Thousands march in Washington DC ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration
Thousands of people have marched from three separate points around Washington DC on Saturday ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
The rally, going by the People’s March, is a rebrand of the 2017 Women’s March, which saw more than 500,000 marchers take to the streets of DC at the start of Mr Trump’s first administration, as millions more participated in local marches around the country.
The marches are being led by several national activists groups, and mark the start of what the incoming president called “the most important weekend, plus, in American history” on his Truth Social platform.
But the march this year was tipped to be around one 10th of the size of the first one after Democrat Kamala Harris’s resounding loss to the Republicans, with organisers saying it has been a struggle to conjure up the same passion as in 2017.
“The reality is that it’s just hard to capture lightning in a bottle,” said Tamika Middleton, managing director at the Women’s March.
“It was a really particular moment. In 2017, we had not seen a Trump presidency and the kind of vitriol that that represented.”
Ms Middleton says the march, which rebranded to be more inclusive, is not specifically aimed at Mr Trump this time around, but rather on a broader set of issues, such as women’s and reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, immigration, climate and democracy.
“We’re not thinking about the march as the endgame,” she said.
“[We’re thinking] how do we get those folks who show up into organisations and into their political homes so they can keep fighting in their communities long term?”
Some in the crowd wore the pink hats from the much-larger 2017 protest, as the crowd wound through downtown DC, past the White House and toward the Lincoln Memorial.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump is kicking off his inauguration weekend festivities at Trump National Sterling, outside of DC, according to Sky News’ US partner NBC News.
The day’s events will include a reception for the president-elect and fireworks, according to Trump’s inaugural committee’s events schedule.
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The committee also announced it will hold a Cabinet reception and vice president-elect dinner on Saturday.
While the marches look different to 2017, so too will Mr Trump’s swearing-in ceremony on Monday, which is set to take place inside the US Capitol Rotunda building rather than outdoors due to cold weather.
It means the roughly 250,000 people who had tickets to watch the inauguration from around the Capitol grounds will no longer be able to do so.
Thousands more were expected to be in general admission areas or to line the route from the Capitol Building to the White House.
Mr Trump said the Capital One Arena in Washington will open for a live viewing of his swearing-in ceremony and to host the Presidential Parade.
Mr Trump has said he will join the crowd at Capital One after the swearing-in, which will be the first to take place indoors in 40 years.
'I've seen better cabinet picks in Ikea'.
Diana Magnay
@DiMagnaySky
The banners are inventive. They cover a wide range of issues. ‘Ban guns not abortions’; ‘Trump belongs in a jailhouse, not the White House’; ”Trans Lives Matter’; Broligarchy’.
‘I’ve seen better cabinet picks in Ikea’.
But the mood in Washington at what’s been billed ‘the People’s March’ is relatively muted, more a mood of resignation than rage.
‘Resistance is resilience’ read the illuminated banners around the speakers’ stage, set up in front of the Lincoln Memorial. An acknowledgement that if you feel, as those out today do, that a second Trump presidency will turn the clock back on civil rights, reproductive rights, gender freedoms, on defence of the climate, rights for immigrants and the sanctity of American justice, the next four years will be a long haul.
Because Donald Trump is back. There’s not much they can do about it.
“Our audience is never Donald Trump,” says Tamika Middleton, one of the march’s organisers. “I think he pays attention because he wants to compare, you know, the ego of it all. But our audience is everyday folks who are looking for something to believe in, who are looking for people to connect to.”
That’s certainly what Alan, a Vietnam veteran we meet in the crowds, tells me. “It feels exhilarating, I’m just so thankful to be here. The feeling of solidarity. The feeling that you’re not alone, sitting at home, looking ahead to the next four years.”
The slogans have moved on from the original Women’s March in 2017, when half a million people took to the streets of Washington DC to protest Donald Trump’s first Presidency. There is now more ‘fight the oligarchy’, than ‘fight the patriarchy’. Trump and Elon Musk’s bromance gets plenty of mentions. ‘Trump (f)elon’, reads one banner.
“You can’t spell felon without Elon,” says Lilly who’s holding it.
“When I saw the exit polls, everybody was talking about the economy,” she continues. “But this man that they elected doesn’t care. He’s not affected by the economy. You know, he has all the oligarchs. He has all the wealthiest 1% support. And he can’t relate to the normal people. He really can’t.”
