Trump cheered as motorcade drives through ‘Million MAGA March’ rally in DC

Mr Trump, wearing a red hat, could be seen waving from the back of one of the vehicles.\

Tens of thousands of Donald Trump supporters marched through the centre of Washington DC yesterday, backing his unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the US election.

Chanting "stop the steal", they walked from Freedom Plaza near the White House to the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill as part of the "Million MAGA March", referring to Mr Trump's campaign mantra of "Make American Great Again".

The president’s motorcade briefly drove through the crowds on the way to his golf course in Sterling, Virginia. Demonstrators cheered as Mr Trump, wearing a red baseball cap, waved from inside the presidential limousine.

His fans punched the air, waved flags, took pictures and held signs that included “Best prez ever”, “All aboard the Trump train!”, “Women for Trump”, and “Trump 2020: Pro life, pro God, pro gun”. Critics described the event as irresponsible as few if any pf the participants wore masks.

Scores of members of the far-right Proud Boys group, mostly clad in black with some wearing helmets and ballistic vests, were among the marchers. Some left-wing groups staged small counter-demonstrations.

There were reports of skirmishes between the two groups and some minor injuries - the city's police department had made 10 arrests by mid-afternoon, a spokeswoman told Reuters, including four for firearms violations, two for assault and one for assaulting an officer.

Donald Tarca Jr, who travelled to Washington from West Palm Beach, Florida, said: "I think it was rigged on multiple fronts. Also, the media was so biased that they convinced millions of Americans to vote for Biden. They hate Trump."

Mr Trump wrote on Twitter: "Hundreds of thousands of people showing their support in D.C. They will not stand for a Rigged and Corrupt Election!"

Joe Biden won the 3 November election and has 306 votes in the electoral college to Mr Trump’s 232.

Despite this the president has not conceded, although he began to sound doubtful about his prospects for the first time on Friday, telling reporters "time will tell" who occupies the White House starting on Inauguration Day, 20 January.

The Trump campaign has filed lawsuits in multiple states with little success thus far. Legal experts have said the litigation is extremely unlikely to alter the election outcome.

Additional reporting by Reuters