Washington, Oct 16 (IANS): US President Donald Trump has said that he will accept a peaceful transfer of power following the November 3 election, but said he wanted an "honest election".

"Peaceful transfer? I absolutely want that. But ideally, I don't want to transfer, because I want to win," The Hill news website quoted the President as saying during his NBC News tonw hall in Miami on Thursday night.

Trump's remarks came after less than a month after he had refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he did not win the election, while adding that the result would be challenged in court.

The Republican-majority Senate has already passed a resolution reaffirming its commitment to a peaceful transition of power.

Despite a change of heart, Trump on Thursday night accused Democrats of failing to participate in a peaceful transfer when they "spied heavily on my campaign" and "tried to take down a duly elected sitting President".

"And then they talk about, 'Will you accept a peaceful transfer?'. The answer is yes, I will. But I want it to be an honest election. And so does everybody else," he added.

For months, Trump has slammed mail-in ballots, a preferred method of voting this year in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The President has suggested that he would win the election if there was no expansion of mail-in voting, which according to him are "rigged" or "fraudulent".