The election outcome now hinges on five states: Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
Nevada, Arizona and Georgia had expected to finish their counts Thursday but then changed expectations.
The extraordinary focus on the counting in individual states is unprecedented.
In a normal year, the states' results would have been called quickly by television networks and the Associated Press and the count went on quietly in the background.
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But this time, with unprecedented numbers of mail-in ballots fueling a record turnout, the calls were not made and instead it is official counts which regularly take days or even weeks to be completed, certified and declared which have become the focus of public attention.
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As the count dragged on, Trump expressed confidence he will win the election but said his campaign will sue in the battleground states Joe Biden won, a sign his team is not confident the vote tallies will come out in his favor.
The Nevada lawsuit matches legal action the Trump campaign has launched in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia as Biden approaches the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. In Wisconsin, a state called for Biden, the campaign has requested a recount.
'All of the recent Biden claims States will be legally challenged by us for Voter Fraud and State Election Fraud. Plenty of proof - just check out the Media,' Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning.
The Biden campaign accused the Trump team of using the court system to delay the inevitable.
'What we’re seeing on these legal suits are that they are meritless and nothing more than an attempt to distract and delay what is now ' campaign manager Jennifer O'Malley Dillon told reporters Thursday morning.
'STOP THE COUNT!,' the president tweeted Thursday as state officials continued to make their way through the legally cast votes. Trump has spent the past few days holed up in the White House, speaking to advisers about the race.
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Trump later added this tweet: 'ANY VOTE THAT CAME IN AFTER ELECTION DAY WILL NOT BE COUNTED!'38
The president was likely referring to Pennsylvania, where officials are counting any mail-in ballot received by Friday as long as it is postmarked by Election Day.
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However he did not state the law as it exists. The state was in the process of counting ballots that did not come in after Election Day. And the change to allow ballots that come in for three days after was upheld by the state supreme court in a decision the U.S. Supreme Court let stand.
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The Trump campaign released a statement from the president to clarify his tweets: 'IF YOU COUNT THE LEGAL VOTES, I EASILY WIN THE ELECTION! IF YOU COUNT THE ILLEGAL AND LATE VOTES, THEY CAN STEAL THE ELECTION FROM US!'
Trump, with 214 electoral votes, faces a high hurdle to 270. He would need to win all four remaining battleground states: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada.
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