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How Trump’s Early Departure to the White House Has Caused a Logistical Nightmare About Nuclear Codes: The Military Will Have to Fly ‘Football’ Back to DC After the President Takes It to Florida
- Donald Trump is expected to leave Washington around 8 a.m. Wednesday.
- As president, he will take with him the ‘nuclear football’ worn by an aide
- Normally football is transferred from one assistant to another at noon.
- Instead, Trump’s football will be deactivated at noon and Biden’s football will be activated.
- Trump has reportedly not decided whether to leave a letter for his successor.
- He will become the fourth president, and the first since 1869, not to attend
Donald Trump’s decision to avoid Joe Biden’s inauguration has caused serious logistical problems for perhaps the most sensitive section of the presidential handover: the nuclear codes.
During a normal inauguration ceremony, the nuclear ball, which contains the equipment the president uses to authenticate his orders and launch a nuclear strike, is handed over from one presidential aide to another at the stroke of noon.
Trump will leave Washington DC around 8 a.m., however, and will fly to his Florida property, Mar-a-Lago.
As president, he will take nuclear football with him.
Donald Trump is pictured with an aide behind him carrying the nuclear soccer ball
The 45 pound briefcase is always carried along with the chair.
Stephen Schwartz, a non-resident senior fellow at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, told CNN that the officials involved would have had to come up with an elaborate solution.
‘There are at least three or four identical’ soccer balls’ – one follows the president, one follows the vice president, and one is traditionally reserved for the designated survivor at events like inaugurations and State of the Union speeches, ” he said.
“ On January 20, the extra soccer balls will be out of town somewhere with their designees, leaving only Mike Pence’s briefcase unless the White House Military Office has prepared (or already has on hand) another endorsement for Mr. Biden. ”
The president carries with him at all times a plastic card, known as ‘the cookie’, which contains codes that identify the president, who is the only person authorized to launch nuclear weapons.
The Constitution gives Trump control of nuclear strikes until the second Biden is sworn in.
Trump is expected to leave Washington DC around 8 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Then the president will fly to Florida and settle in his Mar-a-Lago farm.
Trump’s ‘cookie’ will be deactivated at noon and Biden’s will go into effect.
The aide with the 45-pound briefcase containing the nuclear soccer ball will leave Florida and fly back to Washington DC.
A case of the military assistant with the nuclear codes is seen in June 2017
Trump will become the first president since 1869 not to attend his successor’s inauguration.
The Constitution does not require an outgoing president to attend the inauguration of an incoming president, and Trump will be the fourth not to do so, after John Adams, the second president of the United States; John Quincy Adams, sixth president; and Andrew Johnson, the seventeenth president and the first to be indicted. All three were also one-term presidents.
Attending the inauguration of a successor is seen as an important sign of the stability of American democracy.
The Obamas welcomed the Trumps to the White House and attended Trump’s inauguration
The Trumps will become the first presidential family in more than 150 years to skip the inauguration
Woodrow Wilson, still in poor health after a debilitating stroke towards the end of his presidency, accompanied his successor Warren G. Harding on a trip to the United States Capitol, although he was not well enough to attend the opening ceremony in the open air.
Trump has also reportedly not made a decision whether to continue the tradition of writing a letter to leave to his successor on the Resolute desk in the Oval Office.
Trump intends to hold a departure ceremony at Joint Base Andrews on the morning of Biden’s inauguration.
The ceremony may include an escort and a 21-gun salute, plus a red carpet and military band.
Invitations have been sent out for what the Trump team hoped would be an enthusiastic send-off.
However, many have said they will not attend. Guests are now told that they can bring up to five guests to the event.
