So where, oh where can the soon-to-be-former President Donald Trump go to allegedly get out of town before Joseph Biden’s inauguration on January 20?
Even though Trump has refused to acknowledge his defeat in the presidential election, and continues to push unproven theories of voter fraud and tampering with ballots, he has made some sort of contingency plans for a quiet departure from Washington. In the meantime, he is letting it “all hang out” in his determination to create as much havoc as possible before he leaves.
In what may be his final few acts, Trump, on a leaked phone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, attempted to blackmail him into overturning the Georgia election in his favor. And just to make sure the joint session of Congress does not go smoothly, Trump is encouraging his supporters to descend on Washington DC for a “wild” day on Wednesday, according to The Guardian.
Actually, the White House is refusing to say what will happen on January 20. So it comes down to one of three scenarios: One being Trump will attend the inauguration, two; Trump will have already left town, and three; he will be dragged kicking and screaming from the premises.
The Scotland Golf club scenario
Over the weekend, a story came out in Scotland’s Sunday Post reporting that Prestwick airport, near Trump’s Turnberry golf course resort, has been told a US military Boeing 757 that has occasionally been used by Trump, is scheduled to arrive on 19 January.
The story has gained traction on just about all the major news sites. While CNN has no reporting to indicate Trump has travel plans to Scotland, they did reach out to the White House on Tuesday over the speculation involving those plans.
“Anonymous sources who claim to know what the President is or is not considering have no idea. When President Trump has an announcement about his plans for January 20 he will let you know,” White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere told CNN on Tuesday of the Scottish media speculation.
Should this scenario turn out to be true, it will be the very last time that taxpayers foot the bill for the President’s travel. The plane he would be using is a smaller version of Air Force One, the official plane used to transport the president. The smaller plane is used by Vice-president Mike Pence and Melania Trump when they travel.
There are other issues to consider, should the president leave town for “wherever he goes” on January 19. Business Insider suggests that he could be planning to hold a rival, attention-grabbing event at the same time as the inauguration of Joe Biden is taking place.
Probably, the biggest issue with Trump ditching the inauguration by leaving the U.S. on the 19th of January is the transfer of the so-called nuclear football, a suitcase giving the president the means to conduct a nuclear strike. On January 19, this suitcase or whatever it is called will still be with Trump.
It’s all a moot point now
On Monday Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon ordered most of Scotland into a harsh new lockdown for the rest of January, as Covid-19 cases and deaths spike across the United Kingdom.
On Tuesday, Sturgeon warned Trump to not come as the country is in lockdown, and not allowing visitors to enter without an essential purpose. “And that would apply to him just as it applies to anybody else, and coming to play golf is not what I would consider to be an essential purpose,” she said, noting that the only travel she hoped the president would be taking was to “exit the White House.”
The other possibility would be for Trump to go to his Florida resort, Mar-A-Lago, but his neighbors in Palm Beach don’t want him living there. And he could be facing legal issues if he claims the resort is his permanent residence. So it looks like Trump is a loser no matter how one looks at the issue.
