Trump victory rally attracts thousands to liberal DC
Thousands of Donald Trump’s supporters Sunday powered through chilly and rainy weather to wait in line for hours to get into the president-elect’s “victory rally” at DC’s Capitol One Arena later in the day.
MAGA fans amassed outside the venue starting around 6 a.m., long before the venue opened for the 5 p.m. rally. The line quickly extended back several blocks despite the inclement weather.
Temperatures hovered around the upper 30s but were forecast to dip further, and the rain was expected to turn into snow later in the day. The city already has a hypothermia alert in effect.
Excitement was palpable ahead of the incoming president’s pre-Inauguration Day rally.
Besides Trump, speakers at the rally will include tech baron Elon Musk, Vice President-elect JD Vance, political commentator Megyn Kelly, conservative pundit Charlie Kirk and Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White.
Singers Kid Rock, Billy Ray Cyrus and Lee Greenwood, as well as disco group The Village People are all set to perform during the monster rally that will mark Trump’s grand return to DC.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is rumored to be attending the event, too.
His platform’s US operations briefly went dark overnight because of a congressional ban over parent company ByteDance’s failure to divest it from China. Trump then vowed to help “save” the wildly popular social-media app by buying it more time, and the company consequently restored the service.
Sunday marks Trump’s first major rally in Washington, DC, since his Jan. 6, 2021, speech at the White House Ellipse, though he has returned to the nation’s capital before.
Earlier this month, Trump had swung through Congress to huddle with Senate Republicans and strategize over his legislative agenda for the current Congress.
Last week, Trump’s fans were dealt a blow when the president was forced to move his rally indoors because of the dangerously cold temperatures projected in DC for Monday.
Trump also is now planning to deliver his inaugural address in the US Capitol Rotunda and screen it at the Capital One Arena, before joining the viewers after his swearing-in ceremony.
Trump and his family trekked back to the DC area on Saturday ahead of the Inauguration and attended festivities at the Trump Sterling Golf Club in Lowes Island, Va.
His golf club hosted a glitzy reception for individuals he is tapping for key cabinet and other administration posts, such as Secretary of State-designee Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary-designee Pete Hegseth.
During the festivities, Trump and his wife, Melania, watched a huge fireworks display that lit up the dark skies around his golf club.
Trump’s team is planning a flurry of executive actions for when he takes office Monday and is expected to preview some of those moves during the DC rally.
