Donald Trump’s farewell speech calls for prayers for next administration

Screen shot from Farewell Address of President Donald Trump.

In a recorded farewell address released Tuesday afternoon, President Donald Trump calls for prayers for the incoming Joe Biden administration’s success, while also vowing that the movement he led “is only just beginning.”

“This week, we inaugurate a new administration and pray for its success in keeping America safe and prosperous,” Trump declares in a speech released on YouTube Tuesday by the White House.

“Now, as I prepare to hand power over to a new administration at noon on Wednesday, I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning. There’s never been anything like it.”

He never mentions Biden by name in the 20-minute address and doesn’t even come close to acknowledging him, except for references to “the new administration.”

Trump expresses pride in his accomplishments and mentions many of them as if he were drawing from his standard campaign speech. Along the way, he  touts a few successes that historians may dismiss, such as claiming success in the battle against COVID-19, or that he is the first President in decades to start no new wars.

He condemns the Jan. 6 insurrection of the U.S. Capitol by his followers and calls for Americans to rise above political rancor.

He also declares that Americans “are loyal to your country, and that’s why we have been loyal to you.” He condemned “political censorship” and “punitive speech codes,” and said that Americans should not be stopped from expressing themselves for fear of whom they might offend.

He said the greatest danger America faces is “a loss of confidence in ourselves, a loss of confidence in our nation’s greatness.”

Trump will be leaving the White House Wednesday in a controversial manner, without meeting with his successor. He also leaves without explicitly conceding that he lost the 2020 presidential election. And he leaves after months of vitriol toward Biden as the President-elect, which culminated Jan. 6 with the speech he gave to a crowd of supporters in Washington. They then turned on the U.S. Capitol in an insurgency, as Congress attempted to certify Biden’s election.

On Wednesday Trump will be slipping away, avoiding all traditions of presidential transfers. He has arranged for himself some unusual red-carpet going-away ceremonies at Andrews Air Force Base.

As he leaves, Biden will prepare to take the oath of office and deliver an inauguration address calling for national unity on the steps of a Capitol that had to be fortified against the possibility of being ransacked by angry Trump followers.

It was unclear Tuesday how many administration officials and other leaders might attend Trump’s sendoff. Vice President Mike Pence has said he intends to attend Biden’s inauguration.

“I go from this majestic place with a loyal and joyful heart, and an optimistic spirit, and a supreme confidence that for our country and our children, the best is yet to come,” Trump says in the video.