Trump's Last Words as President at Joint Base Andrews: 'We Will Be Back in Some Form'
On the morning of January 20, 2021, hours before Joe Biden was sworn in, Donald Trump said goodbye to the presidency on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. After a 21-gun salute, he gave one last speech to his supporters, then took one last ride on Air Force One to Florida [1][2]. He mixed a defense of his record, a warning about taxes and good wishes for the incoming administration with a line his supporters took as a promise: “We will be back in some form.”
Key Moments
A send-off with a 21-gun salute
The ceremony borrowed the trappings of a state occasion, including a 21-gun salute [2]. After Trump thanked the crowd, Melania Trump spoke briefly: “Being your First Lady was my greatest honor. Thank you for your love and your support” [1].
”We’ve left it all in the field”
Trump called his four years “amazing by any standard” and reached for a sports phrase to describe them: “We’ve left it all — as the athletes would say, ‘We’ve left it all in the field.’” He named the creation of the Space Force, “the largest tax cut and reform in the history of our country,” cuts to regulations, and “almost 300 Federal judges and 3 great Supreme Court Justices” [1].
The vaccine as “a medical miracle”
He singled out the COVID-19 vaccine, which the FDA had first authorized on Dec. 11, 2020 [3]: “We got the vaccine developed in 9 months, instead of 9 years or 5 years or 10 years.” He called it “really considered a medical miracle” [1].
A warning on taxes
Turning to the Biden administration, he predicted good economic numbers “if everything is, sort of, left alone. Be careful.” Then came the line that drew laughter from the crowd: “I hope they don’t raise your taxes, but if they do, I told you so” [1].
”We will be back in some form”
He wished his successor “great luck and great success” without saying Biden’s name, and argued he was handing over a country “in a position like it’s never been before, despite the worst plague to hit since, I guess you’d say, 1917.” His closing words were the ones that lasted: “So, just a goodbye. We love you. We will be back in some form.” And a few lines later: “So have a good life. We will see you soon” [1].
Background: Two Farewells
Trump said goodbye twice. On January 19, the White House released a prerecorded farewell address to the nation, a scripted video that reviewed his record. “We also built the greatest economy in the history of the world,” he said. “I am especially proud to be the first President in decades who has started no new wars.” And: “We did what we came here to do — and so much more” [4].
The Andrews remarks the next morning were his last in office. He flew on to Florida, where, at noon, he became a former president [2].
The Record
”3 great Supreme Court Justices”
The three were Neil Gorsuch, who joined the Supreme Court in 2017, Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 and Amy Coney Barrett in 2020. Federal Judicial Center records show 54 Trump appointments to the federal courts of appeals in his first term, among more than 230 lifetime appointments to the federal bench [5].
The Space Force
He signed the law creating the Space Force at the same base, Joint Base Andrews, on Dec. 20, 2019. “With my signature today, you will witness the birth of the Space Force, and that will be now officially the sixth branch of the United States Armed Forces,” he said then [6].
The tax cuts
He signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Dec. 22, 2017, saying “we had the largest tax cuts in our history just approved.” He added: “The corporate tax rate, as you know, will be lowered from 35 to 21 percent” [7].
Operation Warp Speed
Trump launched Operation Warp Speed on May 15, 2020, calling it “a massive scientific, industrial, and logistical endeavor unlike anything our country has seen since the Manhattan Project,” with a goal of a vaccine “prior to the end of the year” [8]. The FDA’s first emergency use authorization for a COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer-BioNTech’s, came on Dec. 11, 2020 [3].
By the Numbers
- 21: the gun salute that sent him off [2].
- 3: Supreme Court justices Trump appointed in his first term [5].
- 54: his appointments to the federal courts of appeals in that term [5].
- 6th: the Space Force’s place among the branches of the armed forces [6].
- 35% to 21%: the cut in the corporate tax rate under the 2017 law, as Trump described it [7].
- 312: electoral votes Trump won when he came back in 2024 [9].
