is beginning to split as the president continues to refuse to accept the results of the 2020 elections. Jared Kushner and first lady Melania Trump advised him to accept the victory of President-elect Joe Biden while that his adult sons pressure him and his allies to keep fighting.
Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, approached him asking him to accept defeat, two sources told CNN.
The first lady, according to a separate source familiar with the talks, has said privately that the time has come for her to accept electoral defeat.
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Meanwhile, Trump's two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, have urged allies to keep pushing and pressured Republicans and supporters to publicly reject the results even as CNN and other news organizations projected a victory for Trump. Biden on Saturday.
The president, who was at his golf course in Sterling, Virginia, on Saturday when the final projections were released, has not denied the outcome of the election privately, even as he does publicly, sources told CNN.
But he continues to pressure his attorneys to move forward with legal challenges that would delay formal certification of the results, and he has made no public indication that he is ready to accept the election results.
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Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller in a tweet Sunday morning denied that Kushner had approached Trump, although CNN defends his reporting.
"This story is not true," Miller said.
"Jared has advised @realDonaldTrump to seek all available legal resources to ensure accuracy."
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Trump said in a campaign statement, moments after CNN and other networks projected that Biden will become the 46th president of the United States, that Biden "is rushing to pose as the winner" and that the race is "far off. to be finished ».
Tracking the results of the presidential elections
"I will not rest until the American people have the honest vote count that they deserve and that democracy demands," Trump said in the statement, explaining that the campaign's legal battle will begin Monday.
Biden-Harris deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said Saturday night that there had been no communication between Biden and Trump, or between any representative from either campaign.
And Biden's senior campaign adviser, Symone Sanders, told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday that "a number of Republicans have reached out," but said, "I don't think anyone in the White House has."
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Biden won the presidency on Saturday after the battleground state of Pennsylvania led the Democrat over the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who recently tested positive for coronavirus, discussed next steps with the legal team on Saturday.
Meanwhile, some members of Trump's party on Sunday voiced opposition to the president's acknowledging defeat, urging him not to do so.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of the president's closest allies in the Senate, said "the president must not budge" during an interview on Fox News.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who was also Trump's former main rival, also advised against Trump accepting defeat, saying it would be "premature."
And Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of the Republican leadership in the Senate, on Sunday failed to acknowledge that Biden is president-elect, citing as reasons both the legal challenges initiated by Trump's attorneys in states across the country and the prosecution process. vote counting in progress.
Trump supporters protest outside election office 3:15
Trump's adult children keep up the fight
Trump's two adult sons have been key voices in urging the president and his allies to continue challenging the 2020 election results, according to multiple sources.
Beyond public stances on social media, both Don Jr. and Eric Trump have been digging in their heels, seeking to garner broad support from the Republican Party to contest the election results and tell allies that they truly believe the elections. elections were fraudulent.
In recent conversations, Eric Trump has told his allies that he believes the election was "stolen," according to a source familiar with his comments, and vowed to fight to overturn the results.
And in the days since Don Jr. singled out Republicans, and particularly the "2024 GOP hopefuls," for not offering enough support for the president's claims, the eldest son has been lobbying among senators and governors to release statements of support, according to people familiar with the talks.