Where will Trump be on Inauguration Day?

He definitely won’t be in Washington DC standing next to Joe Biden

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Donald Trump has declared he will not be attending Joe Biden's inauguration on 20 January.  

Mr Trump will be only the fourth US president to skip his successor's inauguration – John Adams, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson also skipped their successors' big days – but it is not entirely clear where he'll be the day Mr Biden is sworn into office.  

Washington DC

Mr Trump announced he would leave Washington DC on the day of the inauguration, so we know he will at least start his day in the nation’s capital. 

He said he plans to have a send-off ceremony for himself as he leaves Washington ahead of Mr Biden’s ceremony later that day. 

Follow Biden inauguration live: Bidens attends Mass with McConnell as JLo and Bush family among first arrivals

According to some reports, Mr Trump is planning a 21-gun salute and to treat the event with the same pomp and ceremony expected from a foreign dignitary visit. 

While the details of the farewell are still uncertain, it is clear that Mr Trump will leave Washington and head to his “Winter White House”.

Florida

Based on reports from Bloomberg, it appears the president is going to take up permanent residence at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.  

The resort has served as Mr Trump's home-away-from home for many years, and the large number of conservative Floridians will likely be far more welcoming to the president than the largely liberal New York City where he previously resided. The president declared himself a Florida resident in 2019.

Last month, the Miami Herald reported that Melania Trump took a tour of Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, which is about 40 minutes away from Mar-a-Lago.  

Other reports suggest the Trump's apartment at the resort is undergoing renovations.  

Mr Trump has a significant base of support in Florida and the state's governor, Ron DeSantis, was a consistent ally of the president. That does not mean that everyone is happy the president may be moving in next doot.  

Several of the individuals who would become Mr Trump's neighbours have sent a letter to Palm Beach administrators pushing back on the potential move. The residents pointed to an agreement Mr Trump signed in 1993 that converted the resort into a business, which bars anyone from actually living on the complex, including him.  

Mr Trump's daughter, Ivanka, and her husband Jared Kushner, recently bought land in Miami, and the other Trump children are also reportedly searching for homes in South Florida.  

Scotland

Florida isn't the only place where Mr Trump has a getaway; the president also has a pair of golf courses and a resort in Scotland.  

Rumours that the president would flee to Scotland in order to avoid humiliation on 20 January began when a Scottish newspaper reported a worker at the Prestwick Airport – which is near Mr Trump's Turnberry resort – had claimed the facility was expecting the arrival of a US military 757 on 19 January.  

Once speculation that Mr Trump had an imminent Scotland trip planned began circulating the country, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon issued a statement effectively barring Mr Trump from the country.  

"We are not allowing people to come in to Scotland without an essential purpose right now and that would apply to him, just as it applies to anyone else," Ms Sturgeon said. "Coming to play golf is not what I woudl consider to be an essential purpose."  

With the Scotland's leader effectively illuminating a no vacancy sign over the entire country, it appears any rumours of Mr Trump running off to play golf in the highlands has effectively been debunked.  

Texas

Speaking of debunked ideas, while the Scotland rumour may have been the result of a misunderstanding or a legitimate change in schedule, there is one rumour about the president's possible whereabout on inauguration day that is borne fully of fringe, conspiracy nonsense.  

Some of Mr Trump's most loyal – and delusional – supporters believed that Mr Trump's trip to Alamo, Texas to visit the border wall earlier this week was not just a publicity trip, but was the start of his grand plan to retake the White House from Mr Biden.  

Chatter from the fringe world of Mr Trump's digital worshippers included rumours that Texas would announce its secession from the US and that the president would hunker down there and begin his new administration.  

In reality, Mr Trump just showed up, met ICE agents, signed the border wall, and denounced the violent mob at the Capitol that Democrats – and a growing number of Republicans – say he incited.