Donald Trump has had a rough first 24 hours as an ex-president: He’s been publicly snubbed by his wife, and mocked by some of his most ardent supporters.
Mr Trump fled the White House on Wednesday morning (US time) before his successor’s inauguration, making him the first president to do so since the 1800s.
While his second impeachment trial still hangs over his head, Mr Trump now faces a diminished supporter base.
The Proud Boys, the staunch far-right all-male extremist group, were frightening pro-Trump figures throughout the presidential campaign.
But as their idol left the Oval Office, they changed their tune.
Messages of “hail Emperor Trump” turned to hate against him.
“Trump will go down as a total failure,” the Proud Boys wrote in a private messaging channel, seen by The New York Times.
Other messages called him “shill” and “extraordinarily weak”, demonstrating a belief that he did not try hard enough to win the election, the NYT surmised.
Their anger was already inflamed, after Mr Trump did little to help the Proud Boys members who were arrested after the January 6 unrest at the Capitol.
Home not-so-sweet home
Mr Trump and wife Melania left Washington DC with haste this week, making for Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
A coastal home might be the ultimate dream for many, but it didn’t seem so for Melania, who caused a stir when she left her husband high and dry on the Palm Beach airport tarmac.
Leaving Mr Trump stranded to face the waiting press on his own, the former FLOTUS headed straight for a waiting vehicle.
Various US news outlets have reported Mrs Trump is deeply unhappy about living at Palm Beach – she was hoping to relocate to New York City, where she spent the first five months of her husband’s presidency.
Mr Trump signed Mar-a-Lago resort as his official primary residence two years ago, but locals are reportedly not happy about the Trumps moving back full-time.
Angry residents are fed up with constant parties and blocked roads due to security details – and want the Trumps reined in.
In a letter obtained by The Washington Post, residents have petitioned the Palm Beach township to tell Mr Trump he cannot make Mar-a-Lago his official residence, citing that it is zoned a resort, not a home.
