On the eve of his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump energized his supporters, laying out the goals of his second administration, thanking the allies that helped him achieve his victory, while giving hints at the legislative agenda he is going to immediately seek to achieve.
“We won. We won,” Trump opened Sunday as the Capital One Arena filled with cheers.
Taking a victory lap ahead of being sworn in on Monday, Trump said he will usher in a new era.
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“I’m thrilled to be back with so many friends, supporters, and true American patriots on the eve of taking back our country. That’s what we’re going to do. Take back our country,” he said. “Tomorrow at noon, the curtain closes on four long years of American decline, and we begin a brand-new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride.”
PHOTO: President-elect Donald Trump arrives to attend a rally the day before he is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term, in Washington, D.C., Jan. 19, 2025. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)
“Once and for all, we’re going to end the reign of a failed and corrupt political establishment in Washington, a failed administration. We’re not going to take it anymore,” promised Trump.
“We’re going to bring back law and order to our cities. We’re going to restore patriotism to our schools, get radical left woke ideologies the hell out of our military and out of our government. And we are going to make America great again.”
Trump told the audience that they were standing on the verge of four historic years, hyping them up ahead of inauguration festivities on Monday.
“We put America first and it all starts tomorrow. When I raise my hand on the Bible to be sworn as your – we’ll be sworn in tomorrow. We’re all going to be sworn in together. That’s the way I look at it. It’s not, it’s you, greatest of all time. So, we will be sworn in tomorrow. I’ll be representing you as your 47th president of the United States.”
PHOTO: President-elect Donald Trump is projected on a video screen during a rally the day before he is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term, in Washington, Jan. 19, 2025. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
The Sunday rally was one of numerous festivities planned to celebrate Trump’s second inauguration, along with fireworks Saturday night at his Virginia golf club and exclusive receptions and dinners.
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At the same time, it’s a move to highlight the major role big arena rallies have played in all three of Trump’s presidential bids to galvanize his supporters and to carry that campaign spirit into his second-term presidency.
Change through rapid, extensive executive orders
Trump, promising the “best 100 days,” quipped about the amount of executive orders he will be signing tomorrow “to set our country on the proper course.”
“Starting tomorrow, I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country. We have to do it.”
Trump went on to talk about how he didn’t want to take advice from his advisers who told him to spread out his executive orders.
“Somebody said yesterday, ‘Sir, don’t sign so many in one day. Let’s do it over a period of weeks.’ I said, ‘Like hell we’re going to do it over weeks. We’re going to sign them at the beginning.'”
PHOTO: Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard and Pete Hegseth attend a rally for President-elect Donald Trump the day before he is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term, in Washington, Jan. 19, 2025. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
Trump promises Day 1 action of immigration, Jan. 6 pardons
Part of the change Trump talked about included his intention to pardon Jan. 6 rioters.
“Tomorrow, everybody in this very large arena will be very happy with my decision on the J6 hostages. Very happy. I think you’ll be very, very happy. I would say about 99.9% in this beautiful arena,” he said.
He also focused on immigration, previewing the series of executive orders he is set to sign on Monday. Trump said it would be justice for the victims who have experienced violence at the hands of undocumented immigrants.
“The border security measures I will outline in my inaugural address tomorrow will be the most aggressive, sweeping effort to restore our borders the world has ever seen,” he said. “You know, we had the best, safest border in the history of our country.”
“By the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt and all the illegal border trespassers will, in some form or another, be on their way back home,” he promised.
PHOTO: Supporters of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump gather outside Capital One Arena, for a rally a day before he is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term, in Washington, Jan. 19, 2025. (Daniel Cole/Reuters)
‘Going to make a lot of money’ on TikTok
Trump also took credit for “saving” TikTok — despite the fact that he sought to ban the popular social media app during his first term in office — reiterating what he said earlier Sunday in a Truth Social post that he was looking at a joint venture between China and the U.S.
“I said, ‘I’ll approve, but let the United States of America own 50% of TikTok.’ I’m approving on behalf of the United States,” he said. “So, they’ll have a partner, the United States, and they’ll have a lot of bidders. And the United States will do what we call a joint venture. And there’s no risk. We’re not putting up any money.”
“So, whether you like TikTok or not, we’re going to make a lot of money,” Trump said.
Praise for his Middle East envoy
Trump also briefly mentioned the three hostages released as part of a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, praising the work of Steve Witkoff, his special envoy to the Middle East.
“I got to get myself a negotiator. We have to get a good negotiator. A lot of guys are knowledgeable, but they can’t negotiate. They don’t have the personality or whatever. And Steve does. And Steve’s a great negotiator, very successful guy. But he’s our new special envoy to the Middle East for helping reach this great breakthrough. And, really couldn’t have been done without Steve.”
PHOTO: UTesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk gestures during a rally for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, the day before he is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term, in Washington, Jan. 19, 2025. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
Trump calls Musk to the stage, but not his VP
Trump celebrated his Cabinet nominees, offering praise to each of them line by line.
Notably, the only person he brought up on stage was Elon Musk and his son X. He did not bring up Vice President-elect JD Vance, who was expected to speak but didn’t.
“Vance has been extraordinary, and he’s got an unbelievable wife. The second lady of the United States, Usha Vance. So, Usha, thank you very much. Beautiful couple of great people.”
Trump closed his victory rally bringing his supporters with him along for the ride saying, “Tomorrow, we will all be sworn in together.”
Declassifying assassination files
Trump also promised that he would declassify the assassination files of former President John F. Kenney, his brother Robert Kennedy, and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
“As the first step toward restoring transparency and accountability to government, we will also reverse the overclassification of government documents and in the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. and other topics of great public interest.”
PHOTO: President-elect Donald Trump dances as the Village People perform during a rally the day before he is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term, in Washington, Jan. 19, 2025. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)
Dancing to ‘Y.M.C.A.’ live
Exiting the stage, Trump bopped around to a live performance of the Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” and performed his signature dance here and there as the group performed.
The rally features performances by several other celebrities featured during Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, including country singer-songwriter Lee Greenwood, whose signature song “God Bless the U.S.A.” has served as Trump’s rally walkout song throughout his campaign.
Longtime Trump supporter and rock musician Kid Rock, country musician Billy Ray Cyrus and Liberty University’s Praise Choir also performed.
PHOTO: Kid Rock performs during a rally for President-elect Donald Trump the day before he is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term, in Washington, January 19, 2025. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
On Monday, Trump and his supporters are expected to once again gather at Capital One Arena, which is expected to serve as an overflow venue with the inauguration festivities moved to a much smaller space inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda due to frigid weather.
Trump on his social media platform touted a “live viewing” of his inauguration at the arena on Monday, and promised to join the crowd after he is sworn in.
“Everyone will be safe, everyone will be happy, and we will, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote.
Also Monday, following the swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and the inaugural parade moved to the Capital One Arena, three inauguration balls — the Commander in Chief Ball, the Liberty Inaugural Ball and the Starlight Ball, all attended by Trump — are set to conclude the inaugural festivities.
Trump holds ‘Make America Great Again Victory Rally’ on inauguration eve originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
