WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump left for Washington on Saturday ahead of his inauguration in a U.S. military plane provided by U.S. President Joe Biden, as the outgoing president stressed the need to adhere to traditional transition norms .
Trump will arrive in Washington on Saturday evening for Monday's celebration of his return to office.
For the occasion, he ditches his navy and crimson “Trump Force One,” often flying in favor of a government plane sent by Biden to Florida. Biden has stressed to his officials the need to work with Trump's transition team, a stark contrast from the last transition when Trump refused to attend the inauguration or acknowledge Biden's victory.
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Both planes were on the tarmac at Palm Beach International Airport before Trump's departure on Saturday. Trump's son Eric and Eric's wife Lara boarded the private plane.
For his less than three-hour flight to Washington Dulles International Airport, Trump will fly aboard a specially configured Boeing 757-200 in the signature blue and white colors and with the words “United States of America.”
His daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner were seen boarding that plane on Saturday afternoon.
It's the same model plane called Air Force Two when flown by the vice president, but also used by the first lady, cabinet members and other high-ranking officials.
It is the norm for presidents-elect to take such a government-provided aircraft to their inauguration, although Biden did not.
In 2021, Biden planned to arrive by train, but the plan was canceled after the Secret Service raised security concerns after thousands of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to overturn his election defeat to make.
The Trump administration did not offer a plane and Biden ultimately took a private jet to Washington, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Photos of Trump's arrival in the Washington area in 2017 to take power for his first term showed him using a similar American plane at the time.
The White House and the US Air Force were not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne, Trevor Hunnicutt and David Shepardson; Editing by Heather Timmons and Deepa Babington)