What Happened Next
- Acquitted. On Feb. 13, 2021, the Senate acquitted Trump in his second impeachment trial, on the charge of inciting an insurrection. The 57-43 vote to convict fell short of the 67 votes needed [10].
- The numbers, then inflation. The government’s first estimate showed the economy grew 5.7% in 2021 after shrinking 3.4% in 2020 [11]. Then prices took off: consumer prices rose 9.1% in the year ended June 2022, the largest increase in 40 years [12].
- Taxes. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 created a 15% minimum tax on corporations with $1 billion or more in income [13]. Back in office, Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill on July 4, 2025. “In this act, we have officially made the Trump tax cuts permanent,” he said [14].
- “We will be back.” He was. Trump announced a new campaign at Mar-a-Lago on Nov. 15, 2022 [15], won the 2024 election with 312 electoral votes [9], and joined Grover Cleveland as the only presidents to win nonconsecutive terms [16]. “The golden age of America begins right now,” he said in his second inaugural address on Jan. 20, 2025 [17].
Sources
- The American Presidency Project: Remarks at a Departure Ceremony at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland (January 20, 2021)
- NPR: For 1st time in 150 years, outgoing president doesn’t attend inauguration (January 20, 2021)
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: FDA Takes Key Action in Fight Against COVID-19 By Issuing Emergency Use Authorization for First COVID-19 Vaccine (December 11, 2020), archived
- Archived White House: Remarks by President Trump in Farewell Address to the Nation (January 19, 2021)
- Federal Judicial Center: Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789-present
- The American Presidency Project: Remarks on Signing the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland (December 20, 2019)
- The American Presidency Project: Remarks on Signing Legislation on Tax Reform and on Funding for the Departments of Homeland Security, Defense, and Health and Human Services (December 22, 2017)
- The American Presidency Project: Remarks on Coronavirus Vaccine Development and an Exchange With Reporters (May 15, 2020)
- National Archives: 2024 Electoral College Results
- NPR: Trump acquitted in impeachment trial on Capitol insurrection (February 13, 2021)
- Bureau of Economic Analysis: GDP, fourth quarter and year 2021 (advance estimate)
- Bureau of Labor Statistics: Consumer prices up 9.1 percent over the year ended June 2022, largest increase in 40 years, archived
- NPR: What is the Inflation Reduction Act that Biden just signed (August 16, 2022)
- The American Presidency Project: Remarks at an Independence Day Celebration With Military Families and Signing Ceremony for Tax Code Reform and Government Appropriations Legislation (July 4, 2025)
- NPR: Trump announces 2024 presidential run (November 15, 2022)
- NPR: 2024 Election: Trump wins 2nd term as president (November 2024)
- The American Presidency Project: Inaugural Address (January 20, 2025)
Full Transcript
Read the full official transcript
Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. [Crowd chants: “We love you”]
Thank you very much, and we love you. And I can tell you that from the bottom of my heart.
This has been an incredible four years. We’ve accomplished so much together.
I want to thank all of my family and my friends and my staff and so many other people for being here. I want to thank you for your effort, your hard work. People have no idea how hard this family work. And they worked for you.
They could have had a much easier life, but they just did a fantastic job. I just want to thank all of you, everyone. I want to thank Mark Meadows who’s here someplace right there I want to thank Mark.
But it’s been, it’s been something very special, we’ve accomplished a lot, our first lady has been a woman of great grace and beauty and dignity. And so popular with the people, so popular with the people, in fact, honey, would you like to say a few words?
[Melania Trump]: Being your first lady was my greatest honour. Thank you for your love and your support, you will be in my thoughts and prayers. God bless you all. God bless your families, and God bless this beautiful nation.
[Donald Trump]: What else has to be said, right? But what we’ve done – that’s true, honey. Great job. What we’ve done has been amazing, by any standard, we rebuilt the United States military, created a new force called Space Force that, in itself, would be a major achievement for a regular administration, we were not a regular administration.
