Donald Trump leaves office at noon on Wednesday
Credit: Reuters
He condemned the attack on the US Capitol on Jan 6, saying: "All Americans were horrified. It can never be tolerated."
Mr Trump also took a swipe at technology companies that have banned him, saying "political censorship" was "not who we are".
Senior Republicans were set to snub Mr Trump’s farewell ceremony as he left office with the lowest average poll rating of any president in the post-War era.
Barring a last minute change Mike Pence, his vice president, was not expected to go to the event, instead attending Mr Biden’s inauguration.
Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives, were also expected to be absent.
They have accepted invitations from Mr Biden to attend church with him around the time Mr Trump leaves Washington on Wednesday morning.
The relationship between all three of the powerful Republicans and Mr Trump has soured since supporters of the president invaded the US Capitol.
Mr McConnell lambasted the outgoing Republican president on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday for "provoking" the assault on the Capitol.
Mr Trump held no public events in his final week and appeared increasingly isolated as staff left the White House.
Donald Trump's farewell address
He recorded a final video, rather than making a live address to the nation, to highlight some of his achievements.
But little effort was made to secure his legacy, as other presidents have done, through high-profile television interviews.
Mr Trump was the first US president in over 150 years to decide to miss his successor’s inauguration.
He planned to take the Marine One helicopter to Joint Base Andrews for a farewell ceremony there around 8am.
It was set to include a 21-gun salute, a military band, and a red carpet walk to Air Force One flanked by soldiers. There may also be a military fly past.
Mr Trump’s approval rating on leaving office was 34 per cent, according to Gallup. That was a record low for his presidency.
His average Gallup approval rating during his four years in office was 41 per cent.
That was four points lower than any other president since such polls began seven decades ago.
Barack Obama’s average was 47.9 per cent, George W. Bush’s 49.4 per cent, and John F. Kennedy’s 70.1 per cent.
Mr Trump was also the only president in the entire Gallup polling era never to get above 50 per cent approval in a single poll.
Presidential job approval averages
A Gallup spokesman said: "The significance of Trump’s final rating could be more important than his average as the former is the one that is often most predictive of how presidents are regarded historically."
In his scathing Senate speech Mr McConnell said there had been an attempt to "use fear and violence" on Jan 6 to stop the Senate certifying Mr Biden’s election victory.
He said: "The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people.
"But we pressed on. We stood together and said an angry mob would not get veto power over the rule of law in our nation."
Mr McConnell’s condemnation of Mr Trump makes it increasingly possible that he may vote to convict the president in a Senate trial.
Nancy Pelosi has vowed to send an article of impeachment — incitement of insurrection — to the Senate "soon".
The votes of 17 of the 50 Republican senators would be needed to convict Mr Trump, which would also prevent him from standing for office again.
As the White House tried to attract people to Mr Trump’s farewell event it invited former officials who have become prominent critics of the outgoing president.
That included Anthony Scaramucci, who was briefly the White House communications director.
Mr Scaramucci said he would not be going. He added: "Trust me, that had to be a mass email if one of them got sent to me."
In an apparent further attempt to boost numbers the invitation allowed invitees to bring five guests each.
John Kelly, Mr Trump’s former chief of staff, and Don McGahn, the former White House counsel, also received invitations but were not going.
Some present officials also decided against attending as they sought to distance themselves from their service in Mr Trump’s administration.
Mr Trump was expected to issue a slew of pardons as he left office.
He will cease to be president at noon on Wednesday and Air Force One was expected to land in Florida in time for him to use a presidential motorcade to get to Mar-a-Lago, his post-presidential residence.
Moving vans have already been seen delivering items to Mar-a-Lago.
The last outgoing president to avoid the incoming presidents’ inauguration was Andrew Johnson in 1869 as Ulysses Grant took over.
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