WEST PALM BEACH, FL (Reuters) – US President-elect Donald Trump headed to Washington on Saturday before his inauguration on board a US military plane presented by US President Joe Biden, while the outgoing president stressed adherence to traditional transitional standards.
Trump is scheduled to arrive in Washington on Saturday evening to attend celebrations marking his return to office on Monday.
On this occasion, he abandons his Navy and the crimson “Trump Force One” plane that he often flies in favor of a government plane that Biden sent to Florida. Biden stressed to his officials the need to work with Trump's transition team, a sharp contrast to the recent transition period when Trump refused to attend the inauguration ceremony or acknowledge Biden's victory.
The two planes sat on the runway at Palm Beach International Airport before Trump departed on Saturday. Trump's son Eric and Eric's wife Lara boarded the private plane.
On his less than three-hour flight to Washington Dulles International Airport, Trump will travel on a specially designed blue and white Boeing (NYSE:) 757-200 bearing the inscription “USA.”
His daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, were seen on that plane on Saturday afternoon.
It's the same model plane that is called Air Force Two when flown by the Vice President but is also used by the First Lady, Cabinet members and other high-level officials.
It is customary for presidents-elect to board such a government-provided plane to attend their inauguration, although Biden did not do so.
In 2021, Biden had intended to arrive by train but the plan was scrapped after the Secret Service raised security concerns after thousands of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to overturn his electoral defeat.
The Trump administration did not offer any plane, and Biden ended up boarding a private plane to Washington, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Pictures of Trump's arrival in the Washington area in 2017 to take office during his first term showed that he used a similar American plane at that time.
The White House and the US Air Force could not immediately be reached for comment.