US election: Trump agrees for transition of power to begin

US President Donald Trump has told his team to provide the help President-elect Joe Biden needs to get ready to take over as President.

This is known as the 'transition of power' and happens so that each President has time to organise their top team and swot up on what the main challenged facing the country are right now.

In one of his latest tweets, he said the General Services Administration (GSA), which is the government agency overseeing the transition, should "do what needs to be done".

However, Mr Trump hasn't accepted defeat. He's said he'll continue to contest the outcome of the US election which took place earlier this month.

The GSA also said it was acknowledging Mr Biden as the "apparent winner".

The news came shortly after Mr Biden's victory in the US state of Michigan, where Trump has legally challenged the result, was officially certified.

Mr Biden was declared the winner after receiving the required number of electoral college votes, but Mr Trump has since claimed that election fraud took place and that the final election results can't be trusted - despite not providing any evidence.

What is a transition and why is it important?

President-elect Biden has started appointing his new White House team

A transition describes the period between a presidential candidate winning the US election and the inauguration ceremony when they are officially sworn in as president.

In 2021 that ceremony happens in January, so there are several weeks for the new team to get ready.

It's overseen by the president-elect's transition team, which is entirely separate from the team involved in the presidential campaign.

A transition is important as it allows for the president-elect to take over the administration of the federal government.

It's a very complicated task, and one of the big jobs involves the incoming president selecting key members of the new White House team.

The transition team oversee the transfer of power from one government administration to the next

So far, it's been confirmed that Mr Biden will be appointing Anthony Blinken as secretary of state and John Kerry as his climate envoy,

A transition team also looks into campaign promises made by the new president which can be quickly turned into policies.

The team also studies what the situation is in the country to get an idea of what they need to do and how best to get started on what they want to do.

They also get important briefings from the secret services and the heads of the FBI and armed forces,

It also allows for new staff members to shadow members of the previous administration so they're able to prepare for their new roles.

What's the latest on Trump's court cases?

Some Trump supporters have challenged results in various states

Mr Trump has made a number of legal challenges following his election loss, despite not putting any strong evidence before the public.

In the courts, it's not been going well and he's suffered a series defeats in various key states where his team have tried to question the results.