Tens of thousands of president’s supporters take to Washington’s frozen streets: ‘Trump will fix everything’

The streets of downtown Washington — a simulation of a downtown in a city where skyscrapers are prohibited by law — were transformed early Monday morning into one of the dozens, hundreds of towns that over the past two years and across the country have hosted rallies by then-candidate Donald Trump. There were red caps, alarmist messages about the country’s progress, and merchandising stands always up to date with the latest news, such as T-shirts that showed the new president with the White House in the background and the message “Dad is back,” or hats that altered, perhaps a little prematurely, the classic Trumpist slogan of “Make America Great Again” to “America is Great Again.”

But most of all, there were the tens of thousands of supporters from around the country who traveled to the capital to take part in the open-air party on the National Mall, but had to wait in line for hours to maybe, just maybe, get into a basketball stadium where they could watch the historic day onfold.

The blame was due to a forecast of polar cold that is hitting the U.S. capital and that forced — for the first time in 40 years — the pomp of Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president of the United States, his triumphant return to the White House four years later, into the interior of the Capitol, a building that thousands of his supporters stormed on January 6, 2021, determined not to concede the Republican’s defeat at the polls.

Temperatures did not drop as much as expected, and the mood among those who packed the streets around Capitol One Arena, where Trump was scheduled to go after being sworn in at 11:47 sharp (note the numerical nod, which he was unable to make due to delays), was very different this time. There was euphoria, but also resignation and a touch of disappointment given that many of them — most of them — were going to be left out.

According to the event organizers, 220,000 free tickets were distributed through senators and congressmen or local Republican Party organizations for anyone who wanted to come and celebrate what the new vice president, J. D. Vance, who was also sworn in Monday, described on the night of the election victory as “the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States.” But the Washington sports center, home to NBA team the Wizards, where it was decided on Friday to improvise a stage for the consolation prize, only has room for about 20,000 people.

There were those who had been waiting in line since the night before, when temperatures dropped to almost 14ºF (-10ºC), although they would have started waiting earlier had it not been for the fact that Trump held a rally there on Sunday afternoon. And there were those who tried to get in unsuccessfully on both occasions, like Theresa Curry, who had traveled from Florida by car, a journey of about 14 hours, and on Sunday waited and waited during snowfall that left the Mall slightly dusted white on Monday morning.

Trump supporters from across the US

There were people from all corners of the country, from California to central Missouri; from Tucson (Arizona) to Kansas. From everywhere except, apparently, Washington, which supported the Democratic candidate, Kamala Harris, with 92% of the vote and preferred to dedicate the day (for the third time in history, the presidential inauguration coincided with the holiday celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King) to other matters, such as, for example, spending the day somewhere else.

Among those who had arrived for Trump’s inauguration, certainty was lacking as the line, which snaked around itself for several streets, moved between the fences after the doors opened shortly before 8 a.m. and misinformation spread. One attendee said the line stretched for four or five miles (fake news). Another claimed there were around 400,000 people attempting to access the Capital One Arena (more fake news).

More than one person regretted not having known about the change of plans earlier. Travis Hopkins, from Ohio, would have canceled his Airbnb if it had been possible to do so without incurring a financial penalty, while Jacqueline Muñoz had no choice but to continue as planned, because the news that the inauguration was being moved inside the Capitol and that the tickets were now — according to the event organizers — “souvenirs of a great day for the United States” broke while Muñoz was on board a plane crossing the vast country.

After 8 a.m., Joseph Smith took his wife Samantha by the hand and the two wandered through the deserted streets in search of a bar where they could watch everything on TV, “order a few beers, and light up like a Christmas tree.” There was also much to celebrate for Steve Scanlon, who has been selling Trump-related merchandise “since 2016.” Asked what he expected from the new president, he said: “He will fix everything.”

Inside, the lucky crowd followed events on the arena’s scoreboards, organized around an empty stage where — in a theatrical gesture that was unsurprising given the protagonist — a desk was set up so that Trump, once sworn in, could get to work and sign, before an excited audience, the dozens of executive orders from his first day in the Oval Office, which promise to turn the United States upside down and undo the legacy of his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Meanwhile, on one of the streets surrounding the arena, a homeless man was playing the American national anthem on a harmonica connected to a toy megaphone in exchange for alms. Welcome to a new era in American history.

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