The first lady is winding down her final week at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and preparing for the next phase of her family's life.
"Melania Trump is not sad to be leaving," one White House official told CNN. The first family will move to Mar-a-Lago after leaving Washington D.C.
VietPress USA News
Trump White House begins packing up
One day after President Trump was impeached for the second time and with less than a week to go before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, the Trump White House began cleaning out its desks on Thursday.
While 20,000 National Guard troops have descended upon Washington in order to protect the capital from pro-Trump protests expected in the coming days, White House staffers were spotted removing a bust of President Abraham Lincoln from the West Wing.
Staffers did not immediately clarify if the bust belongs to the White House permanent collection, or where it was headed. Other West Wing employees were seen carrying out personal effects from offices.
Assistant to the president Peter Navarro was also seen carrying a framed photograph out of the White House on Wednesday, despite his insistence that Trump had won the election.
“The Democratic Party did violence to this country by attacking a president who I believe was legally elected on November 3,” Navarro said in a Thursday interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.
While Trump himself has yet to acknowledge that Biden won the election, on Wednesday he called on his supporters to refrain from violence. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice have issued alerts about armed protests by Trump supporters leading up to Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
With just six days remaining until Trump is expected to hand over the keys to the White House to Biden — metaphorically, as he does not plan to attend Biden’s inauguration — the goodbyes have already begun.
Yet with the tradition of a smooth transfer of power already shattered by congressional Republicans who voted to contest the certification of the Electoral College votes last week, and by the riot initiated by Trump supporters hoping to overturn the election results, other traditions have fallen by the wayside.
The Pentagon will not host a farewell tribute to Trump, as is customary for an outgoing commander in chief, Defense One reported Thursday.
Cover photo: Jabin Botsford/the Washington Post via Getty Images
