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Shortly before the inauguration of the new president of the United States, Joe Biden, the outgoing incumbent Donald Trump left the White House for good. Together with First Lady Melania Trump, he took off on Wednesday morning local time aboard the White House presidential helicopter “Marine One” heading for Joint Base Andrews military airfield.
He missed his successor’s inauguration ceremony in front of the Capitol in Washington. Trump’s presence at the ceremony would be in line with political practice, but has no legal effect. Biden is sworn in as the new president even without his predecessor. Participation in the oath ceremony is a symbol of a peaceful transfer of power. Trump had refused to accept such a campaign during the election campaign.
Trump wants to see his farewell with a military ceremony at Andrews Military Airfield in neighboring Maryland. Then he and Melania Trump want to fly to Palm Beach in Florida, where their Mar-a-Lago resort club is located, on the government Air Force One plane. Trump has yet to comment on his plans for the future.
He had already announced on January 8 that he would not participate in Biden’s swearing-in ceremony. Biden had called it a “good thing” and said he and Trump had the same opinion for once. At the same time, Biden emphasized that outgoing Vice President Mike Pence was welcome. Pence and outgoing Second Lady Karen Pence want to attend the ceremony.
Wave of Pardons: Bannon Profits
Trump had used his last hours in office to pardon more than 70 people, including his former chief strategy officer Steve Bannon, as the White House announced that night. The wave of forgiveness was expected. Former US presidents also made use of this right at the end of their term. However, the cases were mostly less controversial. Shortly before Christmas, Trump had already pardoned several loyal colleagues.
According to a poll released by CNN on Sunday, the Republican leaves office with the worst poll numbers since moving into the White House – only 33 percent said they were sure of him. Trump was also heavily criticized within his own ranks after his supporters stormed the Capitol two weeks ago. Trump faces another impeachment process in Congress for “inciting riots,” which could result in a lifetime ban.
Trump had tried to reverse Biden’s electoral victory until the assault on the Capitol. The Republican is deprived of victory by an alleged electoral fraud. However, his lawyers have never presented evidence of this. Dozens of lawsuits against the election results in various states failed. Trump never congratulated Biden on winning the election.
Biden and future Vice President Kamala Harris will be sworn in at 12 noon local time. Former US Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have agreed to attend. With them, Biden, Harris, new First Lady Jill Biden, and new Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff then want to lay a wreath at the Unknown Soldier’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery. Biden wants to sign the first orders on Wednesday.
