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WASHINGTON: Donald Trump left the White House for the last time as president.
He left the building on Wednesday (January 20) morning and crossed the south lawn saying, “It has been a great honor, the honor of a lifetime.”
Outgoing United States President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump speak to the press as they leave the White House in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2021 (Photo: AFP / Mandel Ngan).
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump walk to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on January 20, 2021 in Washington. (Photo: AP / Alex Brandon)
Trump, 74, and First Lady Melania Trump walked a short red carpet and boarded Marine One on the White House lawn on a sunny but cold day in Washington for the short flight to Joint Base Andrews, where they I was expecting him to board Air Force One.
Trump will then fly to Florida, where he will stay at Mar-a-Lago.
A military aide carries the nuclear “soccer ball” with the equipment and nuclear codes to Marine One after US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania boarded Marine One before departing from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2021. (Photo: AFP / Mandel Ngan)
White House staff members bring boxes to Marine One before President Donald Trump leaves the White House on January 20, 2021 in Washington. (Photo: AP / Alex Brandon)
Before boarding Air Force One, Trump briefly addressed staff members, supporters and members of his family.
“It’s been four incredible years. We have accomplished a lot together,” he said. “I will always fight for you.
“We will be back in some way.”
Trump did not address Biden by name, but said he wishes the new administration “good luck and great success.”
Outgoing US President Donald Trump salutes while boarding Marine One at the White House in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2021 (Photo: AFP / Mandel Ngan).
Trump leaves Washington a few hours before Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president.
It is the first time in more than a century that a sitting president has rejected the tradition of attending the inauguration of his successor.
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn in at the same location where pro-Trump rioters clashed with police two weeks ago before storming Congress in a deadly insurrection.
Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner and their children, Eric and Donald Jr, and members of the Trump family stand on the runway at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland as they arrive at the departure of United States President Donald Trump on 20 January 2021 (Photo: AFP / Alex Edelman). )
While there will be a transition of power as has occurred for more than two centuries, this inauguration is unlike any other.
Official Washington has taken on the dystopian look of an armed camp, protected by around 25,000 National Guard soldiers tasked with preventing a repeat of this month’s attack.
And with the pandemic raging, the general public is essentially banned from attending the inauguration, leading to the unprecedented view of an empty National Mall on opening day.
Trump broke days of silence Tuesday with a prerecorded farewell video in which, for the first time, he asked Americans to “pray” for the success of the incoming administration.
Outgoing US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump address guests at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on January 20, 2021 (Photo: AFP / Alex Edelman).
But Trump has yet to personally congratulate Biden, who first ran for president in 1987, on his victory, and the 11-hour message followed the months he spent persuading his Republican supporters that the Democrat cheated on his road to electoral victory.
In one of his last acts before leaving the White House, Trump granted dozens of pardons to people convicted of crimes or facing charges, including several key allies.
