In response to the January 6 riots in DC, President Donald Trump won’t be receiving the traditional Armed Forces Farewell tribute from the U.S. Military when he departs the White House this week.
According to a report from Defense One , Pentagon officials have decided to break tradition and won’t honor the outgoing president with the informal ceremony, which includes a 21-gun salute, for the first time since its inception over three decades ago.
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The Armed Forces Farewell tribute reportedly began in 1989, at the end of Reagan’s presidency, under one of his Joint Chiefs chairmen.
Held at Camp Springs, Maryland, it was meant to celebrate service members just as much as it was meant to celebrate outgoing Reagan himself. It was also a chance to bask in post-Cold War peace, and to celebrate shedding the country’s post-Vietnam feelings about the military.
As he said at the time, “The luster has been restored to the reputation of our fighting forces after a time during which it was shamefully fashionable to deride or even condemn service such as yours. Those days will never come again.”
Since then, every outgoing president has been honored with a farewell ceremony where they traditionally visit a military base and offer one final speech to troops.
However, two senior defense officials have confirmed that Trump will not be receiving the ceremonial send-off upon his departure as commander-in-chief, a snub which Defense One reports is likely in response to recent events.
Those events include the January 6 storming of the Capitol building by impassioned Trump supporters, as well as the House voting to impeach Trump for a second time.
As preparations for President-Elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ramp up, Trump reportedly won’t be participating in any of the traditional end-of-term events.
The White House has announced that, instead, it will be Vice President Mike Pence who “will deliver remarks to sailors on the Trump Administration’s historic foreign policy achievements at Naval Air Station Lemoore.”
Pence will also give another speech to the 10th Mountain Division in Fort Drum, New York.
h/t: Defense One
