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Eight years ago, Donald Trump arrived in Washington to a city still stunned by his victory. This time around, he turned the capital into a MAGA fest.
Inside the Capital One Arena on Sunday, amid Trump inauguration beanies, red white and blue scarves, and white and gold Trump 2024 cowboy hats, the president-elect entered like a conqueror, coming onto the stage by descending a set of stairs through the crowd.
In a town that turned up its nose at Trump the first time, Trump brought his own party — and his supporters — for his inauguration-eve bash. If not shock, there was no shortage of awe.
“His winning in 2016 was a surprise,” said Michael Yadeta, a former candidate for Maryland’s 8th congressional district, as he watched from the front rows of the arena floor. “Now he won everywhere. He won the popular vote, electoral vote. So we believe this is a revolution, not just a win. So it’s a big difference in how he’s being received.”
To hear Trump tell it, a nation that experienced “four long years of American decline,” will soon see a reversal of fortunes. Despite the galloping economy he will take the reins of, he said his administration will “inherit disasters at home and abroad.”
“We will be a free and proud nation once again,” he said. “And that will take place tomorrow at 12 o’clock.″
Trump’s rally put on full display the totality of his grip on Washington. Republicans control all branches of federal government, his once embattled pick for Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, appears ready to sail through confirmation, and Trump has installed a friendly majority on the Supreme Court.
On Sunday, the president-elect promised to visit wildfire-torn Los Angeles on Friday and to make public documents surrounding the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And Stephen Miller, Trump’s incoming deputy chief of staff, gave the audience a taste of what to expect come Monday afternoon.
“It’s going to mean an executive order ending the border invasion, sending the illegals home and taking America back,” Miller said. “It’s going to mean the eradication of the criminal cartels and the foreign gangs who are preying on our people. And it’s going to mean justice for every American citizen who has lost a loved one to illegal aliens.”
Indeed, Trump is expected to rain down a torrent of executive orders on Monday, on issues ranging from immigration to energy and more.
Trump said some of his own advisers suggested holding back on so many executive orders on day one and spreading them out throughout the next several weeks.
“Like hell we are,” he said he told them.
The MAGA jamboree, devoid of Monday’s pomp and circumstance, tread the same familiar territory as his political rallies in the long run up to Election Day, down to the music and dancing This time, though, instead of swaying to a recording, his trademark dance took place behind the Village People, as they sang “YMCA.”
Trump teased new executive actions, too, saying “tomorrow everybody in this very large arena will be very happy with my decision on the J6 hostages” as the crowd roared.
Across the phalanx of rally speakers, which ranged from Girls Gone Bible and Megyn Kelly to Elon Musk and Ultimate Fighting Championship chief Dana White, incoming administration officials offered glimpses of what they hope to achieve.
For Trump’s supporters who hail from beyond the Beltway, the rally was a kind of fan service.
“We’re from Missouri, we’re a red state, so we really haven’t had an opportunity to go to a Trump rally, and this was our first chance,” said George Heoffner, 68, as he sat next to his wife and their friend on the floor of the arena. “And it is absolutely amazing. It is so emotional, so much fun. And all the people that we get to see, who we’ve seen on TV, are right there in front of us.”
