According to reports, President Trump will leave the White House the same morning of Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 21.
President Trump is scheduled to leave Washington, D.C, officially on Wednesday morning. This is the same day when Joe Biden will be formally sworn in and take the oath of office as the 46th President of the United States.
Accordingly, Trump also stated that he will not attend the inauguration and will skip the ceremonial transfer of power. This move defies the White House tradition and will make President Trump the 4th President in U.S. history to skip his successor’s ceremonial transfer of power.
Reports say that VP Pence is expected to attend president elect Biden’s inauguration. Pres Trump says he will not. pic.twitter.com/7wQlj0H5Pm
— Deborah Roberts (@DebRobertsABC) January 10, 2021
However, in the past weeks, President Trump has stood his ground and refused to concede in the 2020 election as he alleges voting fraud and irregularities in 2020 election. Due to the current friction between parties, he has not met with his successor at the White House.
Back in the 2016 Presidential race, President Obama met with Trump in the White House just a few days after the election.
Instead of attending the inauguration, President Trump will instead hold his own departure ceremony at the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before his final flight aboard Air Force One.
In addition to this, a person familiar with the ongoing plans also said that officials are considering an elaborate send-off event for Trump, the same as the receptions that he has received during his state visits abroad. It will have a complete red carpet, color guard, military band, and as well as 21 gun salute. According to the Associated Press, these details were given by the source on condition of anonymity.
Trump would be the fourth president to skip an inauguration if he refuses to attend Biden's ceremony https://t.co/nt5On9CGO5
— The Independent (@Independent) December 4, 2020
Trump, who has been a lifelong New Yorker, officially moved his residency in Florida in 2019. Last week, the White House staffers had seen carting boxes out of the White Hosue official residence.
Although the incoming administration asked some staffers to stay at the White House, the people were reduced to skeleton crew with more people scheduled to leave on Friday. Including among them is White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Then on Monday, the press staff will be only down to two people.
Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence has already put in a call to Senator Kamala Harris, giving her a congratulatory message on her victory and promising to assist her in the transition process. Compared to President Trump, Vice President Pence is expected to attend the inauguration on January 21.
In a Tweet, Trump slammed Pence saying, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certified. USA demands the truth!” However, said tweet had not been taken down along with the rest of his account.
A few weeks ago, Trump publicly broke his ties with Pence after he refused to go against the certification of electoral college certification on January 6. On that same day, the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol happened as a mob of protesters broke into the building, forcing lawmakers into hiding and leaving five people dead.
