NEW YORK // Donald Trump has delivered a Thanksgiving message to the people of America acknowledging a "long and bruising" election campaign as the country deals with a surge in hate crime.
"It's my prayer that on this Thanksgiving, we begin to heal our divisions and move forward as one country, strengthened by shared purpose and very, very common resolve," said the president-elect in a video posted on YouTube.
He said the tensions would not be eased overnight but that the nation had an opportunity to bring change to Washington and prosperity to neglected communities.
It is the third video posted to Mr Trump's transition YouTube channel as he goes about the business of convincing a divided nation that he can govern for the whole country.
His shock victory in the November 8 election has prompted a surge in reported hate crime and energised key figures in the so-called alt-right, a chaotic collection of white supremacists and internet trolls.
Last weekend, white nationalists gathered in Washington DC to celebrate the win. Some of the 200 or so who attended the gathering appeared to give the Nazi salute in response to an address by Richard Spencer, seen as the alt-right's de facto leader.
New York state has set up a new police hate crime unit while New York City reports a 31 per cent increase in such incidents in the period up to a week after the election, compared with the same time last year.
It all adds to a sense that Mr Trump unleashed unstoppable forces during a bad-tempered election campaign. He was repeatedly accused of fanning the flames of extremism by threatening to ban Muslims from entering the country and slandering Mexicans as drug smugglers and rapists.
Earlier this week, during a meeting with journalists from The New York Times, Mr Trump finally distanced himself from the alt-right movement.
"I don't want to energise the group, and I disavow the group," he said.
His fledgling efforts to unite a divided nation still face numerous challenges. Protests against his win continue and opponents are preparing for vote recounts in as many as three crucial states.
Mr Trump was spending the Thanksgiving holiday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, taking a break from piecing together a cabinet during non-stop meetings at his New York headquarters at Trump Tower.
After withering criticism that he was choosing only ageing white men, on Wednesday he named South Carolina governor Nikki Haley as his permanent representative to the United Nations and Betsy DeVos as his education secretary.
Ms Haley is the daughter of Sikhs who migrated from India and Mr Trump clashed with her frequently during the primary campaign. In March he wrote, "The people of South Carolina are embarrassed by Nikki Haley," while she urged voters to "reject the siren call of the angriest voices".
But Mr Trump put aside their differences in a statement paying tribute to her virtues despite her lack of foreign policy experience.
"She is also a proven dealmaker, and we look to be making plenty of deals," he said. "She will be a great leader representing us on the world stage."
Her role is likely to include reassuring allies about some of Mr Trump's bolder campaign pledges, such as building a wall with Mexico and pulling back from Nato engagement.
Ms Haley's parents come from rural Punjab and lived in Amritsar before moving to the US in the early 1960s. Her appointment sparked surprise and excitement in India as word spread.
The appointment of philanthropist and conservative activist Ms DeVos is perhaps less surprising as she is a large donor to the Republican party.
Meanwhile, Ben Carson, the retired neurosurgeon and former presidential candidate, said an announcement on his role would be forthcoming, possibly as secretary of housing and urban development.
"I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly to making our inner cities great for everyone," he said.
Though the inclusion of the above-named addsdiversity to Mr Trump's choices, they remain overwhelmingly white and male.
Mr Trump's spokesman said the president-elect was now focusing on his choice for secretary of state. Those under consideration include Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee and prominent Trump critic during the campaign, and Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York and an early Trump supporter.
However, Mr Trump may still face challenges to his election win.
As an exhausted country escaped for a much-needed Thanksgiving holiday, allegations surfaced that vote tallies may have been doctored in three critical states.
A group of experts, including computer analysts and lawyers, is urging Mrs Clinton's team to challenge results in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — won by Mr Trump — and Michigan, where he holds a narrow lead as counting continues.
They believe results from counties that used electronic voting were out of sync with counties that used paper and pencil, suggesting the possibility of a hack.
J Alex Halderman, the director of the University of Michigan Centre for Computer Security and Society, said: "The only way to know whether a cyberattack changed the result is to closely examine the available physical evidence?—?paper ballots and voting equipment in critical states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania."
Jill Stein, the unsuccessful Green Party presidential candidate, said she had collected sufficient funding for a recount in Wisconsin.
"After a divisive and painful presidential race, in which foreign agents hacked into party databases, private email servers, and voter databases in certain states, many Americans are wondering if our election results are reliable," she wrote on her website.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Trump’s Thanksgiving prayer is to ‘heal divisions’
The US president-elect made the remark in an online video message, the third to be posted to his transition YouTube channel as he goes about the business of convincing a divided nation that he can govern for the whole country.
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