The President-elect will participate in a memorial ceremony tonight, honoring the 400,000 US lives lost to Covid-19
President Trump is expected to release a video farewell message on his last full day as President.
The video, set to release at 4 p.m. ET, is expected to strike more of a conciliatory tone than more recent messages from Trump.
“This week, we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous,” he says in the video, according to excerpts released by the White House. “We did what we came here to do – and so much more.”
He describes his accomplishments and says he worked arduously for the American people, framing his presidency as one that championed the forgotten while making no apologies for his brazen approach to politics.
“America is not a timid nation of tame souls who need to be sheltered and protected from those with whom we disagree,” he says.
He touts having not started any new foreign wars and adopting a tough stance on China. And he takes credit for a resurgent US economy, even though it has slowed during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I took on the tough battles, the hardest fights, the most difficult choices – because that’s what you elected me to do,” he says.
The excerpts make no mention of Biden, but do allude to the violence at the Capitol earlier this month.
“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,” he says. “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.”
The President, who hasn’t left the White House or been seen in public for a week, recorded the message late Monday with a skeleton staff. Unlike most of his predecessors in the television era, a live prime-time farewell address attempting to burnish what has become a badly tarnished legacy is no longer in the cards.
