Donald Trump says ‘the movement we started is just beginning’

President Donald Trump will brag in his farewell address that he began no new wars in his four years in the White House but made no mention of his successor Joe Biden taking office on Wednesday.

In excerpts of his remarks released by the White House, Trump acknowledges a new administration coming to power but does not say Biden by name.

‘This week, we inaugurate a new Administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous,’ he will say. 

And he vows to be a continued presence on the political stage, noting his ‘movement’ is ‘only just beginning.’

‘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 will say.

His speech, which he video taped Monday at the White House, will be released at 4 p.m. Trump is scheduled to leave the White House Wednesday morning. He will not meet with his successor as he leaves and will not attend Biden’s swearing-in ceremony.

The outgoing president has eschewed the traditional trappings that come with a peaceful transfer of power. He did not host Biden at the White House for coffee after the election and will not greet him at front door ahead of the inauguration ceremony. 

President Donald Trump will brag in his farewell address that he began no new wars in his four years in the White House

President elect Joe Biden takes the oath of office at noon on Wednesday

President elect Joe Biden takes the oath of office at noon on Wednesday

Excerpts from Trump’s Farewell Address 

The greatest danger we face is a loss of confidence in ourselves – a loss of confidence in our national greatness.

No nation can long thrive that loses faith in its own values, history, and heroes – for these are the very sources of our unity and our vitality.

America is not a timid nation of tame souls who need to be sheltered and protected from those with whom we disagree.

We are—and must always be—a land of hope, of light and of glory to all the world.

This week, we inaugurate a new Administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous.

We did what we came here to do – and so much more.

Above all, we have reasserted the sacred idea that in America, the government answers to the people.

We restored the idea that in America, no one is forgotten – because everyone matters and everyone has a voice.

I took on the tough battles, the hardest fights, the most difficult choices – because that’s what you elected me to do.

Our agenda was not about right or left, it wasn’t about Republican or Democrat, but about the good of a nation, and that means the whole nation.

We restored American Strength at home—and American leadership abroad.

We built the greatest economy in the history of the world.

We revitalized our alliances and rallied the nations of the world to stand up to China like never before.

As a result of our bold diplomacy and principled realism, we achieved a series of historic peace deals in the Middle East. It is the dawn of a new Middle East and we are bringing our soldiers home.

I am especially proud to be the first president in decades who has started no new wars.

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.

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.

But even as he rallies his supporters to his side, he denounced any violence. Republican leaders criticized Trump for inciting the MAGA mob that rioted on Capitol Hill January 6th, leaving five dead.

‘All Americans were horrified by the assault on our Capitol,’ Trump will say. ‘Political violence is an attack on everything we cherish as Americans. It can never be tolerated.’

There was no mention of his coronavirus pandemic in the remarks released. The United States surpassed 400,000 deaths from the virus on Tuesday. 

In the excerpts of his farewell remarks to the nation, Trump echoes many of the themes he touched on in his campaign rallies: a strong economy, peace in the Middle East, and his own supporters.

‘We restored American Strength at home—and American leadership abroad,’ he will say. ‘We built the greatest economy in the history of the world.’

He mentioned his administration’s work negotiating the Abraham Accords, through which four Arab countries have normalized relations with Israel.

‘As a result of our bold diplomacy and principled realism, we achieved a series of historic peace deals in the Middle East. It is the dawn of a new Middle East and we are bringing our soldiers home,’ he will say.

Trump was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his administration’s work in the Middle East although he did not win one. 

And he will also brag: ‘I am especially proud to be the first president in decades who has started no new wars.’

Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed the United States was close to war with North Korea when he became president in January 2017. 

And Trump, who was one of the most divisive presidents in American history, will claim to a leader for both sides of the political aisle. 

‘Our agenda was not about right or left, it wasn’t about Republican or Democrat, but about the good of a nation, and that means the whole nation,’ he will say. 

‘We did what we came here to do – and so much more,’ he’s to say, without offering specifics. 

‘I took on the tough battles, the hardest fights, the most difficult choices – because that’s what you elected me to do.’ 

President Trump is leaving office with one of the lowest approval ratings of an outgoing commander-in-chief.

His 34 per cent approval in a Gallup poll released Monday is the lowest approval rating of his term – which featured previous dips during the clash in Charlottesville in 2017, arrests of associates in the Russia probe, and Trump’s threats to rain ‘fire and fury’ upon North Korea.

The president, who soaked up polling information even as he regularly blasted public polls that partnered with major media organizations, never cracked 50 per cent. He is the only president not to do so since Gallup started measuring presidential job approval in 1938 under F.D.R. 

Trump will hold a military-style send off at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday morning, hours before Biden is sworn in as the nation’s 46th president.

But many top Republicans are skipping the event to spend the day with Biden.

Vice President Mike Pence will not be there nor will top Republican congressional leaders.

Pence is attending Biden’s swearing-in ceremony later on Wednesday and aides told The Washington Post that it would be logistically challenging for the vice president to do both events.  

The swearing-in will take place at the U.S. Capitol’s West Front while Trump’s farewell is at Joint Base Andrews, about 13 miles away. The events are three hours apart in timing and, as vice president, Pence has access to a motorcade and helicopter. 

There have been reports that organizers are struggling to fill the seats for Trump’s departure ceremony and are offering each invitee the chance to bring five guests of their own. Several former Trump staffers are declining to be there, including his former chief of staff John Kelly and his former National Security Adviser John Bolton. Both men were invited despite being top Trump critics in their post-White House lives.

Republican Congressional leaders also will snub President Trump’s farewell in order to go to mass with Biden as part of a bipartisan display of unity. 

Vice President Mike Pence will miss President Donald Trump's departure ceremony from Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday morning

Vice President Mike Pence will miss President Donald Trump’s departure ceremony from Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday morning

There are reports organizers are having trouble filling the seats for President Trump's farewell event and are allowing people to bring five guests with them

There are reports organizers are having trouble filling the seats for President Trump’s farewell event and are allowing people to bring five guests with them

Republicans Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, along with Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, will attend the Catholic service with Biden at St. Matthew’s church in downtown Washington D.C., about 10 blocks from the White House, Punchbowl News reported.

But McConnell and McCarthy’s decision to spend the morning with Biden means they will miss Trump’s military-style departure from JBA. 

Trump will be the first president in 150 years not to attend his successor’s swearing-in. He will be at his Mar-a-Lago residence when Biden becomes president. 

White House aides have sent out invitations for Trump;s farewell with guests instructed to arrive between 6am and 7:15am for the 8 am event. The ceremony may include a color guard and 21-gun salute.

The church service is at 8:45 a.m., Axios reported, meaning it will be impossible for McConnell and McCarthy to attend both events.

The images of the two Republican Congressional leaders with Biden are not likely to help their frosty relationship with Trump. In the wake of the January 6th MAGA riot on Capitol Hill both men accused Trump of inciting the crowd that stormed the Capitol, left five people dead and a mass of destruction in their wake. 

‘The mob was fed lies, they were provoked by the president and other powerful people,’ McConnell said on the Senate floor Tuesday morning.