Wed 20 January 2021:
President Trump released a farewell address on Tuesday in his final full day in office as he attempts to cement his legacy, after the assault on the Capitol that followed weeks of his false claims about the election and after he became the first president in history to be impeached twice. Mr. Trump is scheduled to depart the White House at 8 a.m. on Wednesday.
“This week we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous. We extend our best wishes, and we also want them to have luck — a very important word,” Trump said in a speech that was clearly scripted but with small insertions of Trump flair.
Trump did acknowledge the new administration taking over the White House, but did not mention President-elect Joe Biden by name. He has yet to call Mr. Biden the president-elect.
“We extend our best wishes,” he said. “And we also want them to have luck. A very important word.
“Now, as we prepare to hand power over to a new administration at noon on Wednesday, I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning,” he said.
“Most of all, I want to thank the American people,” Trump said. “To serve as your president has been an honor beyond description.”
In the beginning of his speech, Trump said he embarked on a mission to “make America great again,” a slogan he repeatedly used during his remarks and “we did what we came here to do — and so much more.”
Trump did mention the violent attack on the nation’s Capitol, even as he has denied that his rhetoric was remotely responsible for it.
“All Americans were horrified by the assault on our Capitol. Political violence is an attack on everything we cherish as Americans. It can never be tolerated,” the president said in his address.
He said his administration revitalized US alliances and “rallied the nations of the world to stand up to China like never before.”
“I am especially proud to be the first President in decades who has started no new wars,” said Trump in a video, during which he thanked members of his administration for the four-year term.
Turning to the Middle East, the outgoing president recalled that the US defeated the Daesh/ISIS caliphate and killed its leader as well as standing up to “the oppressive Iranian regime and killed the world’s top terrorist, Iranian butcher Qasem Soleimani.”
He said that during his presidency, Washington also recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, despite an international outcry.
Biden is set to be inaugurated as the 46th president of the US, but Trump rejected the results of the Nov. 3 presidential elections, citing fraud, and called for mass rallies.
In a gathering on Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C., Trump made a contentious speech to a crowd, after which his supporters marched toward the US Capitol as lawmakers were counting Electoral College votes for Biden’s win.
The mob of Trump supporters stormed the legislative building, and the ensuing clashes resulted in the deaths of five people.
Trump was impeached in the House of Representatives on an article of “incitement of insurrection” and is facing a Senate trial after the inauguration.
“Now, as I prepare to hand power over to a new administration at noon on Wednesday, I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning,” he said.
“There’s never been anything like it. The belief that a nation must serve its citizens will not dwindle but instead only grow stronger by the day.”
Trump is bucking the tradition of attending his successor’s inauguration, instead leaving the White House Wednesday morning for a farewell ceremony at Joint Base Andrews. The White House sent out invitations for an 8 a.m. ceremony.
