Trump Leaves The National Stage — Or Has He?

By Susan Crabtree for RealClearPolitics

After descending the marble steps of the White Home’s South Portico for his closing time as president, Donald Trump couldn’t assist himself.

He stopped to talk with the press earlier than lifting off aboard Marine One for his closing farewell ceremony and unknown subsequent chapter.

Clad in his trademark scarlet tie and black topcoat, Trump was way more subdued and succinct than traditional as he addressed the bevy of reporters he had demonized every day because the “enemy of the individuals,” “a shame” and “faux information.”

Gone have been the anger and the accusations – not less than on this second.

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“It’s been an incredible honor – the glory of a lifetime,” he stated. “… We’ve had an incredible 4 years. We’ve completed rather a lot. We love the American individuals, and once more it has been one thing very particular.”

First woman Melania Trump, standing by his aspect in all-black go well with, darkish sun shades and stilettos, was the one to finish the transient remarks with a decent smile and a wave.

“And I simply need to say goodbye, however hopefully it’s not a long-term goodbye,” Trump concluded earlier than clasping fingers with Melania, turning and strolling to helicopter. “We’ll see one another once more.”

The transient, virtually wistful remarks served as a telling send-off. The press and the reality-TV-star/ business-tycoon-turned-populist-president fed off one another for the 5 years Trump commanded the nationwide political stage.

Some critics of the 45^th president have blamed CNN chief Jeff Zucker for Trump’s early GOP main rise.

CNN’s airing of Trump rallies grew to become a rankings bonanza, and the community continued to stoke viewership by taking on the now-debunked Russia collusion narrative, funded by the Hillary Clinton camp and the Democratic Nationwide Committee, even earlier than Trump moved into the White Home.

Now CNN and MSNBC executives are reportedly fretting over the right way to function in a post-Trump future after reaching new heights in rankings and revenues throughout his time in workplace.

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The mutually useful open warfare between the combative president and a military of reporters who obsessively lined his each Twitter insult has come to an finish – or will or not it’s solely a pressured hiatus?

Trump’s over-the-top nationalistic tendencies and bombast energized supporters and unnerved his enemies, fueling much more media rankings wars.

Simply steps away from the South Portico just a few months in the past, Trump once more accepted his social gathering’s nomination, this time on the South Garden in entrance of a thousand supporters seated in rows of carefully packed chairs, regardless of the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump delivered his acceptance speech on a big stage, bedecked with red-white-and blue bunting and massive marketing campaign indicators.

Elaborate fireworks that spelled out “Trump” and “2020” towards the backdrop of the Washington Monument capped his remarks, adopted by an opera singer acting from the Blue Room balcony.

The extravaganza on the White Home grounds was denounced by detractors as an obscene partisan tainting of a authorities constructing.

Trump stated he selected to ship the speech there after being pressured to cancel plans for a Florida-based conference due to COVID.

“Trump goes out of his strategy to blow off the Hatch Act,” the Washington Publish railed, referencing the legislation designed to separate official actions at authorities buildings from partisan politicking.

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The intervening 5 months, nevertheless, have been darkish and something however celebratory as Trump refused to acknowledge his loss to Joe Biden, asserting large election fraud.

He was pressured to return to grips along with his defeat solely after a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol constructing, ensuing within the deaths of 5 individuals and horrifying the nation.

Trump’s extensively assailed function in inciting the violence will ceaselessly taint his legacy. It additionally forged a pall over his closing two weeks in workplace.

Even earlier than the assault on the Capitol, Trump had declined to say whether or not he would attend Biden’s inauguration, a symbolic act marking the standard peaceable switch of energy.

Within the days afterward, with Democrats and a few Republicans blaming him for the ugly occasions on Jan. 6, Trump introduced he would break with custom and skip it.

It was the primary time in 152 years that an outgoing president didn’t attend the inauguration of his successor.

As an alternative, Trump centered on the symbolism of his personal exit. He had envisioned a giant, military-style send-off with a potential fly-over filled with taxpayer-funded patriotic pageantry.

Ultimately, he settled for speech towards his favourite backdrop, Air Pressure One, after the army band performed “Hail to the Chief” and a 21-gun salute echoed throughout the tarmac.

