Five days before his inauguration, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump remained fixated Sunday on how he pulled off last November's stunning upset to win a four-year term in the White House.
In a pair of comments on his Twitter account, the Republican Trump said his Democratic opponents "are most angry that so many" of the party's faithful, working class voters who supported President Barack Obama in his two successful presidential campaigns, turned against Democrat Hillary Clinton and voted for Trump.
"With all of the jobs I am bringing back to our nation, that number will only get higher," Trump declared. He added, "Car companies and others, if they want to do business in our country, have to start making things here again. Win!"
During his 10-week transition to the presidency, Trump has attacked car manufacturers, including Toyota and General Motors, two of the world's largest, for announcing plans to expand their operations in Mexico rather than in the United States. He praised Ford and Fiat-Chrysler for their U.S. expansion plans.
Post-election polls showed Trump won the election by successfully wooing many blue collar workers in the country's industrial heartland. That gave him an edge in states that helped him win the election in the Electoral College, which determines the outcome of U.S. presidential contests, even as Clinton prevailed over Trump in the national popular vote by nearly three million votes.
In a later Twitter comment, he held out hope for a unified country as he assumes power.
"For many years our country has been divided, angry and untrusting," the president-elect said. "Many say it will never change, the hatred is too deep. IT WILL CHANGE!!!!"
Upcoming inauguration
Trump takes the oath of office as the 45th U.S. president on Friday at noon in Washington, as Obama leaves after eight years as the American leader.
"Inauguration Day is turning out to be even bigger than expected," Trump claimed in another tweet.
On Sunday, military units staged a rehearsal for the quadrennial event. Hundreds of thousands of people, some of them protesters against Trump's victory, are expected to crowd the capital city's National Mall to witness his swearing-in, his inaugural address and his afternoon parade down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House, his new home.
One Army band member, vocalist Greg Lowery, played the role of Trump in the rehearsal, saying he wanted to "look the part as much as possible" of the incoming president, even buying a red tie for the occasion, just as Trump often wears.
As Trump assumes power, he faces a country still divided over his election. Already unpopular when he was elected, one poll showed Trump's approval rating on a variety of assessments has dropped even further since the November 8 balloting.
Controversies surrounding the election are still consuming political Washington.
Assorted controversies
Debates fill news shows about the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia meddled in the election through hacking of a key Democrat's computer to try to help Trump win, and a Justice Department watchdog's announcement last week that he would examine the role Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey played in his handling of an investigation of Clinton's use of an unsecured private email server while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.
At least 18 Democratic lawmakers are saying they will boycott Trump's inauguration.
Civil rights icon John Lewis said Trump is not a "legitimate president" because of the Russian hacking of thousands of emails of Clinton campaign chief John Podesta.
Trump assailed Lewis in a Twitter comment Saturday, saying he should spend more time working to improve life in his Atlanta, Georgia congressional district, "rather than falsely complaining about the election results."
Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Sunday called Lewis's comments questioning the legitimacy of Trump's election "deeply disappointing" and said he hopes Lewis will reconsider them.
On Fox News, outgoing Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan criticized Trump's penchant for "talking and tweeting," saying it was not in U.S. interests.
Brennan, likely to soon be replaced by CIA director-designate Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo, said national security issues Trump will face are not "about him."
Brennan said Trump is "going to have an opportunity to do something for our national security as opposed to talking and tweeting."
