Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States in less than 24 hours. 3 Doors Down, Toby Keith, and Jackie Evancho will be performing at the inauguration, but it’s not the music that has Trump supporters ecstatic for the festivities to begin.
The same man who’s stepped into the WWE wrestling ring multiple times, hosted 14 seasons of the NBC reality show “The Apprentice,” and emblazoned his name in giant gold lettering on skyscrapers will be giving his inaugural address before moving into the White House as the nation’s new Commander-In-Chief. It will be cloudy with a slight chance of rain, but the show will go on.
On the campaign trail, Trump broke all the rules. He ditched the teleprompters on several occasions, fed off the crowd’s energy in packed arenas in states people said he’d never win — but don’t expect to see that side of Trump at his inauguration.
Around two million people are expected to attend Trump’s inauguration. According to the Palm Beach Post , Sean Spicer, Trump’s press secretary, said Trump will be giving a personal 20-minute speech. The theme of Trump’s inaugural address will be around his shared values with the American people and, of course, making America great again.
Trump’s inaugural address is expected to be less than 20 minutes, anchored in Jacksonian approach, per two ppl familiar with it.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 17, 2017
Trump reportedly helped write the speech himself. On Inauguration Day, Trump is expected to cite inspiration from John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan’s ability to inspire the country as president. Trump’s also expected to call on Republicans and Democrats to find common ground on key issues as the first of many steps to improve his relationship with Democratic and independent voters.
“The level of personal involvement is unbelievable. It is a Trump draft. It is written by him, it is edited by him, it is updated by him,” Spicer said. “He’s his own sort of editor. He’s adding something here, moving something, keeping something there. This is a very, very personal speech to him.”
“I’ve spent a lot of time watching people work on speeches over the years, I’ve never seen someone so personally engaged.”
Trump’s inauguration will be a media spectacle before, during, and after his first speech as president. Hillary Clinton will be in attendance, which should make for some fascinating pictures. Former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama will also attend the inauguration. The prospect of hecklers in the massive crowd and organized protests pose a challenge to law enforcement throughout the weekend.
But when the protests are over and the National Mall’s cleaned up after the people have returned to their homes, the most important thing etched into American history will be Trump’s inaugural address. In a press conference on Thursday, Spicer said Trump will be using his inauguration as the opportunity to submit a philosophical document about the future of the country and how his presidency will fight for middle-class American values.
“He’ll discuss what it means to be an American, the challenges we face, the challenges the middle-class face,” Spicer said. “It’s going to be less of an agenda and more of a philosophical document, a vision of where he sees the country. The proper role of government. The role of citizens.”
Trump’s inaugural address will take place at 12 p.m. on the steps of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. The ceremony will kick off a string of inauguration events including a parade and a series of balls into the weekend. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will officiate the ceremony, and Trump will be sworn in as president using Abraham Lincoln’s and his own childhood Bible given to him by his mother.
[Featured Image by Drew Angerer/ Getty Images]
