Trump Leaves Office: Where's He Headed To & What Comes Next For The Former US President?

Donald Trump became the first President since Andrew Johnson in 1869 to decline his presence in successor’s inauguration ceremony. Here are how things look like for the former President as he leaves the White House.

Donald Trump gestures to supporters. PIC/PTI

With Joe Biden being sworn in on Wednesday, the term of Donald Trump comes to and end.  Trump remained one of the controversial leaders, and in the last days of his office Trump has to face his unprecedented second impeachment by the House of Representatives. 

Although towards the end he managed a peaceful transfer of power, but refused to be a part of the Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony. He became the first president since Andrew Johnson in 1869 to decline his presence for successor’s inauguration. Now, all eyes are set on the man who upended the norms of the Oval Office.

Even though there is no confirmed report, but there are rumours about his location of home after the White House. Even as Trump says he’s moving to his Mar-a-Lago private club, some of his Palm Beach, Florida, neighbours are offering him the scope to live full-time, as per the report in Bloomberg. The White House said the president will fly from the White House to Joint Base Andrews on Marine One. Trump was expected to participate in a ceremony at Joint Base Andrews. 

Here are how things look like for the former President on several fronts.

Future Presidency

 In the near future, Trump’s post-presidential options will revolve around the incident of violence on Jan. 6 where his speech is said to have incited the riot in the US Capitol. It led to a historic second impeachment. If he’s convicted at the upcoming Senate trial, he’ll almost certainly be barred from ever running for federal office again as per the report. Other than this he also faced several lawsuits and potential criminal investigations.

Social Media Base

In case the embattled President intends to come back to politics he will have to find new ways to to mobilize his base. With his @realDonaldTrump account n Twitter, which had more then 88 million followers was permanently banned on Jan. 8 because of its rules against glorifying violence. He also lost access to more than 30 million Facebook friends when he was banned from that site indefinitely and at least through Biden’s inauguration. The 74-year-old Trump still has ways to reach his loyal fans though. Other platforms including Gab and Parler wouldn’t offer him a broader reach the way his Twitter account did. So it may be a tough job on this front.

Trump’s business empire

His political manoeuvres may have costed his family’s real estate, hotel and golf empire, most of which is located in New York and other Democratic-leaning states.  In a recent move Bedminster club was stripped of the 2022 PGA Championship in the wake of the Capitol riot, with the golf body saying that holding the prestigious event at the Trump course would be “detrimental" to its brand.

As per the Bloomberg report, Palm Beach charity balls and social events fled Mar-a-Lago en masse after his Charlottesville remarks, and several hotels and condo buildings have exited Trump management contracts in recent years, removing the president’s name from their exteriors and awnings in the process. Infact, Trump properties were also hit hard by the pandemic along with the rest of the real estate, tourism and leisure sectors.

Legal Woes

Trump has been already facing a number of legal threats before the election. The New York Times report citing Trump took a number of questionable deductions over the years and only paid $750 in income taxes in 2016 could also spur a fresh probe into possible tax evasion. New York state authorities have been eyeing Trump as well. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance is leading a probe of the president's business dealings that could ultimately result in criminal charges. New York Attorney General Letitia James is simultaneously pursuing an investigation into whether the Trump Organization inflated asset values.

Infact, the former President’s personal conduct could be an issue in a number of civil cases. He could soon face depositions in two New York defamation lawsuits brought by women he said were lying when they accused him of sexual assault.