Darren Pellegrino left his home in Hawthorne, New Jersey, at 3 a.m. Sunday to drive to Washington’s Capital One sports arena. By 8 a.m., when he joined legions of other supporters of incoming President Donald Trump waiting to get into a preinauguration afternoon rally, the line already stretched several blocks deep – and kept growing.
Mr. Pellegrino, who installs home swimming pools, had attended Trump rallies before, so he knew he’d be among friends. Back home, he hasn’t always felt welcome to express his views. But lately, he says, the mood has changed even in Democratic-run New Jersey.
“You can go out and wear a MAGA hat. It’s OK to support Trump,” he says.
Why We Wrote This
Donald Trump and his MAGA movement are in power once more – and this time, the outsiders are looking more like insiders, at the vanguard of a cultural and political shift that could be profound.
When Mr. Trump rode into Washington in 2017, the reception he received was as frosty as the outdoor temperatures on Inauguration Day. Four years later, in 2021, he left the White House under a cloud after Trump loyalists stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, in a failed effort to stall or overturn his election defeat. Mr. Trump headed into what seemed like permanent exile at his Mar-a-Lago redoubt in Florida.
But now, the incoming president and his MAGA (“Make America Great Again”) movement are triumphant once more – and this time, they’re hardly the wild-eyed rebels taking over a hostile fortress. The outsiders are looking more like insiders, the vanguard of a cultural and political shift that could be far more profound than in his first presidency. Mr. Trump has remade the Republican Party, once stuffed with lawmakers and power brokers who looked down on him, in his image. He’s also racked up support from wealthy entrepreneurs ready to shed inhibitions about his abrasive brand of politics.
It’s a far cry from the candidate who was seen as a political outlier and “a bit of an accidental president” after an upset win in 2016, says Susan Stokes, director of the Chicago Center on Democracy at the University of Chicago. “He has more legitimacy this time around … and he’s a more powerful and confident political actor.”
Behind the personal vindication and vibe shift is electoral math: Mr. Trump won the popular vote in 2024, unlike in the past two elections (albeit by just 1.5 percentage points). He also won every battleground state, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris, who had outraised him. Most analysts had predicted tight margins in swing states and underestimated Mr. Trump’s ability to turn out irregular voters.
Sunday’s victory rally was part of a packed schedule of celebrations and ceremonies for Mr. Trump, who will be sworn into office at noon Monday at an indoor inauguration ceremony at the Capitol amid frigid temperatures. Hundreds of thousands of supporters who received tickets to attend an outdoor ceremony will instead have to try to get into the 20,000-seat Capital One Arena to watch live coverage. After taking the presidential oath of office, Mr. Trump is scheduled to join them at the arena for a scaled-down parade.
On Saturday, thousands of people marched near the Capitol to protest against Mr. Trump and his policies on issues such as climate change, transgender rights, and race relations. But it was a modest show of defiance compared with 2017, when millions of women marched here and in cities across the country as part of a resistance movement on the political left.
Kelly Hall remembers the protests that year and the hostility shown toward Mr. Trump and supporters like her. A retired airwoman and emergency room nurse from Boonville, New York, she brought her husband to the inauguration this time – “He really loves Trump” – and sounded upbeat Sunday, even as rain, snow, and hail pelted the lines of people inching toward the rally venue.
“People are starting to come together more,” she says, looking across the crowds still waiting to enter, even after the rally had begun. “I think we’re the majority now.”
“I will … fix every single crisis”
Some supporters were still outside when Mr. Trump took the stage around 5 p.m. to deliver a speech in his freewheeling style, making promises and jokes, mixing facts and falsehoods on issues like crime and immigration. He boasted about assembling an “all-star” Cabinet and praised his family. He also hinted strongly that he would pardon supporters convicted of crimes related to the 2021 attack on the Capitol, among other executive actions in his first few days.
“Starting tomorrow, I will act with historic speed and strength, and fix every single crisis facing our country,” he said.
