- Outgoing President
Donald Trump made a brief speech before departing Washington, DC, ahead of President-elect Joe Biden'sinauguration . - "So just a goodbye, we love you. We will be back in some form," he said on Wednesday.
- Trump is en route to his Mar-a-Lago club for a farewell ceremony.
Outgoing President Donald Trump went characteristically off-script in his parting words to a small crowd of supporters before leaving Washington, DC, ahead of inauguration.
"I will always fight for you. I will be watching, I will be listening. And I will tell you that the future of this country has never been better," Trump said on Wednesday.
"So just a goodbye, we love you. We will be back in some form," he added to cheers at Joint Base Andrews, before he departed on Air Force One for Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump briefly thanked outgoing Vice President Mike Pence, as well as "certain elements of Congress" and "all of the people we worked with to put this miracle together," referring to his four-year term.
"Have a good life, we will see you soon," he said, then walked off stage to the tune of the Village People's "YMCA," a song frequently played at his campaign rallies.
Trump also wished "the new administration great luck and great success," though did not mention President-elect Joe Biden nor Vice President-elect Kamala Harris by name or title. Trump has broken with American tradition by refusing to concede he lost the election.
According to a transcript of his prepared remarks, reported by multiple news outlets, Trump was supposed to say "We wish President Biden and Vice President Harris great success in keeping America strong, prosperous and free."
Trump is en route to his Mar-a-Lago club for a farewell ceremony, skipping Biden's inauguration. He is the first outgoing president since 1869 to refuse to attend their successor's swearing-in.
—CNN (@CNN) January 20, 2021