‘We will be back in some form’: Trump pledges political comeback at farewell event

In his final remarks as president, Donald Trump on Wednesday preemptively sought to take credit for any early accomplishments by President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration, while pledging to return “in some form” to American politics.

After a roughly 15-minute flight from the White House to Joint Base Andrews, Trump descended the steps of Marine One on Inauguration Day morning and spoke at a campaign-style send-off on the tarmac.

A crowd of several hundred people greeted the president, including supporters, Trump family members and current and former administration officials.

Donald Trump Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Kash Patel, Sean Spicer, Stephen Miller, Mark Meadows, Jason Miller, Hogan Gidley and Tiffany Trump were all in attendance.

A playlist reminiscent of the president’s rallies blared classic pop and rock songs such as Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin.’”

But the sounds of cannon fire and “Hail to the Chief” accompanied Trump as he and first lady Melania Trump took the stage, met by chants of “we love you” that broke out among the audience.

In a relatively brief set of remarks, Trump touted his usual list of claimed successes: A “rebuilt” military, the creation of the Space Force, improved health care for veterans, judicial confirmations, coronavirus vaccine developments, federal regulation cuts and overhauled tax laws.

“I hope they don’t raise your taxes,” Trump added, invoking Biden. “But if they do, I told you so.”

Trump went on to assert that certain “elements of our economy” are “set to be a rocket ship up” because of the work of his administration, and he suggested that Biden should not seek to unwind his financial policies.

“You’re going to see incredible numbers start coming in, if everything is sort of left alone. Be careful. Very complex. Be careful,” Trump said. “But you’re going to see some incredible things happening. And remember us, when you see these things happening, if you would. Remember us.”

Trump did not mention Biden by name, but he did “wish the new administration great luck and great success,” saying: “They have the foundation to do something really spectacular.”

Assessing his own tenure in office, Trump said he and his administration officials “have worked hard,” and “as the athletes would say, we’ve left it all on the field.”

“We’ll never say in a month — when we’re sitting in Florida — we’re not going to be looking at each other and saying, ‘You know, if we only worked a little bit harder,’” Trump said. “You can’t work harder.”

Near the end of his speech, Trump said that he “will be watching” and “will be listening” from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, and vowed that “we will be back in some form.”

“Have a good life,” he concluded, as the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” began playing over the speaker system. “We will see you soon.”

Daniel Lippman contributed to this report.