WASHINGTON — Just hours after being sworn in as the nation’s 47th president, Donald Trump was already back to rally mode.
Bitterly cold temperatures forced Trump’s swearing-in ceremony indoors to the Capitol rotunda, meaning his supporters couldn’t congregate on the National Mall for the event. Instead, thousands packed into the Capital One Arena downtown to celebrate the man to whom many here had dedicated years trying to return to the White House.
Trump entered the arena around 5:30 p.m. through the crowd, which was chanting “USA” as he approached the stage where his family members were seated.
It was a kickoff to the inaugural parade that was originally scheduled to be held outdoors. Heavy on law enforcement groups and marching bands, it lapped around the stage to enthusiastic support from the crowd.
“You are witnessing the dawn of the golden age of America,” Trump said when taking stage after the parade.
Trump opened his speech talking about the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas as part of a long-awaited ceasefire deal, and he told the crowd he would be signing pardons for some collection of those arrested in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He referred to those Jan. 6 defendants as “hostages,” as some Israeli hostages and families stood on stage behind him.
The crowd gave a loud boo when Trump mentioned that on his way out of office, President Joe Biden issued pre-emptive pardons for members of his family.
After his remarks, Trump moved to a wooden desk adorned with the seal of the president of the United States to sign a handful of executive actions that he said would overturn “radical” Biden-era policies. Trump had long-promised sweeping executive action on day one of his administration on issues related to immigration, the economy and energy policy.
Trump signed a total of nine documents on stage, showing his signature to the crowd after each. They included rescinding 78 Biden-era executive actions, freezing federal hiring, making federal workers return to work, withdrawing from the Paris climate pact, instructing federal agencies to look into lowering the cost of living and ending “the weaponization of government” against political enemies.
“Could you imagine Biden doing this?” Trump said while signing the directives. “I don’t think so.”
He then threw the pens into the crowd.
Lines to get into the event extended for several blocks. Some of the most die-hard Trump supporters waited overnight in single-digit temperatures to get into the packed venue, which has a capacity far smaller than that of the National Mall.
The arena was opened for people to watch Trump’s swearing-in speech, which was broadcast live on the jumbotron.
One day earlier, Trump held a preinaugural rally at the arena, and a number of people were turned away after it filled to capacity.
“We had tickets for the inauguration, and were disappointed like everyone else, and it was hard waiting in line,” said Janeen Coyle, who drove eight hours from Cincinnati. “But this is a historic event. He’s a nonconsecutive president, the first since Grover Cleveland, so it was important to be here.”
“He’s a historic figure, whether you love him or hate him,” she said.
In the days leading up to Trump’s inauguration, Washington itself was filled with Trump supporters, as people wearing his trademark red “Make America Great Again” hats could be seen in bars, restaurants and coffee shops throughout the city. Booths selling Trump merchandise popped up in the streets surrounding the Capitol, and Trump-themed music could be heard booming from MAGA-adorned vehicles that stopped on street corners for impromptu photo shoots with Trump supporters walking by.
It was a different greeting in the nation’s capital for Trump and his MAGA supporters than in 2017. Plenty of Washingtonians still left town ahead of the inauguration, but there’s been more acceptance of Trump’s win this time around.
The 2017 inauguration was marked by more widespread protests after an election win that shocked and surprised much of the nation’s political establishment.
This time, Trump was the political establishment.
“The whole city, it feels like it is really excited,” said Lisa Wood, who drove with Coyle from Cincinnati for the inauguration. “I was not expecting that.”
The mood was overwhelmingly celebratory in the arena. Still, the partisan rancor of the hard-fought 2024 campaign lingered.
Loud boos rang out through the crowd when Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, the Clintons and outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris, were shown on the big screen entering the Capitol for the swearing-in ceremony.
Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, was also loudly booed when shown on screen. Pence had a swift falling out with Trump and many of his supporters after Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump and his supporters believed Pence could have blocked Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
The formal inauguration ceremonies were shown on the arena’s overhead jumbotron, getting loud reaction from the crowd throughout, with the loudest choruses coming when Trump finished the oath of office at 12:02 p.m. and during a speech where he outlined his sweeping Day 1 executive actions.
At one point shortly after Trump was officially sworn in, an attendee who apparently expressed anti-Trump views in the audience was removed as the crowd chanted, “Kick her out!”
Some in the crowd sung the 1969 No. 1 pop hit “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” as the person exited. The song was again sung as the big screen showed Biden exiting Trump’s inauguration to board a helicopter and leave Washington.
The speaker lineup featured a long list of MAGA-world luminaries familiar to anyone who had attended the dozens of Trump rallies held throughout the 2024 presidential campaign.
Among those who took the stage were Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley; Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, who is considering a run for governor; Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, who played a big role helping organize the Trump campaign’s political ground game; and billionaire tech executive Elon Musk.
Top Trump campaign aide Dan Scavino used his speech to recall the first Trump assassination attempt, in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“It is a moment I will never forget,” Scavino said. “We were in the hospital, he had blood coming down his ear, and he wanted to know how his staff was.”
“The guy just got shot in the damn head, and he’s worried about us,” he added.
The crowd responded with chants of “fight, fight, fight,” the word Trump himself shouted moments after being shot.
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