WASHINGTON – The time has finally come for President Trump to find a permanent place on Mar-a-Lago for his $ 50,000 room size simulator, not to mention the 60-inch television he proudly displayed above the dining room table. his collection of Brioni costumes and the matching Louis Vuitton luggage of the first lady she transported around the world.
By Wednesday at 12:01 p.m., hours after Mr. Trump himself plans to leave Washington, all the things from the first family will follow him at the White House door, on his way to his new home in Palm Beach, Florida, and by the end of the day, Joseph R. Biden Jr. will arrive . and his wife, Jill, to a deeply cleaned living room where their suitcases are unpacked, their furniture arranged and their favorite food stored in the fridge.
This is the awkward pas de deux that is performed every four or eight years when one family moves in and another moves in, a commitment that the White House residence staff made of about 90 hours in about five hours. A complicated, highly choreographed process is carried out according to a strict schedule, which often requires that everything still unpacked must be packed – some outgoing presidents are more willing to leave the mansion than others.
The people involved in the process said this year that the moving day also involves additional cleaning and safety measures due to the coronavirus.
“The staff is sleeping on stairs in stairs,” said Anita McBride, who served as head of the first lady Laura Bush, including during the 2009 handover to the Obama administration. No matter how prepared they are, she said, “it’s always chaotic.”
Biden’s trucks may not start unloading until the new president is sworn in, though some of the family’s belongings have been stored in a Maryland store since the weekend. Then the residence is supposed to turn into something that looks like their home as they arrive later in the afternoon.
It’s all part of a White House ritual that Trump did not completely disrupt. But as with everyone else in politics and in life, this year will be harder than most.
The Bidens were never invited to meet the residence staff or to visit the second floor of the White House, which has 16 rooms and six bathrooms and will now be their home. Michelle Obama, on the other hand, has been invited twice by Mrs. Bush before her husband’s inauguration in the White House.
“Mrs. Trump should have invited Dr. Biden for the traditional coffee,” said Capricia Marshall, who served as White House Social Secretary in the Clinton administration and oversaw the president’s departure in 2001, referring to to Melania Trump, the first lady. “Normally she comes prepared with questions, she will meet and talk to the chef, the full-time residence staff and have the opportunity to break the ice. It’s friendly, but logistically it’s incredibly helpful. It has not does not happen. “
Mrs Trump, according to CNN, has been packing for weeks and is eager to move out of the White House with her 14-year-old son, Barron, and move on with their lives. She has no communication with dr. Biden had not.
However, Biden’s transition team was in contact with Timothy Harleth, the chief shepherd who was appointed in 2017 by Mrs.
The appointment of mr. Harleth was extraordinary: the chief officer was usually a non-political civil servant, often with a military background, who did not join the governments. Due to the commitment of mr. Harleth with the Trump organization some have speculated that he would leave with the outgoing president.
Although he has not yet shared his future with dr. Biden did not discuss, Mr. Harleth, according to administration officials, is staying for the time being, dealing with staffing issues, planning family dinners and managing the budget for the residence. He made it clear that he is very eager to stay on permanently and does not want to be considered a Trump loyalist, although he has also appointed other staff members of Trump properties. (For example, he told people that he had never met the Trumps before his interview to work at the White House.)
At this point, there is more urgent concern. Biden’s advisers were so concerned about the complex being cleaned up to protect its new residents from the coronavirus that some even advised the president-elect not to move in on January 20 and to visit Blair House, the nearby guest house. to stay. he and his family should rather stay Tuesday night.
“All first family spaces will be cleaned and purified at all times, including on January 20,” said White House spokeswoman Judd Deere, who declined to provide further details, referring to security and privacy.
The Bidens do plan to move into the White House on January 20, but they will move in with the absolute minimum: there is no plan to immediately bring in an interior decorator or have the space personalized.
The Biden Transition ›
Answers to your questions about the inauguration day:
Joseph R. Biden Jr. becomes president of the United States of America on January 20, the afternoon of January 20, in a inauguration ceremony. Although key elements will remain traditional, many opportunities will be reduced and ‘rethought’ to better adapt the celebration to a country fighting the coronavirus. Mr. Biden is heard before Chief Justice John G. Roberts jr. Sworn in on the Western Front of the Capitol. The new president is then expected to give his inaugural address and conduct a review of military troops, as is the tradition. But instead of a traditional parade before cheering spectators along Pennsylvania Avenue as the new president, vice president and their families travel more than a mile to the White House, there will be an official escort with representatives from each branch of the army for one city block.
President Trump announced on Friday that he did not attend the inauguration of Mr. Biden will not attend. Mr. Biden calls the decision ‘one of the few things he and I have ever agreed on. It is, after all, a great break with the tradition that a president skips the ceremonial heart of the country’s democracy: the peaceful transfer of power.
George W. Bush has confirmed that he will travel to Washington after the inauguration of Laura Bush, the former first lady. Barack Obama and Bill Clinton are also expected to attend, along with former first ladies Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton. This year, tickets are not available to members of the public. Planners are urging people to stay home and participate in virtual inauguration events to prevent large crowds that could easily spread the coronavirus. Events are broadcast live by the presidential inauguration committee and by The New York Times.
The 20th Amendment to the Constitution requires that the term of each elected president and vice-president begin on January 20 of the year following the election. Every president has taken the oath and they cannot take their position without doing so. Symbolically, it indicates the peaceful transfer of power from the current president to the next. The inauguration day will be all the more important this year, as Mr. Praying for the presidency comes at a time when political divisions are threatening the country’s democratic institutions and its predecessor has made great efforts to remain in power.
“It’s a crazy streak,” said Betty Monkman, a White House curator for more than three decades who oversaw the 2001 transition from Bill Clinton to George W. Bush. “Sometimes beds have to be brought in, lounges are converted into bedrooms.”
Curators of the White House Historical Association will compile information books and photographs of articles from the collection that can be borrowed, as well as blueprints that can assess the room layout for the Bidens, Ms. Monkman said. The Carters, for example, moved into the White House with very little of their own furniture and mostly relied on pieces from the permanent collection.
The task for the residence staff may become even more difficult because the Inauguration Day festivals themselves will disband and possibly be shorter.
Usually, the frenetic day of work begins around 10:30 a.m., after the departing president and first lady leave for the Capitol to attend the inauguration. This year there is no parade and no lunch at the Capitol, which means that the time to prepare the residence can also be cut short.
The move is always more stressful when a president leaves the White House after one term. “The advantage the Clintons had was that they knew until the inauguration that they would leave,” she said. Marshall said. “There was never a question. They really took it last year to plan, to go through what and how they were going to pull out. ‘
Trump, who spent the transition to contesting the election results, was not a big deal to be ready to leave the White House.
The departure of the outgoing president is generally a tradition that includes bittersweet moments between presidents and the staff they serve. While cleaning his closet for a few hours in the White House, Mr. Clinton along with his personal donors and valets and helps them determine which presidential ties they want to maintain. Pete Souza, the former White House photographer, shared a photo on Monday of President Barack Obama embracing the woman who delivered his post to him every day while saying goodbye.
It is not clear whether Mr. Trump plans to say goodbye to a staff he was never particularly close to, as he would leave for Palm Beach early Wednesday morning.
However, his early departure could be a gift for his staff, who will have a little more time to get started with the hectic preparations.
“The good news is that there is a process, and that there is a checklist,” she said. McBride said. ‘The staff know what to do. And the Prayers know the building, they know the people. They have been there a lot. ”