“Have a good life, we will see you soon.”

— President Trump, in remarks before leaving Washington, D.C.

“President Trump departed the White House on Wednesday morning for the last time as the commander in chief after four tumultuous years that shook the nation, choosing to leave town rather than face the reality that he lost re-election to President-elect Joe Biden,” the New York Times reports.

“The Marine One helicopter took off from the South Lawn of the White House at about 8:18 a.m. for the short flight to Joint Base Andrews in suburban Maryland, where the president planned to hold a farewell event with administration veterans and other supporters. After that, he and Melania Trump were to board Air Force One for the journey to Florida, where they will reside.”

“President Trump has pardoned Stephen K. Bannon, the firebrand architect of his 2016 campaign who was charged last year with defrauding donors to a private fundraising effort for construction of a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump approved Bannon’s pardon late Tuesday, after days of frantic deliberations. Some aides said as recently as Monday night that the move appeared unlikely. Trump vacillated throughout the day Tuesday, and even after he said he was going to sign off on the pardon, it remained unclear for some time that he would actually do so.”

New York Times: “Mr. Trump also was set to grant clemency to Elliott Broidy, a fund-raiser for the president who pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws as part of a covert campaign to influence the administration on behalf of Chinese and Malaysian interests.”

President Trump gave a farewell video address on Tuesday, saying that his administration “did what we came here to do — and so much more.”

Axios notes Trump condemned the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by his supporters, but added, “As I prepare to hand power over to a new administration… I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning.”

“The founder of MyPillow, a vocal and in the past few weeks very visible supporter of President Trump, says a backlash against the company has begun after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol this month,” the AP reports.

“Mike Lindell, the company CEO and also the face of the brand, said major retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl’s have dropped his products recently.”

Olivia Nuzzi reviews the product: “If Trump doesn’t keep you up all night, MyPillow will.”

CNN: “Huddled for a lengthy meeting with his legal advisers, Trump was warned the pardons he once hoped to bestow upon his family and even himself would place him in a legally perilous position, convey the appearance of guilt and potentially make him more vulnerable to reprisals.”

“So, too, was Trump warned that pardons for Republican lawmakers who had sought them for their role in the Capitol insurrection would anger the very Senate Republicans who will determine his fate in an upcoming impeachment trial.”

“White House counsel Pat Cipollone and another attorney who represented Trump in his first impeachment trial, Eric Herschmann, offered the grave warnings as Trump, his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner listened. Other lawyers joined by telephone. They all told Trump he should not pardon himself, his family or any GOP lawmakers in a prospective manner unless he was prepared to list specific crimes.”

Politico: “A higher-than-usual number of Trump administration political appointees — some with highly partisan backgrounds — are currently ‘burrowing’ into career positions throughout the federal government, moving from appointed positions into powerful career civil service roles, which come with job protections that will make it difficult for Biden to fire them.”

“While this happens to some degree in every presidential transition, and some political appointees make for perfectly capable public servants, Biden aides, lawmakers, labor groups and watchdog organizations are sounding the alarm — warning that in addition to standard burrowing, the Trump administration is leaning on a recent executive order to rush through dozens if not hundreds of these so-called ‘conversions.’ … Thanks to weak transparency laws, the full impact of both changes may not be known for months.”