Trump to hold 'victory rally' in D.C. sports arena one day before inauguration ceremony

By 
 January 3, 2025

President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated on Jan. 20, at which point he will officially become only the second president in U.S. history to serve two non-consecutive terms.

A special victory rally for Trump in Washington D.C will precede and help celebrate that historic occasion one day earlier on Jan. 19, according to Newsweek.

This will be Trump's first rally in D.C. since his speech at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021, which came just before the protest-turned-riot by some of his supporters in and around the Capitol building four years ago.

Pre-inauguration victory rally planned

CBS News was the first to report that President-elect Trump's Inaugural Committee is planning a rally-style event for the day before his historic inauguration for a second term in office.

The "Make America Great Again Victory Rally" will be held on the afternoon of Jan. 19 in the 20,000-seat Capitol One Arena, which serves as the home for the NBA's Washington Wizards and the NHL's Washington Capitols.

A registration site urged the incoming president's supporters to "Join President Trump at Capital One Arena for a victory rally you'll never forget!"

Tickets for the rally are limited to just two per registered phone number, however, and are only available on a "first come first serve basis," per the committee.

Trump and his supporters welcomed by arena

The Capitol One Arena in D.C. is managed and operated by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and that organization told local NBC affiliate WRC that it welcomed President-elect Trump and his supporters for the celebratory gathering ahead of the inauguration.

"We have made our arena available to every administration for inaugural events, dating back decades, irrespective of party," the company said.

The group added, "We are happy that President Trump has accepted our offer and we will welcome him and his guests to Capital One Arena on January 19."

While attendance at Trump's rally will be limited by the 20,000-seat capacity of the arena -- though accommodations are likely to be made for any overflow crowd that can't get inside -- no such limitations will be imposed on the outdoor inauguration ceremony the next day in front of the Capitol building.

According to local CBS affiliate WUSA, it is unknown how many of Trump's supporters will show up for the inauguration, nor is it clear how many people were in attendance at his 2017 inauguration, though planners had estimated as many as 900,000 may have been there and the D.C. Metro system confirmed that it had at least 570,000 riders that day -- though not all riders went to the ceremony and that number doesn't count those who arrived by car, bus, or on foot.

Some security concerns for the victory rally

To be sure, given the two assassination attempts against him last year and the increased threat of domestic or foreign terrorism, there are some security concerns and some of President-elect Trump's critics have knocked the planned victory rally as unnecessarily risky, especially in light of the inauguration ceremony the following day, per Newsweek.

That said, the pre-inauguration rally likely wouldn't have even been planned, much less publicly announced, if the legitimate security concerns hadn't already been adequately addressed by the U.S. Secret Service and local law enforcement agencies.

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