Amid calls for his removal, Trump appears to concede election for the first time

WASHINGTON - Facing calls for his removal following the storming of the US Capitol on Wednesday by a mob of his supporters, President Donald Trump on Thursday evening called for calm and, for the first time, appeared to concede the election.

Returning to Twitter after being banned for 12 hours by the platform, Mr Trump said in a taped video message: "Like all Americans, I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem.

"We have just been through an intense election and emotions are high. But now tempers must be cooled and calm restored.

"A new administration will be inaugurated on Jan 20," he added. "My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power. This moment calls for healing and reconciliation."

Then he went on to say: "And to all of my wonderful supporters, I know you are disappointed, but I also want you to know that our incredible journey is only just beginning."

As investigators began piecing together details on the unprecedented storming of the Capitol while Congress was in a joint session to count Electoral College votes, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on Vice-President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment.

The provision is normally used to temporarily transfer power to the vice-president while a president undergoes, say, a surgical procedure.

If Mr Pence does not invoke this provision, Congress may be prepared to impeach the President a second time, Ms Pelosi said. The House impeached Mr Trump in 2019, but the Republican majority in the Senate acquitted him.

"The President of the United States incited an armed insurrection against America," Ms Pelosi told a news conference.

"In calling for this seditious act, the President has committed an unspeakable assault on our nation and our people."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement: "What happened at the US Capitol yesterday was an insurrection against the United States, incited by the President. This President should not hold office one day longer."

Separately, in a blistering speech while revealing his top Justice Department appointees, President-elect Joe Biden flayed Mr Trump, saying that the storming of the Capitol was "an unprecedented assault on our democracy".

Mr Biden called the mob "insurrectionists" and "domestic terrorists".

He said: "I wish we could say we couldn't see it coming. But that isn't true. We could. For the past four years, we've had a president who has made his contempt for our democracy, our Constitution, and the rule of law clear in everything he has done.

"He has unleashed an all-out assault on the institutions of our democracy. And yesterday was but the culmination of that unrelenting attack."

Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois became the first Republican lawmaker to call for invoking the Constitution's 25th Amendment mechanism.

"Here's the truth: the President caused this," he said in a video statement. "The President is unfit and... unwell. And the President now must relinquish control of the executive branch voluntarily or involuntarily."

He added: "It's time to invoke the 25th Amendment and to end this nightmare."

The 25th Amendment has never been used to remove a president from office against his will.

The Cabinet - now minus two of its members with the resignations this week of Transport Secretary Elaine Chao and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos - would have to determine whether to invoke the provision. And the President can challenge it.

As for impeachment, with only days left in office for Mr Trump, it may be possible to hold debates and a vote in the House, but there may not be time to do the same in the Senate.

Analysts are warning that the US is in a highly volatile phase.

At a briefing by the National Task Force on Election Crises, a network of law and security specialists, Dr Rachel Kleinfeld, senior fellow of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said: "What we're dealing with... is a well-known facet of far weaker democracies, which is a personal army that a politician has cultivated, which he uses to threaten opponents."

More right-wing rallies are scheduled for Washington DC and some state capitals in the coming days, including on Inauguration Day.

Right-wing groups see the storming of the Capitol as "a gigantic triumph for their movement, a recruiting tool and a fund-raising tool, suggesting that... upcoming events are going to be larger", Dr Kleinfeld said.

"So I think we have real worries, particularly around our inauguration for... President-elect Biden."

"We're in a very fragile and vulnerable time for our country," she warned.

The US has charged 55 people with crimes stemming from the siege of the Capitol, while police in Washington were conducting their own investigations.