The view from Air Force One: Trump enjoys last perks of the job as power ebbs away

This is how the president arrived to start his new life in Florida.

“It’s been a great ride,” said an official, summing up the thrills of their time in office.

The fly-past was a bright spot in what must have been a bittersweet day. For Trump left office much as he had entered it: As a Washington outsider.

Trump departed as the only president ever to be impeached twice, hemorrhaging the support of senior party figures who blamed him for unleashing the forces that assaulted the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

The 300 or so supporters who gathered on the apron of Joint Base Andrews to see him off on a new life in Florida did not include many recognizable figures from his time in office or the hallways of power.

Instead, the most familiar faces were his family. Daughter Ivanka, sons Don Jr. and Eric, their partners, and other members of the inner circle stood beside the podium to watch the president in his final act — just as some of them assembled with Trump Organization employees and actors at his first campaign event when he glided down that golden escalator at Trump Tower.

This time, a U.S. Air Force band played “Hail to the Chief,” and a 21-gun salute rattled the air as he disembarked from Marine One and took the podium for the final time as president.

“So, just a goodbye. We love you. We will be back in some form,” he promised supporters. “Have a good life. We will see you soon.”

Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” played as he strode between an honor guard and boarded Air Force One.

Yet much of the pomp was missing. There was no fly-over, as Trump reportedly requested, and, by breaking the tradition of attending his successor’s inauguration, much of Washington’s powerful elite was making its way to the U.S. Capitol.

Plenty of his former officials, and even his own vice president, found themselves to be otherwise engaged when the invitations arrived, illustrating how Trump has fallen from grace.

The crowd was young and enthusiastic but failed to fill its allocated space.

Luis M. Alvarez/AP

Among the former officials who did accept an invitation was Sebastian Gorka, only a bit-part player in the early Trump White House before he became a major MAGA voice on the airwaves.

Presidential historian Joshua Kendall said the sight of a president leaving Washington without attending the inauguration carried an air of a flight into exile.

“It’s really flying out in disgrace,” he said. “With Nixon, it was Watergate, with Trump, it was the events of Jan. 6.”

But it need not mean Trump or his family’s political role was over, he added. At least not in the longer term.

“In the long term, Americans have a really hard time staying angry with their president,” he said. “If you look at Nixon, within five years of Ford losing an election because he pardoned him, Nixon was rehabilitated as elder statesman, and he never really apologized.”

For now, Trump headquarters will be Florida. Jason Miller, campaign adviser, and Trump social media guru Dan Scavino were on board Air Force One as part of a beachhead to establish the new base.

Not that you would know that plans were afoot from the press cabin at the back of the plane.

During the optimistic days of the campaign, Trump or Mark Meadows, his chief of staff, were frequent visitors. After the pulsing music and high energy of rallies, they would canvass opinion on the latest polling, attack lines, or plans for a COVID relief package.

There were no visitors on Wednesday. Instead, Trump spent the flight with his family or signing keepsakes for the crew.

“I hope he takes a break to relax,” said a former administration official, who predicted a month of golf before the political itch needed scratching again. “He can’t seem to slow down.”

Changes in Trump’s station were also visible on arrival at Palm Beach International. There was no greeting line of VIPs to welcome him.

Instead, he waved to his traveling press pack, mouthed “thank you,” and climbed into his waiting Suburban (rather than the “Beast” usually used by presidents), Melania at his side.

Lynne Sladky/AP

But no one told his loyal supporters that Trump was arriving in disgrace.

They lined the road through West Palm Beach three deep in places. Thousands had gathered for a look at the 45th president during his final hour in office.

One woman was crying as she held aloft a sign reading: “We’re not fake news.”

And just as they soaked up the view of one last presidential motorcade en route to Mar-a-Lago, so too Trump seemed to be making the most of his final moments of power.

Pictures taken along the route showed his face up close to the window.

Where his motorcade would once have swept through the broad streets at breakneck speed, this time it slowed to a crawl. It stopped in front of parking lots where the crowd had swollen, and it stopped at the corners where SUVs were festooned in flags.

It was almost as if the commander in chief was trying to delay the moment when he slipped through the gates of Mar-a-Lago and off the world stage.