"The people have spoken and the election is over," Trump in response to the push for a recount.

For months Donald Trump called the presidential election "rigged." T

he president-elect has a different word - "scam" - for the recount effort aimed at revisiting the vote in three pivotal battleground states.

"The people have spoken and the election is over," Trump declared Saturday in his first comments about the growing effort to force recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. He added, "We must accept this result and then look to the future."

CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS Hillary Clinton addresses her staff and supporters about the results of the U.S. election at a hotel in the Manhattan borough of New York, US, November 9, 2016.

The Democrats, when they incorrectly thought they were going to win, asked that the election night tabulation be accepted. Not so anymore! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

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Green Party nominee Jill Stein's fight for a recount got a major boost Friday when Wisconsin officials announced they were moving forward with the first presidential recount in state history.

The incoming president had been paying little if any attention to Stein's recount push, but Democratic rival Hillary Clinton forced his hand on Saturday by formally joining the effort. Stein, who drew one percent of the vote nationally, is raising millions of dollars to fund the recounts.

"Because we had not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology, we had not planned to exercise this option ourselves," Clinton campaign attorney Marc Elias wrote Saturday in a blog post.

"But now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, we intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides."

Elias said Clinton would take the same approach in Pennsylvania and Michigan if Stein were to follow through with recount requests those states, even though that was highly unlikely to change the election outcome.

Clinton leads the national popular vote by close to two million votes, but Trump won 290 electoral votes to Clinton's 232, with Michigan still too close to call. It takes 270 to win the presidency.

Trump, who repeatedly challenged the integrity of the US election system before his win, called the recount push "a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded."

"The results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing," he said in the statement, which didn't mention Clinton's involvement.

The Green Party scam to fill up their coffers by asking for impossible recounts is now being joined by the badly defeated & demoralized Dems — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

However, he later went on an eight-tweet rant about the Democrats and Clinton, quoting her remarks during the final presidential debate about his refusal to say he would accept the result of the election, which he maintained for months was "rigged", and her concession speech after the election.

Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in. Nothing will change — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Hillary's debate answer on delay: "That is horrifying. That is not the way our democracy works. Been around for 240 years. We've had free -- — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

and fair elections. We've accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them, and that is what must be expected of anyone standing on a - — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

during a general election. I, for one, am appalled that somebody that is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind -- — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

of position." Then, separately she stated, "He said something truly horrifying ... he refused to say that he would respect the results of -- — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

this election. That is a direct threat to our democracy." She then said, "We have to accept the results and look to the future, Donald -- — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Trump is going to be our President. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead." So much time and money will be spent - same result! Sad — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Trump was expected to return to New York on Sunday after spending the Thanksgiving holiday weekend at his West Palm beach estate. His transition team said the president-elect had scheduled a series of Monday meetings with prospective administration hires.

Trump offered a one-line tweet Saturday morning in reaction to the death of Cuban leader Fidel Castro - "Fidel Castro is dead!" - before issuing a more detailed statement.

Fidel Castro is dead! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2016

"While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long, and toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve," Trump said.

Trump's Cuba policy was inconsistent during the campaign. He first suggested he supported President Barack Obama's orders loosening the US trade embargo on the island.

He reversed himself less than a month before the election, however, vowing to overturn Obama's order unless Cuba meets demands including "religious and political freedom for the Cuban people and the freeing of political prisoners."