Trump inaugurated as nation’s 45th president
Donald John Trump took the oath of office Jan. 20 as the nation’s 45th president. Three of us from the Cape Gazette were on hand to catch the mood and the sights and sounds.
It was a gray and chilly day with off and on spitting and drizzling rain. Nothing unusual for January in Washington D.C. With temperatures in the mid-40s, the weather was actually warmer than during many previous inaugurations.
Hundreds of thousands of people spread across the lawn in front of the U.S. Capitol to witness the historic and regal ceremony. The U.S. Marine Corps Band played patriotic music for about 45 minutes prior to the swearing in. The sound system set up to try to reach the ears of all the crowd did the job remarkably well. Those not close enough to see the players up close and personal watched jumbo video screens placed on either side of the capitol building and at various places along the National Mall.
Vendors selling Trump T-shirts, pennants, buttons and other souvenirs staked out profitable corners for blocks and blocks around the Capitol. With people wearing their colors, carrying signs to unroll at the proper moments, cheering and jeering when one political play or another unfolded on the jumbotrons, the feeling up to, during and after the ceremony felt a whole lot like a major league sporting event.
Navigating around the Capitol involved making way through lots of human and hardware security. Washington D.C. is never easy to get around, much less during inauguration events.
Other than a handful of vandals who burned a limousine, skirmished with police, smashed plate glass windows at a Starbucks and harassed customers at an adjacent McDonald’s, the crowds were generally courteous and well behaved.
Here are a couple more photographs from the day. Rob Waters is working on a video from his experiences in D.C. on inauguration day and aboard the train that carried former Vice President Joe Biden from Washington to Wilmington and a rally at the Riverfront Center.
Chris Flood was also on hand gathering impressions and interviews. See Friday’s Cape Gazette and this site for the video and more coverage from a Sussex County perspective.
