Trump Departs White House, With Capitol Riot Defining His Tumultuous Term
Unwilling to admit defeat but with his time in office at its end, President Trump left the White House early Wednesday, skipping the Inauguration Day ceremony that generations of outgoing presidents have attended — a symbolic peaceful transfer of power made all but impossible by his actions after losing the election to Joe Biden.
Trump came to power four years ago with a focus on what he called America's "forgotten men and women." But now he stands perhaps to be remembered most not for what he did in the White House, but instead for an insurrection two weeks ago, when his supporters stormed the very spot where Biden will take his oath of office.
A week later, the Democratic-led House of Representatives made Trump the only president in U.S. history to — this latest time for inciting the Jan. 6 riot as Congress gathered to certify the results of an election that the president had repeatedly and falsely said had been stolen from him. The Senate is set to consider whether to take steps that for office.
