Trump to hold ‘Make America Great Again Victory Rally’ on inauguration eve
ABC News
President-elect Donald Trump is marking his historic political comeback to the White House with a signature “Make America Great Again Victory Rally” in Washington on Sunday, bringing together more than 20,000 supporters to the nation’s capital ahead of Inauguration Day.
The rally is set to be held at Capital One Arena Sunday afternoon, mirroring the Madison Square Garden rally he held in New York City last October, which served as his closing remarks to American voters a week before Election Day in November.
The Sunday rally is 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.
At the same time, it’s a move to pay a special tribute to 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.
The rally is also set to feature performances by several celebrities featured during Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, including the disco band Village People — the ’70s group behind Trump’s beloved “Y.M.C.A.” and his rally dance — and 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 are also set to perform at the rally.
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.
On Monday, following the swearing-in ceremony and the presidential parade, 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.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden said on Friday he prays the Trump administration continues the focus on the federal response to the deadly wildfires that have ravaged Southern California.
Biden said he expected the death toll to rise as he was briefed by federal and state officials in the Oval Office. At least 10 people have been killed, and more injured, as fires continue to burn through the Los Angeles area.
With just days left in office, Biden said they’ve been coordinating with the incoming administration on the federal actions being taken to assist in fire management and help victims recover.
“My hope is that they’ll have — at least acknowledge we have some significant experience in this, we’ve done really well on it. I’m praying that they continue the focus,” the president said.
More than 30,000 acres have been burned this past week as five fires sprawled from the Pacific Palisades to Pasadena. Roughly 150,000 people were under evacuation orders and thousands of structures have been destroyed, including local landmarks.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, who is on the ground in Los Angeles, said the tragedy is one of the worst disasters she’s witnessed in her four years leading the agency and that the rebuild will be complex.
“This recovery journey is going to be long, but we are going to be there with them to support them every step of the way,” Criswell said as she virtually joined the White House press briefing.
Criswell said FEMA had enough money to immediately respond to the fires, highlighting the $27 billion provided for the agency’s disaster fund by Congress in December.
Pressed by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce on what the cost may be compared to other natural disasters, Criswell said it was hard to put an exact number as they continue to survey damage but that they “know that this is going to be billions.”
Criswell, discussing the transition, said FEMA has a dedicated staff that will continue to support Californians and a “whole team” dedicated to working with President-elect Donald Trump’s transition operation.
“They’re providing regular briefings to them on a daily basis and so we’re providing whatever information that they ask for,” she said.
Trump has pointed blame at Democrats, including Biden and Newsom, and spread some misinformation as the fires unfold. Criswell was asked if any such misinformation came up during their briefings with his team, though she did not directly respond.
President Biden on Thursday announced the federal government would cover 100% of the recovery costs for Los Angeles for 180 days. That would include debris removal, which the administration expects to be incredibly costly, as well as temporary shelters and pay for first responders.
“I mean, they look like a bomb hit,” Biden said on Friday on the devastation. “They look like they’re actually been blown up, entire sections of the cities blown up.”
(WASHINGTON) — GOP House leaders and Vice-President-elect JD Vance continue to meet behind closed doors in Speaker Mike Johnson’s office Thursday to craft a path forward and reach a budget deal — hoping to both appease President-elect Donald Trump’s evolving demands as well as rank and file members on the right who are traditionally against any spending deal or debt limit increase.
Across the aisle, Democrats maintain the best path forward is the defunct deal they struck with House Republicans that Trump and Elon Musk demolished on Wednesday.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed disbelief that the bipartisan agreement had fallen apart — emphasizing that Republicans will own the consequences, including the impact of a potential government shutdown.
“This reckless Republican-driven shutdown can be avoided if House Republicans will simply do what is right for the American people and stick with the bipartisan agreement that they themselves negotiated,” Jeffries said at a news conference Thursday.
That deal called for extending government spending at current levels until March and added other provisions like relief for disaster victims and farmers and a pay raise for members of Congress.
Things changed Wednesday after Musk began a pressure campaign on X with multiple posts opposing the deal. Later that day Trump and Vance posted a statement calling on Congress to “pass a streamlined spending bill,” with the president-elect echoing Musk’s threats of primarying any GOP member who didn’t comply.
Trump told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl Thursday morning that there will be a government shutdown unless Congress eliminates the debt ceiling or extends the limit on government borrowing before he takes office.
