The end of the Trump presidency is scheduled to take place at Mar-a-Lago.
The private club that served as the Southern White House during President Trump's one-term administration is where he is expected to spend his final hour or so as an impeached president. He won't be attending the swearing in ceremony for his predecessor.
The tumultuous upheaval of U.S. presidential norms by Trump will end with a final insult to a long-cherished American political custom.
In his inaugural address, Trump castigated the political establishment for creating "American carnage", a term he used to describe crime-ridden cities and forgotten people.
Robert Watson is a presidential historian. He will leave carnage behind now that he has talked about it. It's ironic.
The nation is bitterly divided after Trump's departure.
The death toll from the coronaviruses is expected to surpass the number of World War II combat casualties. The economy is in a deep recession and American workers are in dire straits.
Capitol Hill will be an armed fortress when Joe Biden takes the oath of office. The monuments will be barricaded with barbed wire.
"Anything but an orderly hand-off of power that Trump for months refused to commit to and then only agreed to in the aftermath of an attack on the U.S. Capitol" is what a Florida member of Congress said. insurrectionists told law enforcement they acted on the president's orders.
The carnage that Trump gave America.
"I hope that we can get back to some semblance of normalcy," said U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel. There are double fence around the Capitol. Thousands of military personnel are going to be present. We haven't had a smooth transition.
Trump has been blamed for inciting the insurrection that led to the increased security. It is the first time in the history of the United States that a president has been impeached twice.
The healing of the political chasm will require all Americans to put aside their differences, said Frank Biden, the president-elect's brother and the Biden family's Florida ambassador.
The younger Biden, who lives in Palm Beach County, has been calling Republican friends and inviting them to break bread.
Frank Biden said that they are dependent on the people in Palm Beach County. We need to get back to knitting our souls.
Trump will become the only American president to leave office while under impeachment. The lowest average approval rating of Trump's term was in the low 30% range.
Is Trump Jr. moving in? The residents of Admirals Cove didn't like the idea.
In a state where his Republican base has always warmly embraced him and, so far, shows little sign of waning fervor, Trump is in a good spot.
The American carnage theme spoke to a reality of economic disappointment according to the associate professor of history. He said that Trump ran as a populist, as a disruptor, and that he delivered on his pledges to "forgotten" Americans until the swine flu hit.
He made a difference for the forgotten man. Unemployment went down and wages went up. The economy was humming and that made a lot of people feel good. I don't think it will go away in the future.
He is still supported by congressional Republicans in Florida. Biden was elected as the nation's 46th president by all but three of them. There was no vote to impeach Trump in the U.S. House Republican.
It was easy for Trump to win Florida on November 3, and he has done well there in the past. He helped the GOP win two congressional seats. He helped boost the fortunes of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis.
Kevin Wagner is a pollster and chair of the political science department at Florida Atlantic University. The president does better in Florida polls than he does nationally. In Florida, the president has a strong foundation of support.
The state's population has broad swaths of people that lean towards Trump, and that's why he's popular there. Florida has a larger share of retirees than most other states, and Trump tends to be popular with older people.
At the end of Trump's time in office, some in Florida base wondered what to do.
Trump's U.S. Supreme Court and federal judicial nominees are popular among evangelicals. In South Florida, home to close to a million people who fled Cuba and Venezuela, Trump's bashing of socialism echoes like a call to action.
In Palm Beach County, where Trump owns Mar-a-Lago and two golf clubs, his supporters are loud and visible. They line Southern Boulevard to cheer for his motorcades and a few locals served in his cabinet.
The perception is that Palm Beach County is a blue county. Sometimes people overlook the fact that there are plenty of conservative voters and Trump voters in this area. A lot of people who support Trump.
Palm Beach County residents have a front-row seat to history thanks to Mar-a-Lago.
The historic moments that played out at Mar-a-Lago during visits here are pieces of a larger mosaic that will be remembered as a consequential presidency.
Borucki believes that Trump is to blame for the rebellion because he held a rally that day. The record needs to be set straight that Trump wasn't responsible for the attack on the Capitol.
He believes that the narrative is being shaped that he inspired an insurrection in the Capitol. I don't believe it's true. The crowd was told to march peacefully by him. The impeachment is going to leave a bad legacy for the country because it was done very hastily and very arbitrary.
Borucki said that Trump's achievements will include his work on trade deals, including the commercial ties with China, a process that began with a summit with China's leader.
Borucki thinks that the Chinese capitulated on the treaty.
The January 2020 drone attack was ordered by Trump while he was at Mar-a-Lago. Analysts say that the action was part of a realignment of Middle East power players.
The retooling of relationships in the Middle East has been profound.
The political profile of evangelical Christians was elevated by Trump. The president and first lady attended a Christmas Eve service at a church.
As a result of the president's court nominations, the judiciary was changed. Borucki said that the impact will be felt for a long time on issues of freedom of worship, the use of tax money to find abortion providers, and even regulations governing health plans and abortions.
He said that the issues that appeal to the Trump voters are those. Going forward, that's a legacy that's going to remain.
Why Borucki thinks Trump's political career is not over.
He would still be the favorite if he ran again. I think that is one of the reasons for impeachment. They are afraid of Trump. I think they don't want him to run again.
It was easier to imagine Trump's future before the insurrection, whether it's a potential comeback campaign, a Trump TV network or a digital platform.
The political "taint" from the violence may have hurt Trump's political brand.
She said that it was impossible to know how the riot would affect the Republican brand.
It will dominate the narrative in the short term. The discussion about Trump's post-presidency will be dominated by the impeachment trial and possible legal exposure.
There is an editorial at the U.S. Capitol.
It would be foolish to count Trump out. She thinks he could play a major role in the upcoming elections.
She said the former president's support will be important in the election. The same goes for the GOP primary opponent to Marco Rubio.
She said that Republicans need to pay attention to the fact that he continues to have a large following down here. He is still a force to be feared. We need to be aware of that. What is he going to say? What is he doing to influence politics? Especially in his home state of Florida.
DePalo said she wouldn't rule out a move by Trump into the media.
She wouldn't be surprised if he created a media empire. He is into being a media guru. I think he's planning on creating a media empire with TV, social media, and his own infrastructure behind it. I wouldn't be surprised by that.
Trump will not be able to control the management of his presidency's legacies. It is a challenge for historians to assess the Trump era.
More about Palm Beach's reputation. Ahead of Trump's return to Mar-a-Lago, residents of the island turned on him.
A number of polls have ranked American presidents. History is likely to judge Trump's tenure harshly, according to him.
He already gave Trump failing marks for leaving the presidency stronger, leaving the country in better shape and handling extraordinary crises.
He failed to preside over an orderly transition of power, as well as the violent insurrection at the Capitol. The transition to President-elect Biden is worse than the hand-off from James Buchanan to Lincoln in the 19th century.
Buchanan turned the presidency over to Lincoln in the months leading up to the Civil War because of an insurrection, a deeply divided country and a "checked out" incumbent.
James Buchanan is the perfect example of a president who is 0-for-2 and Donald Trump is the second best example.
As the U.S. House moved toward impeaching Trump last week, media reports said the president told his aides not to suggest he resign.
Nixon left the presidency as Trump will do. Nixon was the last president to end his administration by leaving Washington.
It will fall to Trump on Wednesday.
Trump is doing worse things than sour grapes. It's sending a message to the world and to the eyes of history about neglecting the ceremonial, peaceful transfer of power. He is shredding the customs that George Washington put in place that have helped us for so long.
The article was first published on the Palm Beach Post.
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