WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump arrived in Florida just before 11 am on Wednesday, with an hour left of his presidency as he chose to skip the oath and instead retire to his coastal residence.
Air Force One buzzed at Mar-a-Lago just before landing. Trump left Washington in the morning, giving a farewell speech to supporters at Andrews Joint Base and then boarded Air Force One as president for the last time.
“It is my greatest honor and privilege to have been your president,” he said to applause. “I wish the new administration a lot of luck and a lot of success, and I think they will be very successful. They have the basis for doing something really spectacular.”
The tone was a change from previous weeks, in which Trump continued to insist without evidence that he had not lost the election, an insistence that culminated in a crowd of his supporters attacking the Capitol in an effort to prevent the election of President-elect Joe Biden’s becoming official.
In what are likely to be his final acts, the White House has announced that Trump has approved the lifting of some aluminum tariffs in the UAE. He also pardoned Albert J. Pirro Jr., ex-husband of Fox News host Jeanine Pirro and one of Trump’s former real estate lawyers who was convicted of tax fraud more than 20 years ago.
Breaking with decades of tradition, Trump will not participate in the peaceful transition of power and is skipping possession. He opted for a rally-like setup in the military aviation field, complete with big speakers displaying his campaign playlist, American flags, and several hundred supporters gathered.
He did not mention Biden by name in his comments, instead asking supporters to credit him for future economic and coronavirus victories.
“You are going to see some amazing things happening. And remember us when you see these things happening, if you want,” said Trump.
Trump’s brief speech diverged from the prepared words that aides had distributed before the farewell. His remarks were improvised and somewhat somber. Trump praised some items from his presidential legacy, including Space Force and court confirmation, and said his team “left everything, as athletes would say, we left everything on the field.”
He thanked his family, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, First Lady Melania Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, and suggested his own political future.
“We will be back somehow,” he said,
The president who is leaving office usually leaves shortly after the new president takes office, in a government jet on a special air mission. But Trump, who struggled bitterly to overturn the results of the 2020 election, opted to orchestrate an alternate exit full of fanfare while he was still the commander in chief and flew in Air Force One en route to his home in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
“Have a good life. We’ll see you soon,” said Trump. His plane took off to the sound of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”.
There were a number of notable absences at the farewell: Pence did not appear, along with several former auxiliaries who were invited. A White House official and a source familiar with the matter told NBC News on Tuesday that it was not logistically feasible for Pence to attend the farewell as well as the inauguration.
The president’s last days were exceptionally quiet. Forbidden to post to social media accounts, Trump and his frequent missives – which often disrupted government business – were absent. His last public event before the White House left on Wednesday was a week ago, when he went to the US-Mexico border to publicize the construction of his border wall.
Pence took on many of the functions traditionally reserved for the commander-in-chief who is stepping down, such as thanking the troops at Fort Drum over the weekend. He will continue this ceremonial role during Wednesday’s inauguration.
Trump, however, left Biden a note at the White House, a long tradition of outgoing presidents, White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere confirmed to NBC News, although the contents of that note have not been made public.
Elsewhere in the White House, officials and those responsible for the move are finalizing the transition from the residence and West Wing, packing and disinfecting, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, before the arrival of the Biden government shortly after noon.
