President Donald Trump has left the White House for the last time in his term, which ends at 12pm ET(17 GMT), and will become the first president in over 150 years not to attend successor’s inauguration.
President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration will begin 10:30am ET (15:30 GMT) and will take place amid unprecedented security in the wake of the storming of the US Capitol building on the 6th of January.
The crowd size will be extremely limited as the capital Washington, DC, has been under lockdown due to security fears prompted by the deadly riot at the Capitol – the seat of the US government.
Trump was impeached for “incitement to insurrection” for his role in the Capitol mayhem, becoming the first president in US history to be impeached twice.
READ ALSO: US President, Donald Trump Impeached For Second Time
The only people gathered outside to wish him goodbye were the press, to whom he briefly spoke to them before getting on board.
Trump walked over to reporters at 8.12 a.m., telling them ‘thank you,’ saying it had been a ‘great honour’ and the ‘honour of a lifetime’ to be president. He took no questions.
The outgoing first couple were not accompanied by their 14-year-old son, Barron. He was already on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews.
In bright sunshine, Marine One flew over a capital city in the grip of an unprecedented lockdown, with 25,000 National Guard troops on the streets and authorized to use lethal force in the wake of the MAGA riot.
Trump however, refused to mention Biden by name, instead saying, “I wish the new administration great luck and great success…They have the foundation to do something really spectacular.”
He spent his last night at the White House issuing a slew of pardons, including one for his former advisor and far-right populist Steve Bannon who was facing federal fraud charges.
Trump will be leaving behind a heavily militarized Washington, DC that was fortified to prevent his supporters from repeating the bloodshed and violence that occurred at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Bitter and disgraced in his final week as president, Trump lost some of his most loyal allies after he incited the Capitol riot and was since silenced on Twitter, his favorite medium to communicate. He had not left the White House in days before his final departure.
READ ALSO: Trump banned from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat
Trump now leaves office with more than 400,000 Americans dead from the coronavirus pandemic which his administration mismanaged with devastating consequences.
Trump’s schedule in the last few days was, in his own words, to “work from early in the morning until late in the evening” and to “make many calls and have many meetings.”
In his final words as president, Trump promised his supporters that “we will be back in some form.”
“I will always fight for you. I will be watching, I will be listening, and I will tell you that the future of this country has never been better,” Trump said at Joint Base Andrews.
“Have a good life,” he said.
This year, due to the ongoing pandemic and fears of a security threat, the mall – where thousands normally line up to greet the new President and First Lady – will be closed to the public.
SEE VIDEO BELOW:
SOURCE: NPR
President Trump has left the White House for the last time in his term.
President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States at noon ET. pic.twitter.com/td3IThjwh6
— NPR (@NPR) January 20, 2021
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