WASHINGTON — Donald Trump, the oldest man to win the presidency, presented himself on Sunday as a champion of the young, claiming that his youngest followers will declare him one of the finest to have ever lived in the White House decades from now.
In thirty, forty, or fifty years, some of these young people will say, “I remember Donald Trump. He did a good job.” Trump made this claim at a pre-inauguration event at Capital One Arena.
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Trump, who will take the oath of office for the second time on Monday, said that his newfound support for TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media firm that he once advocated shutting down but has since embraced, is partly responsible for the progress he made with younger people.
Trump declared on Sunday that he would sign an executive order postponing a ban that the Supreme Court affirmed last week as one of his first actions upon taking office again. The news came after TikTok’s US access was momentarily disrupted.
Trump declared, “TikTok is back as of today,” to a thunderous applause from the crowd.
The rally for Trump was presented as an enormous victory lap. Before him, a line of Trump-friendly individuals took the stage, including Stephen Miller, the anti-immigration fervent advocate and incoming deputy chief of staff in the White House, Dana White, the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and Megyn Kelly, a prominent figure in conservative media.
All save the upper level of the arena, which can hold 20,000 spectators during athletic events, was packed with fans, with hundreds more seats spread out on the floor. As warm-up speakers hit the stage, campaign slogans like “Trump Will Fix It” and others scrolled across the scoreboards.
Four long years of American decline will come to an end tomorrow at noon, and a new era of American strength, prosperity, dignity, and pride will begin, Trump declared.
Trump pledged to swiftly issue a series of executive orders to reverse the actions of former President Joe Biden. He also hinted that his return to power had sped up a shift in the attitudes of large tech and other business leaders, who previously viewed him with suspicion while endorsing progressive corporate governance practices that made his MAGA audience laugh.
In recent weeks, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Jeff Bezos of Amazon have taken steps to bring their businesses and personal ideals closer to those of Trump. Both accepted invitations to the inauguration ceremony on Monday. Trump mentioned Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, from the podium. Trump claims to have spoken with Cook again on Sunday after meeting him lately.
Trump hinted that Apple, whose Tim Cook I spoke with today, would be investing heavily in the US as a result of our election victory.
For the hundreds of Trump supporters and other Republicans in Washington this week, the rally served as a spiritual outlet as the inauguration event was moved indoors due to dangerously chilly weather forecasts. Additionally, Trump saw the unstructured rally format as a return to a familiar setting that a more narrowly focused inaugural speech cannot replicate.
Kid Rock, a rock singer and Trump ally, performed a short set that included the song We the People, which has the line “Let’s go, Brandon,” which has become an anti-Biden meme in recent years as a crude jab at him.
Members of the Trump family also spoke to the crowd. Eric Trump served some PG-13-rated food after he and Lara Trump led their two small children in the oath of allegiance.
The nonsense is over. In a preview of his father’s second term, Eric Trump declared, “The bulls— ends.”
Additionally, Trump was briefly joined onstage by Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and owner of the social networking platform X, who is also spearheading a campaign to reduce federal spending that Trump supports.
Musk stated, “We look forward to making a lot of changes.” Really, this win is just the beginning. Making meaningful adjustments is what matters moving forward.
Vice President-elect JD Vance, who was supposed to speak before Trump, was absent from Sunday’s program. But at a difficult and predetermined moment, Vance had to be somewhere else. In order to get to his destination and make sure Trump could make his remarks on time, he departed the arena before he spoke to the crowd following earlier delays in the rally’s programming, according to two people familiar with the logistics.
At one point in his address, Trump seemed perplexed by Vance’s whereabouts, saying, “Where the hell is he?”
Other issues that frequently energize Trump and his audiences were interspersed throughout his remarks, such as his hopes for the Department of Government Efficiency advisory group chaired by Musk and his pardoning of supporters convicted of crimes after the Capitol storming on January 6, 2021.
At one time, Trump promised to declassify records of national interest, including those related to the assassinations of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., President John F. Kennedy, and his brother and former attorney general Robert F. Kennedy. During his first term in office, Trump attempted but failed to declassify all of the documents pertaining to the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy.
He also declared that everyone in the arena would be quite pleased with his decision to pardon individuals who had been found guilty of crimes following the Capitol riot, referring to them as the J6 hostages. Trump then went straight to thanking Ted Leonsis, the owner of the Washington Capitals, a professional hockey team, and the Wizards and Mystics, a professional basketball team, for helping with the event and for coming on Sunday.
Before mentioning the Capitals’ standout winger, Trump remarked, “Their team is doing very well.” Furthermore, [Alexander] Ovechkin is an excellent player.
But throughout, he consistently made advances toward a younger generation.
He claimed to have signed up for TikTok. Do you think I’ll do anything to win an election? mostly due to the fact that younger voters find it appealing.
Trump, who occasionally exaggerated the level of support he received from the demographic that has historically supported Democratic candidates but began to lean toward him last autumn, remarked, “I said we need to save TikTok, because we’re talking about a tremendous audience.”
Additionally, Trump hailed Charlie Kirk, a right-wing activist with sway on college campuses, after he recognized Vance, who at 40 will be the third-youngest vice president in history.
Trump stated, “When you hear the kids are liberal, they’re not liberal.” They may have been, but they are no more.
However, the rally concluded on a more positive note for baby boomers. The Village People, who are best known for their 1978 hit song “YMCA,” which is a mainstay at Trump rallies, sang the song live to end the performance.