US: Trump to return to White House early from Florida vacation

President Donald Trump is cutting short his Florida holiday vacation and returning to Washington on Thursday, one day earlier than expected for reasons White House didn't explain.  White House anunced abrupt change in president's schedule late Wednesday, hours after Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said he will raise objections next week when Congress meets to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory in vember election.

It's a futile attempt to remain in power that Trump has been pushing following failure of scores of legal challenges to election outcome by his campaign, including at Supreme Court.  schedule change also means Trump will miss glitzy New Year's Eve party held annually at his private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. Neir Trump r White House explained why he decided to shorten a vacation that had been expected to end on Friday.

Trump, accompanied by his wife, Melania, arrived at his Mar-a-Lago home after dark on Dec. 23 and spent practically entire vacation focused on futile attempt to overturn election he lost to Biden. That includes effort to have Republican lawmakers challenge vote when Congress meets Jan. 6 to affirm Biden's 306-232 win in Electoral College.

A group of Republicans in Democratic-controlled House already had said y will object on Trump’s behalf during Jan. 6 count of electoral votes. y needed at least one senator to join m to force votes in both chambers, and Hawley stepped up.

GOP objections, however, will t prevent Biden from being sworn in as president on Jan. 20, and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., a Black woman of South Asian descent, from becoming vice president. During his vacation, Trump also took near daily swipes on Twitter at Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and or state elections officials over his loss to Biden in that state.

While he has remained focused on effort to stay in power, Trump has stayed mum on major developments during holiday break, including a Christmas Day bombing in Nashville, Tennessee, discovery in California and Colorado of a new and apparently more contagious variant of coronavirus, and Tuesday's death of Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, R-La., from COVID-19 complications.

Since losing election and beginning a campaign to overturn outcome, usually chatty Trump has avoided engaging with reporters, even those who accompanied him to Florida. He went as far as barring m from his Christmas Day remarks to U.S. troops, which is type of event White House typically opens for news cover.

Before he left Washington, Trump stunned Capitol Hill by objecting to spending — much of it sought by his own administration — in a government funding bill that had been paired up with a fresh round of needed coronavirus relief that included $600 payments to most individuals.

Trump jeopardized financial aid and flirted with a government shutdown slated for last Tuesday by implying that he wouldn't sign sweeping legislation unless lawmakers increased payments to $2,000, a sum sought by most Democrats and some Republicans.

Trump eventually signed bill Sunday night after several days of uncertainty in exchange for congressional votes on his demands. He also wants Congress to lift certain protections for social media companies and investigate his unfounded claims of fraud in election. Former Attorney General William Barr and or administration officials have said y saw evidence of fraud on a scale massive eugh to have changed outcome of election.

House voted this week in favor of increasing payments, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., all but shut door Wednesday when he declared that Congress had provided eugh pandemic aid. McConnell blocked attempts by Democrats to force a vote in that chamber on higher payments sought by Trump.