A foreign press reported on the 15th (local time) that US President Donald Trump will not attend the inauguration ceremony of the next President Joe Biden, which will be held on the 20th, and will hold a separate resignation event at the air base on this day. There is no precedent for a retired president to hold a separate event on the day of his inauguration ceremony.
According to the Washington Post (WP) and Reuters, President Trump is set to leave the White House on the morning of the 20th, just before Biden’s oath of office, and head for the nearby Andrews Air Force Base. A government official said that it is expected to have a farewell event here and head to Florida, where his home is located, on the Air Force One, a presidential aircraft.
Political media The Hill reported that Trump was holding a military chairman event at the base.
The WP pointed out that “no recent president has done his farewell event at Andrews Air Force Base during the inauguration of his successor president.”
Trump wants to start playing a military band on the red carpet with military courtesy, but plans are in flux, and after arriving in Florida, he hopes to hold a rally and give a farewell speech, but the odds are small, the New York Times (NYT) said.
Trump’s departure before Biden’s inauguration is because he is still incumbent at that time and can board Air Force One, The Hill said.
If you wait until after the inauguration ceremony, you have to ask Biden for permission to use the presidential plane.
After attending the inauguration ceremony held at the Capitol, the U.S. presidential couple, who are usually retired, travel by military helicopter to the air base where the government aircraft is located. WP explains that they take a private plane there and go wherever they want to go as ordinary citizens.
This is the first president since Andrew Johnson in 1869 who does not attend the inauguration ceremony for his successor. Like Trump, former President Johnson was impeached by the House of Representatives.
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