- Trump acknowledged that a new government will take office in a 20-minute farewell video on Tuesday.
- In the video, Trump wished the new government luck without ever mentioning Biden’s name.
- “I want you to know that the movement we started is just beginning,” he added.
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President Donald Trump acknowledged that a new government will take office on Wednesday and wished them well, but did not formally admit his electoral defeat or explicitly say the name of President-elect Joe Biden in a 20-minute farewell speech posted on the channel. White House on YouTube.
“This week, we inaugurated a new administration and we pray for your success in keeping America safe and prosperous. We express our best wishes and we also want them to be lucky – a very important word,” Trump said at the beginning of his speech on Tuesday. .
Trump, breaking with tradition, will not meet Biden before the inauguration nor will he attend his inauguration ceremony. Instead, Trump will have his own departure ceremony at Andrews Joint Base on Wednesday morning, before flying to his home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Read More: See how Biden will demolish Trump’s legacy
The President thanked several members of his family and senior management officials, including Vice President Mike Pence. The relationship between Trump and Pence was tense after Trump attacked and pressured the vice president, albeit unsuccessfully, to overturn the results of the 2020 elections. Pence has no power to do so.
The end of Trump’s presidency was overshadowed by the black cloud of the January 6 uprising on the United States Capitol, which threatened the lives of Pence and members of Congress. Five people died in the violence that broke out when a massive crowd of supporters of the president invaded the building while a joint session of Congress certified Biden’s victory.
“All Americans were horrified by the attack on our Capitol. Political violence is an attack on everything we cherish as Americans. It can never be tolerated. Now, more than ever, we must unite around our shared values and rise above party grudge and forge our common destiny, “Trump said of the violence he was accused of inciting.
President Donald Trump delivering a pre-recorded farewell speech
Screen capture through the White House / YouTube
Trump covered the range of the biggest highlights of his administration
Trump spent a portion of the nearly 20-minute video highlighting his government’s top political victories over the past four years.
Among those mentioned are tax cuts, new trade deals, the creation of a US Space Force, the appointment of three Supreme Court judges and the murders of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and Iranian high general Qassem Soleimani.
The outgoing president also praised the rapid development of a COVID-19 vaccine and the passage of trillions of dollars for coronavirus relief, but Trump did not mention the number of deaths in the country that exceeded 400,000 on Tuesday, less than a year since that the first case was reported in the USA
“We regret every life lost and swear in your memory to eliminate this horrible pandemic once and for all.”
He also praised America for “claiming our sovereignty” by withdrawing from several international trade agreements that the government considered unfair, saying: “We have restored American strength at home and American leadership abroad. The world respects us again. Please, don’t lose that respect. “
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, however, planned to travel to Europe the week after the Capitol insurrection, but was forced to cancel his plans because officials in Luxembourg and the European Union were supposedly “too embarrassed” to meet him.
Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister publicly attacked Trump, calling him “a criminal” and a “political pyromaniac” who “should be sent to a criminal court” because of events on Capitol Hill.
Despite the local and global reaction, Trump alluded on Tuesday to the fact that this is not the last time people will hear about him.
“As I prepare to hand over power to a new government at noon on Wednesday, I want you to know that the movement we started is just beginning. There has never been anything like it,” said the president.
“I leave this majestic place with a loyal and joyful heart, an optimistic spirit and a supreme confidence that for our country and for our children, the best is yet to come,” he added.