Days away from taking reigns of the US as the 46th president, Joe Biden pressed Monday for unity, while President Donald Trump remained secluded in the White House at the centre of a capital inundated with troops and security barriers.

Biden marked the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday with a trip from his home in Delaware to pack food bags for charity in Philadelphia — a gesture symbolizing his call for Americans to come together after four divisive years.

“Service is a fitting way to start to heal, unite, and rebuild this country we love,” Biden said in a video marking the occasion.

But the 78-year-old Democrat’s fervent appeals for optimism and healing — which are also set to dominate his inauguration ceremony at noon on Wednesday — are running up against the hard reality of multiple crises.

COVID-19 is out of control, vaccine distribution is stumbling, and economic recovery remains in the balance.

And after Trump refused for more than two months to accept the results of November’s presidential election, the country is seething with division and anger. When Biden takes the oath of office at noon on Wednesday, he will face a city under the protection of more than 20,000 National Guard soldiers.

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Checkpoints and large zones closed to ordinary citizens mean there will be only a smattering of guests. Similar lockdowns have been imposed at state capitol buildings around the country where local authorities fear provocations from right-wing groups ahead of the inauguration.

A brief security scare on Monday near Congress sparked an evacuation of the site where Biden will take the oath.

The acting defense secretary said, meanwhile, that the military and FBI was vetting the National Guard troopers, who carry automatic weapons, in case any of them posed a threat.

“While we have no intelligence indicating an insider threat, we are leaving no stone unturned in securing the capital,” the official, Christopher Miller, said.

In a culturally significant mark, the legendary country singer Garth Brooks said that he was joining the musical line up at Biden’s ceremony, stressing this was “not a political statement, this is a statement of unity.”

Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez are already set to perform.

Donald Trump, who has been avoiding any major public appearances since the violent outbreak at the US Capitol which was blamed on him, has not invited US President-elect Joe Biden for the traditional visit to the Oval Office in addition to not congratulating him. A week after the incidents of January 6, Trump was impeached by the US Congress for his actions. 

His final Gallup poll as president on Monday showed him exiting with 34% approval, his record low. His overall average of 41% since taking office is also the lowest for any presidency’s approval rating since Gallup began measuring in 1938.

According to various US media sources, Trump plans to announce his list of Presidential pardons before leaving the office on January 20. 

Speculation is mounting over whether Trump will take the unprecedented and legally murky step of issuing himself and his children, who work as campaign and White House advisors, preemptive pardons.

According to CNN and other outlets, Trump has a list of about 100 people he will grant clemency.

After what The New York Times reports have been an intense lobbying effort, these are expected to be a mix of white collar criminals and people whose cases have been championed by criminal justice activists.

Moreover, the controversial pardons which might be in the pipeline can include Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and Trump’s former influential adviser Stephen Bannon. 

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Even though a self-pardon by Trump is currently not expected but is still possible. In such a situation, it might cause problems for the US Senate as it currently prepares for his impeachment trial. 

Trump, the first president to lose reelection since George H.W. Bush was replaced by Bill Clinton, is skipping Biden’s inauguration — the first ex-president to snub his successor in a century and a half.

Before his Presidency ends on Wednesday, Trump will use his Presidential privileges one last time and use the Marine One to travel to Joint Base Andrews where he will board the Air Force One for the last time as President and travel to Florida to his golf club residence called Mar-a-Lago.