Trump Bids Farewell to Washington, Hints of Comeback
10:50 a.m.
President Donald Trump has arrived in Florida after leaving the White House for the final time as president.
Trump said farewell to Washington early Wednesday, leaving before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Trump’s plane flew low along the coast as Biden’s inauguration played on TV on Fox News Channel.
Trump’s family was on the plane with him. He spent some of the flight meeting with flight staff, who went up to say goodbye.
Trump has hinted about a comeback despite a legacy of chaos, tumult and bitter divisions in the country he led for four years.
Trump spoke to supporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where he walked across a red carpet and boarded Air Force One to head to Florida. He said: “So just a goodbye. We love you.” And the 45th president added, “We will be back in some form.”
Trump departs office as the only president ever impeached twice, and with millions more out of work than when he was sworn in and 400,000 dead from the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, The White House says President Donald Trump has pardoned Al Pirro, the ex-husband of Fox News Channel host and Trump ally Jeanine Pirro.
The pardon for Al Pirro is in addition to the 143 pardons and sentence commutations that Trump announced earlier Wednesday. Pirro's pardon was announced just after Trump landed in Florida after leaving the White House and before Joe Biden was inaugurated as the nation's 46th president.
Jeanine Pirro hosts Fox News Channel’s “Justice with Judge Jeanine.”
Al Pirro was convicted of conspiracy and tax evasion charges and sentenced to more than two years in prison in 2000.
___________
9:20 a.m.
President Donald Trump has followed at least one presidential tradition.
The White House says the Republican president left behind a note for his successor, Democrat Joe Biden.
Deputy press secretary Judd Deere declined to reveal what Trump wrote to Biden or to characterize the sentiment in the note, citing privacy for communication between presidents.
Trump has refused to publicly concede to Biden and did not mention the Democrat by name in a pair of farewell addresses.
Trump interrupted many traditions of the presidency, including by not attending Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday. Trump also did not invite Biden to the White House for a meeting after Biden was declared the winner of November’s presidential election
Trump left the White House for the final time as president on Wednesday morning, saying, “It’s been a great honor, the honor of a lifetime.”
You can WATCH President Trump participate in an official sendoff ceremony at Joint Base Andrews as he leaves office.
___
9:05 a.m.
President Donald Trump says he thinks the new administration will have “great success” and claims to have laid the foundation for it.
Trump says the new administration has the “foundation to do something really spectacular.” He made brief farewell remarks at Maryland’s Joint Base Andrews before he boarded Air Force One for a flight to his Florida home.
Trump did not mention President-elect Joe Biden by name during his Wednesday remarks.
Trump told cheering, chanting supporters he’ll be watching and listening from a distance. He promised he will be back “in some form” and wished the crowd a “good life” before he and his wife boarded the plane.
Trump wanted to be in Florida before Biden becomes president at noon.
_____
8:15 a.m.
Donald Trump has left the White House for the final time as president.
Trump emerged from the building Wednesday morning and strode across the South Lawn to board Marine One. He said, “It’s been a great honor, the honor of a lifetime.”
Trump now heads to Joint Base Andrews in suburban Maryland, where he’ll have a military sendoff. A red carpet has been placed on the tarmac for Trump to walk as he boards the plane. Four U.S. Army cannons are set up for a 21-gun salute. Trump then flies to Florida, where he’ll stay at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump is leaving Washington just hours before Joe Biden takes the oath of office as the 46th president. It’s the first time in more than a century that a sitting president has rejected the tradition of attending his successor’s inauguration.