WASHINGTON: Donald Trump left the White House for the last time on Wednesday with a vow to stay in the spotlight and an extraordinary snub of Joe Biden, skipping his inauguration as president.

Drawing a curtain on the most tumultuous administration of modern times, Trump, 74, and first lady Melania Trump walked a short red carpet and boarded the Marine One helicopter, which flew near the Capitol that was ready for Biden’s inauguration before heading to Andrews Air Force Base on Washington’s outskirts.

“This has been an incredible four years,” Trump told several hundred cheering supporters in a campaign-style event before flying off for the last time in Air Force One en route to Florida.

“We will be back in some form,” vowed Trump, who retains a hold on much of the Republican Party despite being the first president to be impeached twice.

Trump did not address Biden by name but, in a rare hint of graciousness, wished the next administration “great luck and great success”.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2021