Donald Trump departs White House for final time as President

Donald Trump has left Washington DC and the White House for the final time as president, alongside his wife Melania Trump .

The outgoing president left the White House at 8.18am aboard a helicopter, and headed for Joint Base Andrews, where he gave a speech.

Trump had demanded an ostentatious ceremony with a sprawling crowd, but didn’t quite get the latter. TV footage showed several empty spaces among the people who had gathered in a viewing area.

Attendees had been told to arrive at the Joint Base Andrews, a military air base used by presidents, between 6am and 7.15am, when the temperature hovered above zero.

A campaign-style stage was set up at the base, with total of 17 US flags hung behind a speaker’s podium.

Air force one presidential plane was parked in the background, waiting to fly the president out.

The president had been hoping for a large crowd to see him off. It didn’t happen.

Senior Republicans had shunned the event, including House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, in favor of attending Biden’s inauguration. Even Trump’s vice-president Mike Pence didn’t make it – a White House official told reporters it would be difficult for Pence to attend both the sendoff and the inauguration.

Trump boarded Air Force One after the ceremony and headed for the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

His aides are carrying the so-called “nuclear football”, which will continue to be at Trump’s behest until midday.

In recent administrations the football – which serves as the key to America’s nuclear arsenal – has passed from the outgoing president to his successor after the inauguration. With Trump set to be in Florida while Biden’s inauguration takes place, the incoming president will instead take possession of a second football. At 12pm, when Biden is sworn in, Trump’s nuclear codes will go dead.