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Trump's White House packs up as one of the least civil presidential handovers in history begins

A man carries framed items to a car as he leave the Eisenhower Executive Office building, inside the White House complex - Gerald Herbert /AP
A man carries framed items to a car as he leave the Eisenhower Executive Office building, inside the White House complex - Gerald Herbert /AP

When George H. Bush handed over to his Democratic successor, Bill Clinton, he wrote a heartfelt letter wishing President 42 luck and “great happiness”. George W. Bush offered Barack Obama friendly advice as he was leaving office to “ignore the critics” and that he was "pulling" for him.

Since George Washington gave the keys to the White House over to John Adams in 1797, the transfer of power between presidents has largely been peaceful, if on occasion spiteful.

This year all norms, however, have been broken. For starters, Donald Trump only conceded last week - at the urging of White House lawyers - after his supporters stormed the US Capitol.

The formal process finally began this week, with White House staff pictured removing its current occupants’ belongings - everything from paintings to a taxidermy pheasant.

An Abraham Lincoln bust was carried out by hand by removal men, who shifted boxes of old newspaper copies of the New York Post and New York Times from Mr Trump's first term.

One box appeared to contain what looked like a souvenir baseball bat. Other boxes were labelled “presidential library gifts” and "Visitor's Office Archives".

Mr Trump has yet to outline any plans for his post-presidency, from establishing an office to selecting a site for a potential presidential library.

The Telegraph inquired into whether the bust of Winston Churchill, which was removed from the Oval Office some time during Mr Obama's reign but returned by Mr Trump, would be left. No answer was forthcoming.

Mr Trump has already said he will not even be attending President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday. It has been reported that the outgoing president will leave that morning for his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, making him the first president since Andrew Johnson to voluntarily skip the formal handover of power.

Snubs do happen. A tea ceremony was not observed on January 20, 1953, when President Harry Truman and his wife Bess were left waiting in the Red Room for Dwight David Eisenhower and his wife Mamie to show.

Mr Eisenhower and Mr Truman clashed over foreign policy and how to handle the Korean War. When President-elect Eisenhower's limo pulled up, he refused to go into the White House for a cup of coffee.

President Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with former U.S. President Barack Obama, watched by First Lady Michelle Obama - Bloomberg
President Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with former U.S. President Barack Obama, watched by First Lady Michelle Obama - Bloomberg

George W Bush’s staff discovered after moving in that computer keyboards were mysteriously missing the "W" key, which proved slightly problematic when trying to spell out their boss’s name.

US law requires that the current administration prepare to help potential newcomers before the election, starting by designating a federal transition coordinator to oversee the process.

The outgoing president typically hosts a tour for the president-elect and his spouse shortly, along with a private discussion in the Oval Office after the election and before inauguration. It is looking unlikely the tradition will be upheld this year.

The White House is set to undergo a deep clean before the new occupants take residence. Due to Covid-19 concerns, the building will have to be thoroughly decontaminated before septuagenarian Mr Biden moves in.

Carl Bernstein, the former Washington Post journalist whose reporting helped bring down President Richard Nixon, mused on Mr Trump’s final days compared to Mr Nixon’s.

“While he was drunk most of the time, Nixon went into introspection mode. He sobbed and prayed and asked ‘what have I done?’ We’ll see nothing like that kind of understanding from Donald Trump,” Mr Bernstein predicted.