We took care of the vets – 91 percent approval rating they’ve never had that before, the vets have given us the VA, the vets have given us an approval rating like has never been before. We took care of our vets and beautiful vets they were very badly treated before we came along. And as you know, we get them great service and we pick up the bill and they can go out and they can see a doctor, if they have to wait long periods of time. We got it so that we can, sadly, get rid of people that don’t treat our vets properly. We didn’t have any of those rights before when I came on. So, our vets are happy, our people are happy. Our military is thrilled.
We also got tax cuts, the largest tax cut and reform in the history of our country by far. I hope they don’t raise your taxes. But if they do, I told you so!
If you look at the regulations which I consider the regulation cuts to be maybe even more important. That’s why we have such good and have had such good job numbers. The job numbers have been absolutely incredible.
What we started had we not been hit by the pandemic, we would have had numbers that would never have been seen. Already our numbers are the best ever.
If you look at what happened until February, a year ago, our numbers were at a level that nobody had ever seen before. And even now we really built it twice. We got hit, nobody blames us for that, the whole world got it and then we built it again. And now the stock market is actually substantially higher than it was at its higher point prior to the pandemic. So it’s really – you could say, we built it twice.
And you’re gonna see, you’re gonna see incredible numbers start coming in. If everything is sort of left alone and be careful, very complex. Be careful. But you’re gonna see some incredible things happening. And remember us when you see these things happening, if you – remember us because I’m looking at – I’m looking at elements of our economy that are set to be a rocket ship up. It’s a rocket ship up.
We have the greatest country in the world. We have the greatest economy in the world and as bad as the pandemic was, we were hit so hard just like the entire world was hit so hard, places that don’t they got away with it didn’t get away with it, they’re suffering right now. We did something that is really considered a medical miracle. They’re calling it a miracle. And that was the vaccine.
We got the vaccine developed in nine months instead of nine years, or five years, or 10 years. A long time. It was supposed to take a long time, many, many years to develop a vaccine. We have two out. We have another one coming almost immediately, and it really is a great achievement. So, you should start to see really good numbers over the next few months. I think you’re going to see those numbers really skyrocket downward.
And I can always say this. We’ve worked hard. We’ve left it all, as the athletes would say, we’ve left it all in the field. We don’t have to – we don’t have to come and say we’ll never say in a month when we’re sitting in Florida, we’re not going to be looking at each other and say you know if we only worked a little bit harder, you can’t work harder. And we had a lot of obstacles and we went through the obstacles. And we just got 75 million votes and that’s a record in the history of – in the history of sitting presidents. That’s an all-time record by a lot. By many millions. In the history of sitting presidents, it’s been really just an honour.
One of the things we’re very, very proud of is the selection of almost 300 federal judges and three great Supreme Court justices. That’s a very big number that’s a record-setting number and so we’ve done a lot and there’s still things to do.
The first thing we have to do is pay our respects and our love to the incredible people and families who suffered so gravely from the China virus. It’s a horrible thing that was put onto the world. We all know where it came from, but it’s a horrible, horrible thing. So be very careful. Be very, very careful, but we want to pay great love, great love to all of the people that have suffered, including families who have suffered so gravely.
So with that, I just want to say, you are amazing people. This is a great, great country. It is my greatest honour and privilege to have been your president.
I will always fight for you. I will be watching, I will be listening. And I will tell you that the future of this country has never been better.
I wish the new administration, great luck and great success. I think they’ll have great success. They have the foundation to do something really spectacular. And again, we put it in a position like it’s never been before. Despite the worst plague to hit since I guess you’d say 1917, over 100 years ago. And despite that, despite that, the things that we’ve done have been just incredible. And I couldn’t have done it without you.
So, just a goodbye. We love you. We will be back in some form.
And again, I want to just, in leaving, I want to thank our Vice President Mike Pence and Karen. I want to thank Congress cause we really worked well with Congress, at least certain elements in Congress. But we really did. We’ve gotten so much done that nobody thought would be possible but I do want to thank Congress and I want to thank all of the great people of Washington, DC, all of the people that we worked with to put this miracle together.
So, have a good life. We will see you soon. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you.