Washington: Frustrated by the loss of his Twitter account and forced to accept that he soon must leave office, President Donald Trump has effectively stopped doing his job, delegating daily responsibilities to Vice-President Mike Pence while hunkering down with a shrinking group of acquiescent aides and contemplating additional presidential pardons.

Trump had considered leaving the White House before his final day in office, even as early as this weekend, but he has opted to depart on the morning of President-elect Joe Biden’s Inauguration Day, according to two people familiar with discussions who cautioned that, with Trump, plans are always subject to change.

President Donald Trump has asked for an elaborate send-off on the morning of Inauguration Day. Credit:Bloomberg

The President has requested a major send-off on the morning of inauguration. It would begin with a throng of cheering, flag-waving staffers and supporters to see him off on the White House’s South Lawn, according to a person familiar with the planning, and continue to a more formal ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, featuring a red carpet, military band, colour guard and 21-gun salute. He’ll make his final Air Force One flight to Florida, to take up residence at Mar-a-Lago, his West Palm Beach, Florida, estate.

While Trump is still unwilling to formally concede to Biden directly, or to participate in the traditional show of the peaceful transfer of power by attending his successor’s swearing-in, Pence called Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and “congratulated her and offered assistance ahead of inauguration,” according to a person familiar with the call.

Pence, his relationship with Trump all but severed now because he refused to abet the President’s efforts to overturn the election result, confirmed earlier in the week that he plans to attend Biden’s inauguration. Trump, in one of his final tweets last week, made it clear he would not be going.

Previously, Trump had floated the idea of leaving town early to avoid having to host Biden at the White House before the inauguration ceremonies at the Capitol, as has long been traditional – to provide the time-honoured photo of the outgoing and incoming presidents that gives visual definition to America’s peaceful transfer of power. Though he now might stay until Inauguration Day, Trump still has no plans to meet with the President-elect.

Vice President Mike Pence elbow bumps with a member of the National Guard as he speaks to troops outside the Capitol on Thursday evening.Credit:AP

On his way home, Pence stopped to greet some of the 20,000 National Guards posted outside the Capitol, thanking them for their service.

By Friday (Saturday AEDT), Trump still had not addressed the nation about reports from the FBI and other law enforcement agencies that domestic terrorists, emboldened by the breach of the Capitol that left at least five dead, threatened not only the inauguration but all 50 state capitals.

My Pillow Chief Executive Mike Lindell, one of Trump’s staunchest defenders in arguing that fraud cost the President reelection, was spotted around an otherwise quiet White House. As Lindell left the West Wing, a photographer captured an image showing that the notes he was holding referred to “martial law” and the “Insurrection Act".

Pence is also scheduled to deliver an address Saturday, local time, on the administration’s “foreign policy accomplishments” at California’s Naval Air Station Lemoore, and then to the 10th Mountain Division, in Fort Drum, New York.

Typically, outgoing Presidents take part in an official farewell ceremony with members of the armed forces. Trump, however, isn’t bothering. The White House emailed a brief statement to reporters from Trump that could mark a final, 67-word valedictory.

“United States military troops in Afghanistan are at a 19-year low. Likewise, Iraq and Syria are also at the lowest point in many years,” the President said. “I will always be committed to stopping the endless wars. It has been a great honour to rebuild our military and support our brave men and women in uniform. $2.5 trillion invested, including in beautiful new equipment – all made in the USA.”

Spending his final days almost entirely out of view, Trump is said to be readying a number of pardons and weighing whether to give one to himself. A self-pardon would be an act of untested and dubious constitutionality.

Those who have been in contact with the President are loath to predict whether he will go through with the brazen move. His calculations now must be weighed against the unsettled matter of his impeachment trial in the Senate; a conviction could bar him from ever seeking office again.

Los Angeles Times

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