Elon Musk, Mr. Trump’s billionaire backer, briefly appeared with his young son, who danced onstage behind him. The incoming president has tapped Mr. Musk to run an advisory commission on government efficiency and reportedly given him office space at the White House.
Mr. Musk is among a clutch of ultrawealthy men in the tech industry who have backed Mr. Trump and helped fund his inauguration, including sponsoring balls and private dinners. Major corporations have also ponied up, including some that kept their distance in the past. Cryptocurrency investors hoping for light-touch federal regulations have proved particularly generous in their donations.
The stampede of tycoons visiting Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago since the election has drawn sharp criticism from many on the left. New Yorker Editor David Remnick described it as “a scene of such flagrant self-abnegation, ring-kissing, and genuflection that it would embarrass a medieval Pope.”
Among Mr. Trump’s more ordinary supporters waiting for the rally Sunday, some voiced concerns about the wealthy businessmen courting him and the favors they seek. Ms. Hall says she’s been unhappy to see “two-faced” chief executives who had previously scorned Mr. Trump showing up at his side. A war of words recently erupted among Trump allies over a skilled-worker visa program popular with tech executives that anti-immigration hawks want to end.
But to the MAGA faithful, any suggestion that Mr. Trump would go back on his campaign promises in return for corporate largesse is anathema. He’s not for sale, they insist.
“He doesn’t need the money. He can’t really be bought,” says Tom Slack, an industrial painter from Brandon, Minnesota, who brought his wife and three children to the inauguration.
While business elites may want to co-opt Mr. Trump, supporters say, that’s not who he is. “He’s not part of the establishment. That’s why he’s special,” says Charlene Farmer, a retiree from Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, as she tugged her red poncho over her head to keep off volleys of icy rain.
Business leaders falling in line
Analysts say corporate leaders are seeking closer relations with Mr. Trump and his movement because it’s good for business: He’s ascendant, and much of the stigma has dissipated. Some are revising company policies, ending diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and, on Wall Street, reversing pledges to reduce investments in industries that contribute most to climate change. Taken together, it adds up to a shift away from progressive ideals and the regulatory approach of President Joe Biden.
With the exception of Mr. Musk and a handful of right-leaning tech investors, most major business leaders preferred Ms. Harris to Mr. Trump and didn’t donate to his campaign.
But now that he’s taking power, it’s not surprising that they’re climbing on board, says Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor of leadership at the Yale School of Management. “All the [previously] skeptical CEOs are willing to meet with him … because they want him to succeed. They want America to succeed,” he says.
Professor Sonnenfeld is skeptical of the notion that corporations are “adopting MAGA social policies” to placate Mr. Trump, noting that the rollback of DEI and other initiatives was already happening under Mr. Biden, as companies looked for efficiencies. “People are just noticing in January 2025 what was already taking place in January 2022,” he says.
While the amount of money pouring into inauguration celebrations has set records, Mr. Trump wasn’t exactly hurting for cash last time. In 2017, he raised over $100 million, including from investors and executives who hadn’t supported his candidacy.
Still, there were fewer champagne balls and black-tie parties that year. A more emblematic event was a “DeploraBall” held at the National Press Club with around 1,000 supporters, including Proud Boys and far-right activists and online provocateurs, some of whom are now household names in MAGA media. The ball’s name was a reference to Trump opponent Hillary Clinton’s labeling some of his followers as deplorable.
Sunday’s Trump rally, which featured singers and entertainers, spliced with the bombastic messaging of a campaign event, is not without precedent. In 2009, President Barack Obama held a concert on the National Mall for more than 400,000 people the day before his inauguration. Bruce Springsteen and Garth Brooks were among the A-list stars onstage.
For Mr. Trump, the adulation and celebration on display at mass rallies has been a constant theme of his political career, and a defining feature of the MAGA movement. Even as president, he kept wanting to get back onstage.
The vibe at Sunday’s event was exuberant, and lighthearted at times, with Mr. Trump dancing with the Village People to “YMCA.”
But the event also sent a message from Mr. Trump to those who might dare to stand in his way, says Professor Stokes: “These are the people that are going to stand by me. No matter what.”
