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President Donald Trump on Sunday appeared to acknowledge for the first time that Joe Biden won the White House, but made clear he would not concede and would keep trying to overturn the election result. Mr. Trump鈥檚 statements came in tweets that included several baseless claims about the Nov. 3 vote, which state and federal officials say was safe and secure.

Mr. Trump, without using Mr. Biden鈥檚 name, tweeted that 鈥淗e won,鈥� something Mr. Trump had not said before publicly, though he said the Democrat鈥檚 victory was only 鈥渋n the eyes鈥� of the media. Mr. Biden defeated Mr. Trump by winning back a trio of battleground states that switched from the Democratic column in 2016 鈥� Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania 鈥� and topped the 270 electoral vote threshold to clinch the presidency. Mr. Biden so far has 78.8 million votes, the most ever by a winning candidate, to Mr. Trump鈥檚 total 鈥� more than 73 million.

鈥淚f the president鈥檚 prepared to begin to recognize that reality, that鈥檚 positive,鈥� Mr. Biden鈥檚 incoming chief of staff, Ron Klain told NBC鈥檚 鈥淢eet the Press.鈥� Still, Mr. Klain said, 鈥淒onald Trump鈥檚 Twitter feed doesn鈥檛 make Joe Biden president or not president. The American people did that.鈥�

A Republican governor said 鈥渋t was good actually鈥� to see Mr. Trump鈥檚 tweet that Mr. Biden won. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 the start of an acknowledgment. ... We want to make sure that there is a smooth transition,鈥� said Arkansas鈥� Asa Hutchinson on NBC.

The president has previously refused to accept the results of the election and, in a later tweet Sunday, he dug in again, saying, 鈥淚 concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go.鈥� Even while seemingly acknowledging Mr. Biden鈥檚 victory, he also argued without evidence that the former vice president only won because the election was 鈥渞igged.鈥� Mr. Trump then made unsubstantiated complaints about access for poll watchers and about vote tabulations and asserted, 鈥淲E WILL WIN!鈥� Twitter soon posted warning labels about the tweets.

There has been no widespread fraud in the 2020 election. In fact, election officials from both political parties have stated publicly that the election went well and international observers confirmed there were no serious irregularities.

Mr. Trump鈥檚 campaign has tried to mount legal challenges across the country, but many of the lawsuits have been thrown out and none has included any evidence that the outcome might be reversed.

Former President Barack Obama, in an interview conducted and aired Sunday on CBS鈥� 鈥�60 Minutes,鈥� said he would remind Mr. Trump that, as president, he is a public servant and a temporary occupant of the office.

鈥淎nd when your time is up then it is your job to put the country first and think beyond your own ego, and your own interests, and your own disappointments,鈥� Mr. Obama said. 鈥淢y advice to President Trump is, if you want at this late stage in the game to be remembered as somebody who put country first, it鈥檚 time for you to do the same thing.鈥�

Mr. Obama also criticized those Republicans going along with Mr. Trump鈥檚 false claims of widespread voter fraud.

鈥淚鈥檓 more troubled by the fact that other Republican officials who clearly know better are going along with this, are humoring him in this fashion. It is one more step in delegitimizing not just the incoming Biden administration, but democracy generally. And that鈥檚 a dangerous path,鈥� he said.

Nearly two weeks after Election Day, Mr. Trump has neither called Mr. Biden nor made a formal concession, and White House officials have insisted that they are preparing for a second term.

In recent days, Mr. Trump appeared to be inching closer to acknowledging the reality of his loss. In comments Friday in the Rose Garden about a coronavirus vaccine, Mr. Trump said his administration would 鈥渘ot be going to a lockdown鈥� to slow the spread of COVID-19, and added that 鈥渨hatever happens in the future, who knows which administration it will be? I guess time will tell.鈥�

Mr. Trump on Sunday renewed his groundless attacks on an election technology firm, Dominion Voting Systems, without evidence of any serious irregularities. Dominion has said it 鈥渄enies claims about any vote switching or alleged software issues with our voting systems.鈥�

The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, a federal agency that oversees U.S. election security, said in a statement last week that the 鈥淣ovember 3rd election was the most secure in American history.鈥� The agency said, 鈥漈here is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.鈥�

In his latest fundraising email, Mr. Trump told supporters that 鈥渨e are fighting to ensure EVERY SINGLE LEGAL ballot is counted鈥� and that he had 鈥渓egal teams on the ground in every critical state.鈥�

John Bolton, a former Trump national security adviser, said it was important for party leaders to explain to voters that Mr. Trump did lose and that his claims of election fraud are baseless. Mr. Bolton left the administration last year. He says he resigned; Mr. Trump says he fired Mr. Bolton.

鈥淚 think as every day goes by, it鈥檚 clearer and clearer there isn鈥檛 any evidence. But if the Republican voters are only hearing Donald Trump鈥檚 misrepresentations, it鈥檚 not surprising that they believe it,鈥� Mr. Bolton said on ABC鈥檚 鈥淭his Week.鈥� 鈥淚t鈥檚 critical for other Republican leaders to stand up and explain what actually happened. Donald Trump lost what by any evidence we have so far was a free and fair election.鈥�

Having none of that was Rudy Giuliani, the president鈥檚 personal attorney who is helping lead Mr. Trump鈥檚 national legal front on the election challenge. In a television appearance that Mr. Trump previewed on Twitter after his morning tweets, Mr. Giuliani denied Mr. Trump was conceding 鈥� 鈥淣o, no, no, far from it.鈥�

鈥淚 guess,鈥欌�� Mr. Giuliani told Fox News Channel鈥檚 鈥漇unday Morning Futures,鈥� 鈥測ou would call it sarcastic.鈥�

This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP writers Will Weissert in Wilmington, Delaware, and Zeke Miller contribute to this report.