Soon-to-be sworn-in as the 47the President of the United States (Potus), Donald Trump vowed at a late Sunday pre-inauguration rally that he would stop the “illegal invasion” of America, prevent World War 3 from happening and end the Ukraine-Russia war. This came amid final preparations for his second inauguration as he returns to the White House. He held a rare pre-inauguration rally at Washington DC’s Capital One Arena on the eve of his swearing-in ceremony.
It was his first address in Washington DC since January 6, 2021, when refused to accept the electoral loss to Joe Biden, whose tenure ends on Monday. After his last address, a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol in a bid to prevent transition of power from Trump to Biden as the US Congress sat to certify the 2020 election results.
“We are going to give them the best first day, the biggest first week and the most extraordinary first 100 days of any presidency in American history,” Trump said.
Trump said his administration would quickly re-establish control of the country’s borders and emphasised that “we will begin the largest deportation exercise in American history”.
He promised to stop “the invasion of our country by the time the sun sets tomorrow evening. All the illegal border trespassers will, in some form or another, be on their way back home”.
“Before this, nobody could even think of open borders, prisons, mental institutions, men playing in women’s sports, transgenders for everyone. We will expel every illegal alien gang member and migrant criminal operating on American soil,” he said.
He also said that he will reverse the executive actions by outgoing President Joe Biden “within hours” of returning to the Oval Office.
“We are going to reclaim our wealth. We are going to unlock the liquid gold that’s right under our feet,” Trump said to his supporters.
Trump took credit for the Gaza ceasefire deal that ended the 15-month long conflict between Israel and Hamas.
He claimed the war wouldn’t have happened if he had been the US president at the time. “We achieved an epic ceasefire agreement as a first step towards lasting peace in the Middle East. This agreement could have happened only as a result of our historic victory in November. The first hostages have just been released. Biden said that they made the deal, well. First of all, it [Gaza war] would never have happened if I were the President,” he said.
Three Israeli hostages were released by Hamas on Sunday, after being held for 471 days since the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. In return, Israel freed 90 Palestinian prisoners from its jails.
Trump’s swearing in as the 47th president of the United States is scheduled at 12 PM EST (10:30 PM IST) on Monday. The US Constitution requires each president’s term to begin at noon on January 20 (or the following day if it falls on a Sunday).
The oath is usually administered by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. This is set to be the second time Chief Justice John Roberts administers the oath to Trump.
Trump is to give an inaugural speech outlining his plans for the next four years. Incoming Vice President JD Vance would be sworn in after the address.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Set for inauguration, Trump says will halt ‘illegal invasion’ of US, prevent another World War
