WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump rallied in the nation’s capital on Sunday ahead of Monday’s packed inauguration, heralding the era of the “Trump Effect” and vowing to “act with historic speed and force and fix every crisis our country faces.” . “
Shortly thereafter his swearing in, Trump is expected to pardon the rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and whom he believes are “J6 hostages.” Trump also plans a series of executive orders restricting immigration and undoing President Joe Biden’s energy policies.
victory rally, streaming live on C-SPAN at the Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, D.C., with live music by Kid Rock, Lee Greenwood, and closing with a surreal performance of the 1978 disco hit “YMCA” by the Village People as Trump danced with them . Trump often played this song at his campaign rallies.
Various future administration officials and celebrities gave speeches criticizing transgender people, DEI initiatives, and immigration at the US southern border. Vice President-elect JD Vance was not among the speakers.
Trump spoke for just over an hour, repeating themes from the campaign trail regarding fictional cannibal Hannibal Lecter, SpaceX rockets, migrant “invasion” and “transgender madness.”
He also promised to declassify documents related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy and claimed that Apple CEO Tim Cook told him on Sunday about the “massive investment in the United States in connection with our great election victory.”
“I’m thrilled to be back with so many friends, supporters and true American patriots on the eve of taking back our country,” Trump told cheering crowds in the arena that seats about 20,000.
Monday will also host Trump supporters who had tickets to the Capitol audience before the ceremony was moved inside due to forecasts of low temperatures, as well as the inaugural parade on Monday afternoon.
Trump praised Sunday’s return of the popular app TikTok and the “effective ceasefire agreement” between Israel and Hamas.
The novel president has said that the war in the Middle East would not have happened if the 2020 elections had not been “rigged” – a false claim he has been repeating for the past four years.
Trump and Vance will be sworn in on Monday At home in the Capitol rotunda. Under the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ four-year terms end at noon.
Emergency declaration
Trump’s planned executive orders will include declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, Wall Street Journal reports. reported Sunday.
“You will see executive orders that will make you very happy, there are plenty of them,” he told rally participants. “Before the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will be settled.”
Trump later told the crowd: “Someone said yesterday, ‘Sir, don’t sign so many documents in one day. Let’s do it in a few weeks. I said, “Hell, we’ll do it in weeks.”
Also on his list of day one executive orders is an extension of the deadline TikTok finding a novel owner, which was a task outlined in last year’s bipartisan legislation. Without an extension, companies that distribute or operate TikTok will face fines of up to $5,000 per user of the popular video platform.
The order “will confirm that I will have no liability for any company that helped prevent TikTok from expiring before my order,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform hours before the rally.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was expected to sit on the dais Monday at Trump’s inauguration, but seating arrangements for the indoor ceremony remained unclear.
On Sunday, Trump invited tech billionaire Elon Musk to the stage. The tycoon, who has been tasked with making recommendations for cutting trillions in federal spending, told the crowd, “we look forward to making a lot of changes.”
Speakers Smear ‘Radical Left’, Harris
A parade of speakers introduced the president-elect. Trump’s son Eric, standing next to his wife Lara and their two children, declared: “This nonsense stops now.”
Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy, touted “ending the border invasion, sending illegal immigrants home and welcoming America back” and clearing children’s playgrounds of “piles of needles.”
Miller denied the existence of transgender people.
“We will not allow the radical left to indoctrinate our children to believe that there are 435 genders, because President Trump knows that there are men and there are women, and it is not up to you whether you are male or female. It’s a decision God made and it can’t be changed,” Miller said.
There are an estimated 2 million transgender people in the U.S. According to to the Human Rights Campaign. Gender dysphoria – defined as psychological suffering resulting from the incongruity of the sex assigned at birth with the current gender identity – is common recognized by the medical community. Transgender youth experience disparate health outcomes and increased stigma and suicidal behavior, according to 2024 study report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Right-wing media personality Megyn Kelly made remarks during which she spent several minutes harshly criticizing singer and actress Jennifer Lopez and media mogul Oprah Winfrey for their support of Harris during the 2024 election.
“But of course, the fakest person involved on this side of the aisle was the woman at the top, Kamala Harris herself,” Kelly said.
The former Fox News host said the vice president used a “fake Jamaican accent, a fake Eastern European accent and a fake Spanish accent.” It was like spending the day non-stop on Joe Biden’s southern border, right?”
Similar criticisms were repeatedly expressed by Republicans during the campaign, and in September, a Fox News reporter pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about Harris’ accent. “This question is just crazy,” Jean-Pierre said, saying Americans care more about the economy, health care and cutting costs, HuffPost reported.
Attack on the media
The rally began with a prayer by a duo called “Girls Gone Bible,” followed shortly thereafter by a musical set by Kid Rock.
In a video message to his “rock ‘n roll patriots,” Trump told the audience, “Let’s make America rock again,” after which Kid Rock began playing his novel song “We the People” with the chorus of “Let’s Go Brandon.” “Brandon” is a name used by Trump supporters to insult Biden.
While performing his 1999 hit “Bawitdaba,” Kid Rock improvised “The mainstream media can suck on me” – without finishing the sentence.
Before the rally, Trump and Vance participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. They also visited three graves of soldiers who died during the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Several Trump Cabinet nominees attended the ceremony, including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who was elected secretary of state; Fox News host Pete Hegseth, candidate for secretary of defense; and current and former U.S. Representatives Elise Stefanik and Tulsi Gabbard, nominees for ambassador to the United Nations and director of national intelligence.
Last updated: 21:13, January 19, 2025