“We’re not going to fall into the debt ceiling quicksand,” he said. “There won’t be anything approved unless the debt ceiling is done with.”
Under current law, the federal government would hit its borrowing limit sometime in the spring of 2025, during the first months of the second Trump presidency. Trump, however, said he wants it taken care of now, while Joe Biden is president.
“Shutdowns only inure to the person who’s president,” Trump said.
With several alternative plans to avert a shutdown under Republican consideration, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told members to expect votes related to government funding Thursday, but the timing of any action was unclear as discussions continue.
Some Senate Republicans, including John Kennedy and Mike Rounds, expressed displeasure with Johnson’s bill and praised Trump for stepping in.
But Sen. Thom Tillis, whose home state was devastated by Hurricane Helene, said he’d do everything in his power to slow down the passage of any government funding bill that doesn’t include disaster relief.
Congress faces a deadline of Friday night, when the current government funding extension expires, to pass a new one or non-essential agencies would shut down.
House Republicans of every stripe were seen rotating in and out of the speaker’s office on Thursday — including House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, Texas Rep. Chip Roy and Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris of Maryland.
Jeffries told reporters that raising the debt limit as part of the government funding bill is “premature at best.”
“We are going to continue to maintain an open line of communication to see if we can resolve this issue on terms that are favorable to the everyday Americans,” Jeffries said when asked if he was speaking to Johnson.
Behind closed doors during a caucus huddle Thursday morning, Jeffries delivered the same message to Democrats: Republicans backed out of a bipartisan deal and now have to figure out a way to get out.
“This kind of chaos and dysfunction has real-world impacts on hard-working people,” Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., said.
Rep. Bill Keating, D-Mass., told ABC News that Jeffries quoted President John F. Kennedy to the caucus: “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”
“He said, look, we kept all our doors open during this negotiation. We made concessions. Most of us weren’t happy with the outcome of this, but you have to do your basic job. He’s saying that will continue. We’re open to everything, but we’re not open to the kind of bullying tactics that Elon Musk is doing,” Keating said.
Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., quipped, “We had a deal. We negotiated a deal, and then Musk decided to change the deal. Do I call him ‘President Musk?'”
Texas Rep. Greg Casar, the new chair of the progressive caucus was also critical of Musk.
“If Elon Musk is kind of cosplaying co-president here, I don’t know why Trump doesn’t just hand him the Oval Office, or Speaker Johnson should maybe just hand Elon Musk the gavel if they just want that billionaire to run the country,” Casar said.
While many Democrats support eliminating the debt limit in principle, members left their closed-door meeting opposed to striking it now as part of a spending deal, stressing it should be a separate matter.
ABC News’ Emily Chang and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Education Secretary Miguel Cardona signed off Friday as the nation’s top education official — calling it his “dream job.”
“To the students, families, educators, and education leaders I’ve served these last 4 years, I want to make it clear that while I will no longer be your Secretary of Education, I will still be your partner in all that we hope to achieve for America’s students,” Cardona wrote in a farewell post on X.
Cardona was sworn in on March 2, 2021, a year into the coronavirus pandemic, serving nearly the entire Biden presidency.
During his tenure, the former Connecticut education commissioner touted helping President Joe Biden safely reopen K-12 schools for in-person learning after monthslong closures. He also championed the department’s efforts to fix the so-called broken student loan system and cancel debt for millions of borrowers. The secretary also faced right-wing attacks at every turn, including the classroom culture wars battle. He vowed to continue fighting after leaving his post.
“Our fight for education is happening all around us in classrooms and communities across the country and it continues,” he wrote. “And I’ll be right there with you in the fight.”
However, Cardona’s tenure was mired by higher education woes. For the past 2 1/2 years, the education secretary has been criticized for the botched rollout of a new Free Application for Federal Student Aid application and for how his department’s student debt relief plan was unconstitutional — facing Supreme Court rejections in 2023.
In his capstone event on Tuesday, Cardona laid into the next administration for choosing “a billionaire donor to lead the department of education.”
The Trump administration is expected to hand over the Department of Education to WWE co-founder Linda McMahon if she is confirmed by the Senate.
McMahon, a Trump loyalist and donor, is expected to carry out the president-elect’s policies, which Trump has said include shutting down the very department McMahon has been tapped to lead.
