Here's A Sneak Peek Into Donald Trump's Last 24 Hours As President In The White House
Donald Trump, who has not appeared in public for a week, broke days of silence with a videoed farewell address which the White House at the moment had said would be released later in the day
After four years and countless scandals, President Donald Trump's time in the Oval Office is coming to an end. Soon, Joe Biden will be sworn in as the new president, which means today is Trump's last full day as president.
AP
Farewell video message
Trump, who has not appeared in public for a week, broke days of silence with a videoed farewell address which the White House at the moment had said would be released later in the day. In the 20-minute speech, Trump listed and embellished what he considered to be his accomplishments in office. He urged prayers for the new administration of President-elect Joe Biden but declined to acknowledge his Democratic successor by name.
President Donald Trump In His Farewell Address
¡ª The Columbia Bugle ?? (@ColumbiaBugle) January 19, 2021
"I ran for President because I knew there were towering new summits for America just waiting to be scaled. I knew the potential for our nation was boundless as long as we put America First." pic.twitter.com/pzdOQ6XQRt
A Farewell Message from First Lady Melania Trump pic.twitter.com/WfG1zg2mt4
¡ª Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) January 18, 2021
"This week, we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous," the Republican president said in the video remarks. "We extend our best wishes, and we also want them to have luck - a very important word."
"The greatest danger we face is a loss of confidence in ourselves, a loss of confidence in our national greatness," Trump said. "America is not a timid nation of tame souls who need to be sheltered and protected from those with whom we disagree."
AP
Trump has yet to personally congratulate Biden on his win or invite him for the customary cup of tea in the Oval Office. In one of his last acts before he flies to Florida from Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday morning, Trump, as expected, issued scores of pardons.
Trump pardons many, excluding himself, kin
Outgoing president Trump has pardoned 70 people and commuted the sentences of a further 73 people, granting clemency that ranged from rappers to financiers and lobbyists. But he did not pardon himself, members of his family or lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
However, the most high profile of Donald Trump¡¯s pardons, to his former aide Steve Bannon, may have repercussions within the Republican party, according to Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney at Politico.
AFP
Bannon was a key adviser in Trump¡¯s 2016 presidential run. He was charged last year with swindling Trump supporters over an effort to raise private funds to build the president¡¯s wall on the US-Mexico border.
Send-off ceremony
Instead we have the prospect of a Donald Trump sending off ceremony, which Adam Gabbatt has previewed for us.
Trump is due to leave the White House just before 8am, headed for Joint Base Andrews, the military base in Maryland used by Air Force One.
The White House has issued invitations for a ceremony at the base, with attendees told to arrive at 7.15 am and the event due to start 45 minutes later ¨C that¡¯s at 1pm if you are, like me, in the UK. Few details have been released about the event, but Trump is reportedly keen on a lavish affair, featuring a 21-gun salute, a color guard, a military band and reams of supporters, CNN reported.
Reuters
In a sign that Trump¡¯s aides may be struggling to gather a large crowd, however, guests have been told they can bring up to five other people, and invitees even included Anthony Scaramucci, the extremely short-lived former White House communications director who has become a vocal Trump critic.
A further blow to Trump¡¯s designs on an ostentatious farewell came when the Pentagon reportedly said it would not hold an armed forces farewell tribute for the outgoing president.
After the ceremony Trump will fly to the Mar-a-Lago compound in Florida that is set to become his home. Air Force One will then return to Maryland where it will be at the future disposal of the newly inaugurated president Joe Biden.
Reuters
Trump will be the first president since Andrew Johnson in 1869 to skip a successor¡¯s inauguration.
Holed up at White House in final weeks
Trump has been holed up at the White House for the final weeks of his term, reeling after the riot by his supporters at the Capitol that left five people dead, including a Capitol Police officer. The stampede, which followed a rally in which Trump repeated false allegations of election fraud, has overshadowed any efforts to emphasize the president's legacy in his final days in office.
Senior Writer at Indiatimes. She writes on Lifestyle, fashion, beauty, astrology and health.
