President Trump on Thursday demanded that ballots stop being counted in the presidential race, as returns showed his path to reelection significantly narrowed against Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

“STOP THE COUNT!” Trump tweeted cryptically Thursday morning, as workers across the country continued to count legally cast ballots, many of them received by mail, in order to determine a final result in the election.

"ANY VOTE THAT CAME IN AFTER ELECTION DAY WILL NOT BE COUNTED!" Trump later tweeted. States including Pennsylvania and North Carolina have allowed for ballots mailed by Election Day but received three and nine days after, respectively, to be counted. The Supreme Court has allowed those extensions to remain.

Trump's remarks come as his lead over Biden in Pennsylvania and Georgia steadily narrows as ballots are counted. Yet Biden also leads Trump in Arizona, where the gap also narrowed between the two candidates overnight. Stopping the count in Arizona would leave Biden ahead.

Biden also leads in Nevada, though a number of ballots have yet to be counted. Republicans are hoping that race turns around.

Republicans challenging vote counting processes have sought to argue they are making the case that only legal ballots should be counted. Trump's tweet muddled that message, simply stating that all ballot counting should stop.

Biden has been declared the winner in Michigan and Wisconsin — two states Trump won in 2016 — after he gained on Trump throughout the early morning and day on Wednesday.

Trump’s tweet is part of a broader assault on the election process that the president has engaged in for months. Trump has regularly railed against the use of mail-in ballots, claiming that widespread mail-in voting would lead to fraud despite experts saying there is no evidence of meaningful fraud in mail-in voting. States across the country have expanded access to mail-in voting because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump’s remarks also come as his campaign mounts challenges to the election results.  

Trump’s campaign filed lawsuits on Wednesday in three states — Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan — challenging the vote counting process. Trump’s campaign is also demanding a recount in Wisconsin, a state Biden won by about 20,000 votes, citing “reports of irregularities.”

Trump prematurely declared victory in the presidential race in remarks early Wednesday morning, and said he wanted “all voting to stop” while threatening legal action. His remarks have been criticized by a number of Republicans.

“I thought it was outrageous and uncalled for and a terrible mistake,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said during a virtual Washington Post event on Wednesday. “Regardless of where you stand on this race and what party you are and who you voted for, most Americans really want a free and fair election process, and they want us to count the votes.”

Trump has not been seen in public since his remarks Wednesday morning at the White House. He has tweeted sporadically to perpetuate allegations of electoral fraud, and a number of his messages have been flagged by Twitter for containing misleading information.

Biden in brief remarks Wednesday expressed confidence he would win the presidential race but stopped short of declaring himself the victor, emphasizing that all outstanding votes should be counted.

“Now every vote must be counted,” Biden said. “No one is going to take our democracy away from us. Not now, not ever. America’s come too far. America’s fought too many battles. America's endured too much to ever let that happen.”

“We the people will not be silenced. We the people will not be bullied. We the people will not surrender,” he continued.

--Updated at 10:27 a.m.