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Trump to return to White House early from Mar-a-Lago vacation

United States President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump depart the White House in Washington, D.C., on December 23 for his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort. Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI
United States President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump depart the White House in Washington, D.C., on December 23 for his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort. Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 31 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump is expected cut short his vacation in Florida over the winter holiday to return to the White House on Thursday.

Trump was scheduled to return to Washington, D.C., on Friday, but he will now be leaving his Palm Beach, Fla., Mar-a-Lago resort for the White House at 11 a.m., according to his daily schedule, which was released late Wednesday.

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His return to Washington means he will not be in the Sunshine State for the annual New Year's Eve party held at his club, which he and lady Melania Trump had left the White House for on Dec. 23.

His return comes ahead of the final day of the Georgia runoff election on Tuesday and the certification process of election results on Wednesday -- two issues that Trump has repeatedly mentioned on Twitter during his vacation.

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He has also complained about Georgia officials for not overturning the state's election results but has been quiet on the recent revelation of a wide-ranging Russian cyberattack and the suicide bombing of Nashville.

On Sunday, Trump announced he will be speaking at a rally in Georgia on Monday to support two Republican candidates in a runoff that sees control of the Senate at jeopardy.

If both Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler lose to Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, respectively, the balance of the Senate will fall to the Democrats.

He has also continued to rail against results that show he lost last month's presidential election to former vice president and current President-Elect Joe Biden.

His re-election campaign has litigiously worked to invalidate the results but it has had every single case it has filed ruled against its favor, and during his stay at Mar-a-Lago, Trump has continued to tweet widely discredited claims of voter fraud, claiming on Wednesday that Biden received millions of "fake votes" without providing proof.

The electoral votes are to be counted by Congress next week in what is typically a ceremonial and procedural affair that will be overseen by Vice President Mike Pence, but Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., threatened to complicate the process on Wednesday when he announced he will object the votes' certification.

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The president has several times during his stay in Florida cryptically tweeted about being in Washington on Wednesday.

"See you in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6," he tweeted on Monday. "Don't miss it. More information to follow."

"JANUARY SIXTH, SEE YOU IN DC!" he tweeted Wednesday evening.

Several House Republicans have said they will object to the certification of results on that day, but Hawley is the first Senator to say he would join them.

At least one member of each house must object to cause the ceremonial process to include a debate period, though it is highly doubtful it will lead to an overturning of the election as majorities in both the House and Senate would have to vote to do so.

Rick Hanson, a law profession at the University of California, Irvine, wrote on his blog, "I don't expect this to make a difference in the outcome, but rather only extend the day as the chambers of Congress consider objections."

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