Trump said in a statement tweeted by his social media director Dan Scavino, "Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th."

He added: "I have always said we would continue our fight to ensure that only legal votes were counted. While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it's only the beginning of our fight to Make America Great Again."

Trump's account is currently locked by Twitter.

Trump has spent the last two months refusing to concede the election and making baseless allegations of mass voter fraud that have been rejected by dozens of courts and Republican officials, including his former attorney general.

Vice President Mike Pence presided over the formal session that ended early on Thursday morning tallying the electoral college vote.

Trump, who had encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol to protest lawmakers' actions, on Wednesday expressed empathy for the mob which violently forced its way inside, clashed with police and forced lawmakers into hiding.

"These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long," Trump wrote in a message that was later deleted by Twitter.

He added, "Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!"

In an earlier video he had praised the protesters as "special" people and said he understood their pain.

Twitter later locked his account for the first time as it demanded he remove the tweets and threatened "permanent suspension".

Australian Associated Press