Barack and Michelle Obama are to welcome Donald and Melania Trump for tea at the White House ahead of Friday's inauguration, the outgoing president's office has announced.

The Obamas will then be flown from the White House by helicopter to Andrews Air Force base.

There Mr Obama will bid farewell to his White Staff before taking Air Force One for the final time. He has said he intends to remain in Washington when he leaves office until his daughter Sasha finishes High School.

By tradition the outgoing president also leaves a note for his successor, Ronald Reagan, for example, scribbled "don't let the turkeys get you down" in the missive he left for George HW Bush.