US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has made unsubstantiated claims about election fraud – even as he reached out to Democratic rivals, business leaders and union chiefs in a bid to sell his policies.
During a bipartisan reception at the White House on Monday evening, Mr Trump is understood to have claimed that he lost the popular vote to his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton because three to five million illegal immigrants had voted in the November election.
There is no evidence to support Mr Trump's claim, which was reported by a Democratic aide.
The assertion appears to be part of a developing pattern for Mr Trump and his new administration in which falsehoods or otherwise unverifiable claims overshadow his efforts to build bridges.
Mr Trump began his first full week as president playing host to business, union and Congressional leaders at the White House. Again and again, he ordered aides to summon journalists from their West Wing workplace at a moment's notice for unscheduled statements and photo opportunities.
Among those meetings was a reception at the White House for congressional leaders of both parties.
Mr Trump will continue his outreach efforts as he meets with executives from the car industry, tweeting that his focus will be on creating and keeping jobs.
"I want new plants to be built here for cars sold here," he wrote.
Mr Trump is also expected to speak by phone with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and meet with his newly sworn-in CIA director Mike Pompeo.
Mr Trump's comments on the popular vote were similar to claims he made on Twitter in late November that he had won the electoral college in a "landslide" and also "won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally".
Mrs Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 2.9 million votes, despite losing the electoral college. There is no evidence that voter fraud significantly affected the vote.
Earlier, Mr Trump charted a new American course abroad, withdrawing the US from the sweeping Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), using one of his first actions in office to reject a centrepiece of his predecessor Barack Obama's attempts to counter China and strengthen US ties in Asia.
For Mr Trump, the move fulfilled a central campaign promise. He has repeatedly said the 12-nation trade pact – which was eagerly sought by US allies in Asia – was detrimental to American business interests.
As Mr Trump signed the paperwork in the Oval Office, he said: "Great thing for the American worker what we just did."
In addition to his executive action on TPP, Mr Trump signed memorandums freezing most federal government hiring – with the exception of the military – and reinstating a ban on providing federal money to international groups which perform abortions or provide information about the option.
The actions were among the long list of steps Mr Trump had pledged to take on his opening day as president. But other 'Day One' promises went unfulfilled, including plans to propose a constitutional amendment imposing term limits on members of US Congress and terminating Mr Obama's executive actions deferring deportations for some people living in the US illegally.
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the president intended to follow through on his proposals, though on a more extended timeframe to ensure each move received the maximum attention.
However, he appeared to suggest that Mr Trump would not move quickly – or perhaps at all – to reinstate deportations for young immigrants protected from deportation under the Obama administration.
Mr Spicer said Mr Trump's focus would be on people present in the US illegally who have criminal records or who pose a threat.
