Source: ALEX EDELMAN / Getty
President Donald Trump departed the White House for the final time Wednesday morning.
The outgoing President made one last speech before boarding Air Force One, saying “We were not a regular administration.” He and his wife Melania head to their Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Fla., skipping the inauguration for President-elect Joe Biden at Noon ET.
Trump will be the first president in more than 150 years to not attend his successor’s inauguration, since former President Andrew Jackson refused to attend Ulysses S. Grant’s swearing-in ceremony in 1869. He held a farewell event at Joint Base Andrews in front of roughly 50 people before departing for Florida. The event was attended by his family members, but without GOP leaders Vice President Mike Pence and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who opted not to attend.
Trump thanked his staff and supporters and rattled off some accomplishments while in office including the creation of COVID-19 vaccine, his economic progress prior to the pandemic, and Space Force. Trump also threw a jab at President-elect Joe Biden, asking Americans to “remember us” when the economy makes a downward turn. He then wished the Biden administration “great luck and great success,” but claimed they would have success because of the “foundation” his administration laid. He finished by telling supporters, “We will be back in some form.”
“You are amazing people, this is a great, great country, it is my greatest honor and privilege to have been your president,” Trump said. “I will always fight for you, I will be watching, I will be listening.” He wrapped up by saying “Have a good life, we will see you soon.”
