Trump reverted to familiar playbook, sowing doubts about the voting until results showed him winning

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump and his Republican allies had spent months seeding doubt in the integrity of American voting systems and priming supporters to expect a 2024 election riddled with massive and inevitable fraud.

The former president continued laying that groundwork even during a mostly smooth day of voting Tuesday, making unsubstantiated claims related to Philadelphia and Detroit and highlighting concerns about election operations in Milwaukee. Shortly before polls began closing, he took to his social media platform to announce, without providing details, “A lot of talk about massive CHEATING in Philadelphia.” The declaration produced immediate denials from city leaders who said there was zero evidence of any wrongdoing.

Yet Trump's grim warnings abruptly ended in the later hours of the evening as early returns began tipping in his favor. During his election night speech, the president-elect touted a “magnificent victory” as he claimed ownership for the favorable results and expressed love for the same states he’d questioned hours earlier.

The messaging pivot was part of a Trump playbook that many in his party have adopted: To preemptively defy a loss with claims of widespread cheating but be ready to quickly disregard them in the event of a win.