• President Donald Trump said that he would leave the White House peacefully if he lost the November presidential election, but that it would be “a very bad thing for our country.”
  • During an interview with Fox News on Friday, the president responded to comments made by Joe Biden earlier this week who said he is “absolutely convinced” the military would escort Trump from the White House if he refused to leave office.
  • Speaking to Fox anchor Harris Faulkner, Trump said: “Certainly, if I don’t win, I don’t win,” adding he would “go on, do other things.”
  • The dispute between the two presidential nominees comes as Trump finds himself trailing behind Biden in most opinion polls.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump said he would leave the White House peacefully if he lost in November’s presidential election but that it would be “a very bad thing for our country.”

The president was responding to comments made by the Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden earlier this week, who said that he is “absolutely convinced” the military would escort Trump from the White House if he refused to leave office.

During an interview with Fox News on Friday, Trump brushed aside fears he might not leave office willingly, telling anchor Harris Faulkner: “Certainly, if I don’t win, I don’t win.” The president added he would “go on, do other things.”

His comments come after Joe Biden told Trevor Noah on “The Daily Show” on Thursday that he had considered the possibility of Trump refusing to leave his post if he lost the election, CNN reported.

In the interview, Biden said his "single greatest concern" is that Trump will "try to steal this election."

Referring to reports about Trump casting his vote by mail in Florida, Biden said: "This is a guy who said that all mail-in ballots are fraudulent, voting by mail, while he sits behind the desk in the Oval Office and writes his mail-in ballot to vote in a primary."

The White House shot back at Biden earlier this week, accusing him of spreading a conspiracy theory.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said this week: "I think that's a ridiculous proposition. This president's looking forward to November."

"This president's hard at work for the American people, and leave it to Democrats to go out there and grandstand and level these conspiracy theories," she added.

The dispute between the presidential nominees comes as Trump finds himself trailing behind the Democratic presidential nominee in most opinion polls.

This week, lawyers for President Trump's re-election campaign demanded that CNN retract and apologize for an unfavorable poll that showed Biden leading by 14 points nationally.

Tim Murtaugh, communications director for the Trump campaign, said of Biden's remarks on Thursday: "This is just another brainless conspiracy theory from Joe Biden as he continues to try to undermine confidence in our elections."

"President Trump has been clear that he will accept the results of the 2020 election," he added.

If Trump wins in November, discussions have already begun as to what will be his plans to reshape America during his second term. Business Insider spoke to half-dozen MAGA veterans from the 2016 campaign, the White House, and the 2020 effort to ask about the president's plans.

The Trump policy veterans envision the president pushing more bilateral trade agreements, appointing more conservative federal judges and playing footsie with Democrats on health care, immigration, and infrastructure.