US elections: Donald Trump says goodbye to Washington and hints at his return

At the end of his term, President Donald Trump said goodbye to Washington on Wednesday, but he also hinted at a comeback despite the legacy of chaos, tumult and bitter divisions in the country that he led for four years.

“So just goodbye. We love you,” Trump told supporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where he walked a red carpet and boarded Air Force One to head to Florida. “We will be back in some way.”

Trump left office as the only president to have been indicted twice, and with millions more out of work than when he was sworn in and 400,000 dead from the coronavirus. Under his supervision, the Republicans lost the presidency and both houses of Congress. He will be remembered forever for inciting an insurrection, two weeks before Democrat Joe Biden moved into the White House, on Capitol Hill, which left five dead, including a Capitol police officer, and horrified the nation. It was on Trump’s inauguration day, January 20, 2017, that he painted a terrible picture of the “American Massacre.”

Trump, the first president in modern history to boycott his successor’s inauguration, is still infuriated by his loss and maintains that the elections won by Biden were stolen from him. Republican officials in several critical states, members of their own administration and a wide swath of judges, including those appointed by Trump, have rejected those arguments.

Trump refused to participate in any of the symbolic torch-passing traditions surrounding the peaceful transition of power, including inviting Joe and Jill Biden to the White House for a visit to meet.

He did follow at least one tradition: The White House said Trump left a note for Biden. A Trump spokesman, Judd Deere, declined to say what Trump wrote or characterize the sentiment in the note, citing privacy for communication between presidents.

Members of Trump’s family gathered for farewell at the military base along with those loyal to the president, who chanted “We love you!” “Thank you Trump” and “USA” Four army guns fired a 21-gun salute.

Speaking without notes, Trump said his presidency was “an incredible four years.” He told the crowd that he and First Lady Melania Trump loved them and praised his family for their hard work, saying they could have chosen to have an easier life.

“It has been something very special. We have accomplished a lot,” Trump said, citing the installation of conservative judges, the creation of the space force, the development of coronavirus vaccines and the management of a strong pre-pandemic economy. “I hope they don’t raise their taxes, but if they do, I told them so,” he said of the incoming Biden administration.

He acknowledged that his was not a “regular administration” and told his sponsors that he would return in some form. He said the Trump campaign had worked very hard: “We have left everything on the field,” he said.

Without mentioning Biden’s name, Trump wished the new administration good luck and success, which he said would be easier because he had laid “a foundation.”

“I will always fight for you,” he told the crowd. “I’ll be watching. I’ll be listening.”

Before arriving at the airport, Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House that being president had been the honor of his life.

“We love the American people, and again, it has been something very special,” he said of the sound of the Marine One helicopter. “And I just want to say goodbye, but I hope it’s not a long-term goodbye. We will see each other again.”

If the schedule holds up, by the time Biden is sworn in, Trump will have landed at his private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. You will face an uncertain future.

Advisers had urged Trump to spend his final days in office trying to save his legacy by highlighting his administration’s achievements: tax cuts, reduced federal regulations, normalization of relations in the Middle East. But Trump largely refused, making a single trip to the Texas border and releasing a video promising his supporters that “the movement we started is just beginning.” In his final hours, Trump granted pardons to more than 140 people, including his former strategist, rap artists, former members of Congress and other allies of him and his family.

Trump will retreat to Florida with a small group of former White House advisers as he charts a political future that looks vastly different now than just two weeks ago.

Before the Capitol riot on January 6, Trump was expected to remain the de facto leader of his party, wielding enormous power while serving as a kingmaker and reflecting on a presidential race in 2024. But now he seems more powerless than ever: rejected by so many in his party, accused twice, denied the Twitter megaphone he intended to use as a weapon, and even facing the prospect that, if convicted at his Senate trial, he might. be prohibited from seeking a second term.

For now, Trump remains angry and embarrassed, consumed with anger and outrage. He spent the week after the election sinking deeper and deeper into a world of conspiracy, and those who have spoken to him say he still believes he won in November. He has lashed out at Republicans for their alleged disloyalty and has threatened, both publicly and privately, to spend the next several years endorsing primary challenges against those he feels have betrayed him.

Some hope that he will eventually turn completely against the Republican Party, perhaps flirting with a third-party candidate run as an act of revenge.

Despite all the chaos and drama and bending the world to his will, Trump ended his term as he began: largely alone. The Republican Party he finally elected appeared to have had enough after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, searching for lawmakers who refused to accept Trump’s unconstitutional efforts to overturn the results of a democratic election.

Cleaning crews at the White House worked through Wednesday night and were still working as the sun rose to clean the building and prepare it for its new occupants. Most of the walls were reduced to hooks that once had photographs, and the offices were devoid of the clutter and trinkets that brought them to life.

While Trump has left the White House, he retains his grip on the Republican base, with the support of millions of loyal voters, along with allies who still run the Republican National Committee and many state party organizations.

The city he leaves will not miss him. Trump rarely left the confines of the White House except to visit his own hotel. He and his wife never dined at any other local restaurant and never ventured out to shop or visit the sites. When he left, he almost always went to one of his properties: his golf course in Virginia, his golf course in New Jersey, his private club, and the nearby golf course in Palm Beach, Florida.

The city overwhelmingly supported Biden, with 93% of the vote. Trump received just 5.4% of the vote, or fewer than 18,600 ballots, not enough to fill the Washington Capitals hockey arena.

– AP