WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump is spending the eve of his inauguration in a series of Washington events that celebrate his return to power and his “Make America Great Again” movement as he prepares to move back into the White House at a time of deep national political divisions.
Washington 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 could be difficult to fulfill postelection pledges about promoting bipartisanship while healing political differences. He told NBC News on Saturday that unity would be a theme of his inauguration speech Monday at the Capitol, along with strength and fairness.
“January 20th cannot come fast enough!,” he posted on his social media site. “Everybody, even those that initially opposed a Victory by President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Administration, just want it to happen.”
Keeping to tradition, Trump spent Saturday night at Blair House, the president’s official guest residence 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, that illuminated the night sky.
He had 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 Monday, Trump directed his oath of office — now set for the Capitol Rotunda — and most of Monday’s outdoor events be moved indoors. The traditional parade will be held, in some form, at Capital One Arena.
Trump also was to attend a candlelight dinner Sunday where he was expected to speak.
Biden, in his final full day in office, scheduled a trip to South Carolina, a state that holds special meaning after his commanding win in the 2020 Democratic primary there set him up to achieve his life’s goal 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.