WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will not attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20, undermining his message the day before that he would work to ensure a “smooth, orderly and smooth transition of power failures “for your successor.
Trump offered no clues as to how he would spend his last hours in office and will be the first incumbent president since Andrew Johnson to skip his successor’s inauguration. Traditionally, incoming and outgoing presidents ride together to the United States Capitol for the ceremony, as a symbol of the nation’s peaceful transition.
Trump’s comments come two days after a violent crowd of his supporters occupied the Capitol for several hours while lawmakers counted the electoral votes that certified Biden’s victory. Biden will become president at noon on January 20, regardless of Trump’s plans.
“To all those who asked, I will not be inaugurated on January 20,” tweeted Trump. The move was widely expected, as Trump for months falsely claimed victory in the election and enacted baseless allegations of electoral fraud. His own government said the election was fair.
Vice President Mike Pence was expected to attend the opening, according to a person close to him and familiar with the opening’s planning. But Pence spokesman Devin Malley said in a statement on Friday that he and the second lady “have not yet made a decision regarding his presence”.
Biden’s transition team did not immediately comment on Trump’s announcement. But Jen Psaki, the president-elect’s new White House press secretary, said last month that the fact that Trump attended the inauguration was not a priority for Biden.
On Thursday, with 12 days to go, Trump finally came to life amid mounting talks about trying to force him out early, recognizing that he will step down peacefully after Congress asserts his defeat.
Trump showed a video of the White House on Thursday condemning the violence perpetrated in his name the day before on Capitol Hill. Then, for the first time on camera, he admitted that his presidency would soon end – although he refused to mention Biden by name or explicitly declare that he had lost.
“A new administration will open on January 20,” said Trump in the video. “My focus now is on ensuring a smooth, orderly and continuous transition of power. This moment requires healing and reconciliation. “
The next morning, however, Trump was back to his normal division. Instead of offering condolences to the police officer who died due to injuries sustained during the riot, Trump took to Twitter to praise the “great American patriots” who voted for him.
“They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form !!!” he tweeted.
Thursday night’s speech, which seemed destined to avoid comment on a forced early eviction, came at the end of a day when the cornered president was out of sight at the White House. Silenced on some of his favorite lines of communication on the Internet, he watched the resignation of several key advisers, including two cabinet secretaries.
And as officials examined the consequences of the pro-Trump siege on the United States Capitol, there was a growing discussion about impeachment for the second time, while talks about invoking the 25th Amendment to expel him from the Oval Office continued.
The invasion of the Capitol building, a powerful symbol of the country’s democracy, has shaken Republicans and Democrats. They struggled to find the best way to contain the impulses of a president who is considered too dangerous to control his own social media accounts, but who remains the commander-in-chief of the world’s largest armed forces.
“I’m not worried about the next election, I’m worried about going through the next 14 days,” said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Trump’s most loyal allies. He condemned the president’s role in Wednesday’s riots and said: “If something else happens, all options will be on the table.”
The President of the House of Democrats, Nancy Pelosi, declared that “the President of the United States has incited an armed insurrection against America”. She called him “a very dangerous person who must not remain in office. This is urgent, an emergency of the highest magnitude. “
She said on Friday in a statement to colleagues that she had spoken with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff about Trump’s prevention of initiating military action or a nuclear attack.
“The situation of this unbalanced president could not be more dangerous and we must do everything we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced attack on our country and our democracy,” she wrote.
Pelosi also met with the Democratic bench of the House on Friday to consider impeachment proceedings against the president for the second time. She and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer also asked Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to force Trump out of office – although the urgency of that discussion between Cabinet members and officials lessened on Thursday.
The negotiations came amid fears about what a desperate president might do in his final days, including speculation that Trump might incite more violence, make hasty appointments, issue ill-conceived pardons – including for him and his family – or even unleash a destabilizing international incident.
Pence did not publicly say whether he would support the 25th Amendment, but Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said he did not think that was likely. “I’m just hearing that he’s basically not going in that direction,” he said, citing “my Senate channels.”
The president’s video on Thursday – which was released after he returned to Twitter after his account was restored – was a complete reversal of what he released just 24 hours earlier, in which he said to the violent crowd: “We love you. You are very special. ”His refusal to condemn the violence sparked a storm of criticism and, in the new video, he finally denounced the“ illegality and chaos ”of the protesters.
Aides said the video was also intended to slow the mass exodus of employees and prevent potential legal problems for Trump when he leaves office; White House lawyer Pat Cipollone has repeatedly warned the president that he could be held responsible for inciting violence on Wednesday.
As for his feelings on leaving office, Trump told the nation that “serving as its president was the honor of my life”, while implying a return to the public arena. He told supporters that “our incredible journey has just begun”.
While Trump remained silent and housed in the executive mansion until Thursday night, around him, legalists were headed for exits, his exits – which would happen in two weeks anyway – moved to protest the way the president dealt with the mutiny.
Transport Secretary Elaine Chao became the first Cabinet member to step down. Chao, married to Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, one of the legislators arrested on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, said in a message to the team that the attack “deeply troubled me in a way that I just can’t let go of.”
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos followed. In his resignation letter on Thursday, DeVos blamed Trump for igniting tensions in the violent attack on the country’s seat of democracy. “There is no doubt about the impact that his rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the tipping point for me,” she wrote.
Others who resigned after the turmoil: Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger; Ryan Tully, senior director for European and Russian affairs at the National Security Council; and First Lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, former White House press secretary.
Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s former chief of staff who became a special envoy to Northern Ireland, told CNBC that he called Secretary of State Mike Pompeo “to warn him that I was stepping down. … I can not do it. I can not stay. “
“Those who chose to stay, and I talked to some of them, are choosing to stay because they are concerned that the president might put someone worse,” said Mulvaney.
Mulvaney’s predecessor as chief of staff, retired US Marine Corps general John Kelly, told CNN that “I think the Cabinet should meet and discuss” about Section 4 of the 25th Amendment – allowing for removal forced from Trump by his own cabinet.
Team-level discussions on the issue took place in various departments and even parts of the White House, according to two people informed about the negotiations. But no Cabinet member has publicly expressed support for the change.
In the West Wing, aides in shock were packing up, acting on a delayed directive to start leaving their posts before Biden’s team arrived.
The president asked for advisers to explore a possible farewell trip next week to the southern border as a way to highlight his immigration policies.
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Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed reporting from Washington.