RFI
21 Jan 2021, 05:01 GMT+10
U.S. President Donald Trump left the White House for the final time on Wednesday, heading by helicopter to a nearby military base where he flew to Florida, skipping the inauguration of successor Joe Biden in an extraordinary break with tradition.
Trump, 74, and First Lady Melania Trump walked a short red carpet and boarded Marine One on the White House lawn on a sunny but chilly day in Washington for the short flight to Joint Base Andrews, where he boarded Air Force One.
In brief remarks to reporters, Trump said it had been an "amazing four years" and the "honor of a lifetime."
"I just want to say goodbye," he said.
Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when Biden was sworn in at noon (1700 GMT) as the 46th president of the United States.
A more elaborate departure ceremony took place at Joint Base Andrews including a 21-gun salute and remarks by the outgoing president, the first to skip the inauguration of his successor in more than 150 years.
Trump repeatedly and falsely claimed that he won the November 3 presidential election and his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6 in a bid to disrupt the certification by Congress of Biden's victory.
(AFP)
Get a daily dose of Dallas Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Dallas Sun.
More InformationAUSTIN, Texas: Texas lawmakers have begun hearings into the causes of the enormous power outages that plagued Texas residents at ...
WASHINGTON DC: - Career foreign service diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield was approved to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations this ...
NEW YORK, New York - Like a mob boss looking for payback, Donald Trump wanted the Supreme Court to do ...
WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered immediate inspections of all Boeing 777-200 planes using Pratt ...
BRUSSELS, Belgium - In a largely symbolic move, foreign ministers of the European Union agreed this week to sanction four ...
WASHINGTON, DC - Moderna has announced, following approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, that it will place 15 ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks were like a tug of war Friday. Industrials lost ground, while technology stocks ...
WASHINGTON, DC - Several payment services belonging to the U.S. Federal Reserve came to a standstill on Wednesday, including the ...
SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Shares across Asia were slammed on Friday sending the major indices tumbling."The bond market is signalling ...
The US is witnessing the strongest housing market boom since 2014, with record-low mortgage rates and a limited supply of ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks tumbled on Thursday as U.S. Treasury yields rose. sparking inflationary fears.Technology stocks took ...
The winter storms that have swept across the U.S., particularly Texas, upending the energy market and knocking out power for ...