- President Donald Trump appears to be heading south to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, instead of attending Joe Biden’s inauguration.
- The Federal Aviation Administration issued temporary flight restrictions on the private club for January 20, indicating the arrival of the president.
- One of Trump’s final tweets confirmed suspicions that he would not be in Biden’s possession.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
President Donald Trump appears to be traveling into warmer weather, rather than attending Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday.
Flight restrictions were issued to the skies above Palm Beach, Florida, by the Federal Aviation Administration for January 20, indicating that the president will go south on his last day in office and avoid the traditional Capitol farewell flying out of Washington on Marine One.
Palm Beach is home to Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club; it became the winter White House during his administration – and his place of frequent retreat. Trump spent 133 days at the club, according to a NBC News tracker, and held summits there with world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Trump moved his address to Palm Beach in October 2019, the New York Times reported, and they say he will move there permanently after his term.
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The move is in line with one of the president’s latest tweets from his personal Twitter account, where he stated in no uncertain terms that he would not attend Biden’s inauguration.
“For all those who asked me, I will not be inaugurated on January 20,” Trump said in a now hidden tweet. (Twitter suspended the president’s personal account on January 8, following the Capitol riots.)
The White House did not immediately respond to Insider’s request to confirm the president’s travel plans.
Protecting the president while traveling
The FAA issues what it calls temporary flight restrictions whenever the president and vice president leave Washington. Pilots are normally not allowed to fly a few kilometers from the president’s location without authorization when restrictions are in place.
The new restrictions begin at 10:45 am on January 20, when pilots will be unable to fly less than 10 nautical miles and 18,000 feet from Palm Beach International Airport. The restrictions will expire at noon, when the president’s term ends. Mar-a-Lago is just a few meters from the access path to the runways east of the airport.
A separate flight restriction has been issued for the skies directly above Mar-a-Lago, but they are less stringent. From 11:30 am on January 20 to 12:30 pm on January 21, pilots will not be able to fly less than 3 nautical miles and 3,000 feet from the club.
Local aviation schools near Palm Beach are suffering from restrictions on presidential airspace, since general aviation aircraft on training flights are normally prohibited from operating within restricted airspace or taking off from airports below. Flight schools lose about $ 30,000 on weekends when President Trump visits and $ 50,000 on long weekends, according to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
Trump’s visits to Palm Beach have become so frequent that the federal government has started to reimburse aviation schools for the loss of revenue. The $ 3.5 million aid was included in a 2019 expense account for general aviation operators affected by the president’s travels.
Trump rarely left the White House in January, except for a few trips to Georgia during the campaign of Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, and a final visit to Texas. A rare weekend trip to Camp David was planned for just two days after the United States Capitol riots, a White House official confirmed to Insider, but the trip was later deleted.
And while the power transition is peaceful, the president may not be quietly boarding Air Force One in his post-political life. A departure ceremony is reportedly being planned at Andrews Air Force Base for Trump, according to USA Today, with as much pomp and circumstance as the end of a television show series.
A colored guard and a 21-shot salute are on the agenda, USA Today reported.
Vice President Mike Pence, who fought Trump in the days surrounding the Electoral College certification, would be present at the inauguration.