Biden inauguration live updates: Trump issues final pardons on last day; Biden to be sworn in on century-old family heirloom
All eyes on White House to spot Trump leaving
In the next few hours, Donald Trump will walk out of the White House and board Marine One for the last time as president, leaving behind a legacy of chaos and tumult and a nation bitterly divided.
The world’s media is closely watching the White House tonight (it’s early on Wednesday morning in Washington, DC) to spot the former reality TV host make his exit.
Four years after standing on stage at his own inauguration and painting a dire picture of “American carnage”, Trump departs the office twice impeached, with millions more out of work and 400,000 dead from the coronavirus. Republicans under his watch lost the presidency and both chambers of Congress. He will be forever remembered for the final major act of his presidency: inciting an insurrection at the Capitol that left five dead, including a Capitol Police officer, and horrified the nation.
Trump will be the first president in modern history to boycott his successor’s inauguration.
The inauguration of Joe Biden will take place in a Washington on edge, after the deadly riot at the US Capitol unleashed a wave of fear and unmatched security concerns. And law enforcement officials are contending not only with the potential for outside threats but also with rising concerns about an insider attack by troops with a duty to protect him.
The nation’s capital is essentially on lockdown. More than 25,000 troops and police have been called to duty. Tanks and concrete barriers block the streets. The National Mall is closed. Fencing lines the perimeter of the US Capitol complex. Checkpoints sit at intersections. The US Secret Service, which is in charge of the event, says it is prepared.
But law enforcement officials have been monitoring members of far-right extremist and militia groups. They have grown increasingly concerned about the possibility such groups could stream into Washington and spark violent confrontations, a law enforcement official said.