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A detailed-knit crowd of aides, loyalists and members of the family have been readily available at Joint Base Andrews for the departure. His personal vp, Mike Pence, nevertheless, opted to honor custom and attend Biden’s swearing-in.

Earlier than leaving for Florida, Trump touted his White Home achievements, together with enacting tax cuts, putting three conservative justices on the Supreme Court docket, overseeing a hovering financial system earlier than the pandemic, growing a COVID vaccine in document time, rebuilding the U.S. army, creating a brand new Area Pressure and making certain higher take care of veterans.

In fact, he overlooked that the U.S. coronavirus demise toll had topped 400,000 or that jobless claims had surged this week to the very best complete since August.

Simply making a Area Pressure itself could be a serious accomplishment for “an everyday administration,” he insisted. “We weren’t an everyday administration” — a characterization the media deemed a uncommon occasion of trustworthy self-reflection and understatement.

Trump didn’t point out Joe Biden’s title as soon as in his remarks however wished the brand new administration nicely, whereas seeming to take credit score upfront for any future Biden achievements.

“I’ll all the time battle for you,” he stated. “I will likely be watching. I will likely be listening. And I’ll let you know that the way forward for this nation has by no means been higher. I want the brand new administration nice luck and nice success. I feel they’ll have an incredible the muse to do one thing actually spectacular.

“Goodbye. We love you. We’ll be again in some kind. Have a great life.”

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As his remarks ended, the Village Folks’s “YMCA,” the upbeat Trump marketing campaign rally staple, roared out kind the loudspeakers, because the departing president clapped to the music, although he didn’t bop alongside, fortunately punching the sky per post-rally traditional.

In a brand new twist, as Air Pressure One started to roll alongside the tarmac, Frank Sinatra’s “My Method” boomed from the audio system.

Even his most ardent political foes couldn’t argue with that swan tune. Precisely what the following act holds now for Trump is the topic of nice nationwide debate.

Will the 45^th president additional fracture the GOP by launching a brand new political social gathering, dubbed the Patriot Celebration, as a number of media shops have reported?

At the least one conservative strategist thinks Trump will notice that taking equivalent to step is a monumental endeavor with little upside.

His populist persona and large following are much better suited to showcasing on a media platform solid in his picture, the strategist argued.

“With Trump off social media, there’s simply large pent up demand for him that’s solely going to develop,” the strategist, who requested anonymity, instructed RealClearPolitics.

“I feel a media outlet is a manner higher manner ahead for him than a 3rd social gathering. He’s comfy in that area. He can nonetheless do rallies, his community would cowl them if nobody else does, and they’d nonetheless draw nice rankings.”

Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy and Trump are already good mates, and that conservative outlet has been stealing the Trump viewers from Fox Information since election evening, prompting a workers shakeup and a number of other firings on the latter in latest days.

A Trump-Newsmax partnership would supply the previous president a ready-made platform and additional erode Fox’s longtime maintain on conservative viewers.

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Simply 11 minutes earlier than his time period ended and Biden grew to become president, Trump arrived at his Mar-a-Lago dwelling. Supporters had gathered alongside the boulevard between the airport and the lavish resort.

The ultimate presidential motorcade slowly moved alongside, as Trump waved to throngs of well-wishers, some in tears, some holding indicators displaying their timeless loyalty.  

“Trump four ever my president,” one signal stated. Others supplied form phrases: “Praying four Trump!” “Thanks. We Love You.” Nonetheless one other included an expletive aimed toward Biden.

One notable political determine stood out within the crowd: Roger Stone, who lives in Fort Lauderdale. Stone, who served as a marketing campaign adviser to Trump, was convicted of mendacity to Congress and witness tampering fees introduced by Particular Counsel Robert Mueller, who investigated whether or not Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election.

“I got here to pay my respects as a result of I like the person,” he instructed the Florida Solar-Sentinel. Trump pardoned Stone final month after commuting his sentence in July.

Earlier within the day, Stone appeared at a rally for Trump in West Palm Seashore and predicted his pal wouldn’t recede from the political panorama.

“You view this as the top. I view it as the start,” he instructed a neighborhood information outlet. “…I don’t suppose you’ve seen the final of Donald Trump by any means in any respect.”

Syndicated with permission from RealClearWire.

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