WATCH LIVE: Biden Inauguration Day Ceremony And Events

WASHINGTON: Republican President Donald Trump left the White House on Wednesday after a tumultuous four years in office, hours before Democrat Joe Biden assumes the helm of a country beset by deep political divides and battered by a raging coronavirus pandemic.

Biden, 78, will become the oldest U.S. president in history at a scaled-back inauguration ceremony in Washington that has been largely stripped of its usual pomp and circumstance, due both to the coronavirus as well as security concerns following the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.

Trump left the White House with his wife Melania just after 8 a.m. (1300 GMT) and went by helicopter to a sendoff event at Joint Air Force Base Andrews, where he promised supporters “we’ll be back in some form” and extolled his administration’s successes before flying off to Florida.

A new chapter begins today. Tune in now for #Inauguration2021 as @JoeBiden and I are sworn in to office and set our nation on a new path forward. https://t.co/U1RQ98R6Ka

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 20, 2021

Top Republicans, including Vice President Mike Pence, were not there to see him go. Shortly after Trump finished his remarks, Biden left the presidential guest house in Washington on his way to church, where he was joined by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House of Representatives Republican leader Kevin McCarthy.

Congratulations to my friend, President @JoeBiden! This is your time. pic.twitter.com/LXzxGnBAfz

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 20, 2021

With only a small number of attendees present, Biden will take the oath of office before U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts just after noon (1700 GMT), placing his hand on an heirloom Bible that has been in the Biden family for more than a century.

Trump flouted one last convention on his way out. His refusal to attend his successor’s swearing-in breaks with more than a century and a half of political tradition, seen as a way of affirming the peaceful transfer of power.

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