WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump will leave Washington on Wednesday morning, hours before the inauguration of his Democratic successor Joe Biden, according to an official.

The outgoing president, who had already announced he would not attend the swearing-in, will fly to his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, where he intends to stay.

After two months of refusing to acknowledge his defeat in the Nov 3 election, Trump finally promised a transition in recent days, but never congratulated Biden.

In light of the coronavirus pandemic and last week’s attack by Trump supporters on Congress, Biden’s team and Washington mayor Muriel Bowser have asked Americans to avoid the Capitol area and the city’s downtown and watch the inauguration ceremony from their computers and TVs.

Presidential inaugurations are generally attended by hundreds of thousands of people who pack onto the National Mall, but officials have closed the immense lawn due to security concerns.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2021