WASHINGTON, D.C. – Just a few hours ago, President- Elect Donald Trump threw a victory rally in downtown D.C. Celebrities, members of his new administration and thousands of people took part in the event the day before he is inaugurated.
Trump told the crowd at the rally his return to the White House means an end to four long years of American decline. He promised to sign a number of executive orders on immigration and repeal measures President Biden enacted within hours after he swears in.
“Starting tomorrow, I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country,” Trump told the crowd. “We have to do it.”
Even before this party, there was a party outside of the arena. There was singing, some juggling and kids playing dress up.
“A costume,” said seven year-old Jagger who was wearing a Donald Trump costume. “Yeah, I got it for Halloween.”
Security measures like fencing and law enforcement were prominent nearby the arena. People braved the winter weather by waiting in a maze of lines outside. If you showed up early enough, you got in. But others weren’t so lucky.
“When we got here to get in line and speaking with police officers they said ‘oh no’ it was like a mile past where we had gone and it’s a cutoff and we didn’t get in,” said Amanda Sonnthe from California. “But we still wanted to come down here and experience it with everybody.”
For some we spoke with waiting in line, their homes were impacted by the recent hurricanes that hit North Carolina. They said they wouldn’t have missed this for the world.
“We wanted to be here so bad and it’s an honor to be here,” said Diane Patterson, whose community in North Carolina was impacted.
“We were able to scrape up enough money to come up here and see the most important day tomorrow,” said Diane’s husband Jeff. “And it’s a big change.”
Due to the winter weather, Trump will now have his swearing in ceremony inside the Capitol rotunda. H ’s encouraged people who want to take part in the inauguration ceremony to come back to the arena to watch that ceremony as it’s televised. The presidential parade will also happen after the swearing in ceremony at the arena. We will be covering the inauguration and its events all day and will bring you the latest.
