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WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump spends the eve of his inauguration on several occasions in Washington celebrating his return to force and his “Make America Great Again” movement, as he prepares to return to the White House at a time of deep crisis. National political divisions.
The nation’s capital has prepared in unprecedented ways to keep the unfolding events save and secure. But unlike when Trump helped spark a mob of his supporters to attack the Capitol and tried to retain power in 2021 after his loss to Democrat Joe Biden, officials are not expecting massive protests, unrest and violence this time. Instead, the city is braced for crowds celebrating Trump’s second term and MAGA’s total control of the Republican Party.
It is a remarkable turnaround after Trump left the nation’s capital four years in disgrace and skipped the inauguration of his successor. Trump blasted his way through the 2024 GOP presidential primary and won November’s election by an Electoral College margin unseen since Democrat Barack Obama was reelected in 2012.
Yet even with that comfortable victory and his party in full, albeit narrow, control of Congress, the incoming president remains one of the most polarizing figures in U.S. history, with nearly as many fierce detractors as ardent supporters.
That means it may be difficult to fulfill post-election commitments to promote bipartisanship while easing political differences. He told NBC News on Saturday that unity would be the theme of his inauguration speech Monday at the Capitol, along with strength and justice.
“January 20 can’t come soon enough!” Trump also posted this week on his social media site. “Everyone, even those who first opposed a victory by President Donald J. Trump and the Trump administration, they just need that to happen. “
Domestic and global events captured some of his attention on Sunday when he commented on the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the U. S. ban on TikTok.
“The hostages are starting to come out today!” “Three glorious young people will be the first,” Trump wrote on his social network.
Overnight, millions of American TikTok users could no longer watch videos on the social media platform as a federal ban on the app went into effect. The company posted a message making a private appeal to Trump.
“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office,” the message said. Trump’s online response: “SAVE TIKTOK!”
True to tradition, Trump spent Saturday night at Blair House, the presidential office on Pennsylvania Avenue, across from the White House. He arrived there after a party at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, about 30 miles west of the city, where fireworks lit up the night sky.
Trump arrived in Washington from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, aboard a C-32, the military variant of the Boeing 757, painted in the iconic presidential powder blue and white color scheme. The aircraft that would be known as Air Force One if the president were aboard carried the president-elect as Special Air Mission 47.
Sunday will be Trump’s first full day back in the capital since the election. It gives him a chance to enjoy the moment and fire up his core supporters before Inauguration Day’s heavy dose of official pomp, including the swearing-in at noon.
Trump planned to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery before addressing a rally downtown at Capital One Arena, home of Washington pro basketball and hockey teams.
With frigid temperatures expected for Monday, Trump ordered his oath of office, now set in the Capitol Rotunda, and most of Monday’s events moved indoors. The classic parade will take place, one way or another, at Capital One Arena.
Trump also was to attend a candlelight dinner Sunday where he was expected to speak.
Biden, on his last full day in office, scheduled a trip to South Carolina, a state of particular importance following his landslide victory in the 2020 Democratic primary, which prepared him to achieve his life’s purpose of being elected president.
Biden, accompanied by his wife, first lady Jill Biden, was set to visit a church in North Charleston to worship and speak on the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the White House said. Monday is also the federal holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader.
The president used his farewell address earlier in the week to warn of a growing “oligarchy” of ultra-rich interests gaining power and threatening the nation’s very democracy.