Trump's national security adviser admits Biden won: 'Obviously things look that way now'

President Donald Trump's national security adviser admits that Joe Biden has won the election.

Robert O'Brien, who has been considered a Trump loyalist, became the first White House official to publicly state that Biden had won the Nov. 3 election, which the president has been insisting was rigged against him, reported NBC News.

"Look, if the Biden-Harris ticket is determined to be the winner — and obviously things look that way now — we'll have a very professional transition from the National Security Council," O'Brien said.

O'Brien made the remarks last week as part of a global security forum sponsored by the Soufan Center, but the comments were not broadcast until portions of the event streamed online Monday morning.

"[The Biden team] going to have very professional folks who are coming in to take these positions, many of whom have been here before and spent a lot of time in the White House in prior administrations," O'Brien said, "and the great thing in the United States of America, we've passed the baton and had peaceful successful transitions even in the most contentious periods."

O'Brien said he had no concerns that Trump's refusal to concede would impede the transition.

"I'm old enough to remember Bush v. Gore," he said, "and the transition there didn't start until mid-December, and yet it got done, and if we're in a situation where we're not going into a Trump second term, which I think people where I'm sitting in the White House would like to see, if it's another outcome, it will be a professional transition, there's no question about it."