By Steve Holland and Tim Reid
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump will take a victory lap on Sunday at a campaign rally in Washington, DC, a day before he is sworn in for a second term four years after losing the White House to Joe Biden.
Trump's “Make America Great Again Victory Rally” – scheduled for 3 pm ET (1900 GMT) Capital One (NYSE:) Arena – marks his first major speech in Washington since he urged his supporters to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, protesting his defeat.
Thousands of people broke the building in a failed attempt to prevent Congress from confirming the results. Trump has vowed to pardon most of the more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the attack.
His remarks at the convention, as well as his inaugural address on Monday, may indicate the tone he plans to adopt at the start of his second term in office. In recent weeks, Trump has upset foreign allies by singing loudly about taking over Greenland and the Panama Canal and turning Canada into a US state.
The rally could be similar to the round-the-clock speeches that have been a staple of Trump's since his first campaign for the White House in 2016.
The world's richest man, Elon Musk, who has become a Trump confidant since spending more than $250 million to boost his campaign, is scheduled to speak at the event, along with Vice President-elect JD Vance, Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White , conservative activist Charlie Kirk and conservative commentator Megyn Kelly.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew also plans to attend the meeting, amid uncertainty over whether Trump will take steps to rescue the app from a US ban set to take effect on Sunday. Chew is expected to join other tech executives at Trump's inauguration on Monday.
Singer and rapper Kid Rock, disco group The Village People, singer Billy Ray Cyrus and singer Lee Greenwood are all scheduled to perform at the rally.
President Joe Biden will now make his final trip as president on Sunday to Charleston, South Carolina, to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, the White House said. He will attend services and speak about King's legacy at the Royal Missionary Baptist Church.
Earlier Sunday, Trump will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. In the evening, he will speak to well-heeled supporters at a Washington dinner.
The inauguration is scheduled for noon ET (1600 GMT) on Monday, when Trump will take the presidential oath inside the rotunda of the Capitol building, after cold weather prompted organizers to move the ceremony inside. About 25,000 law enforcement personnel will be on hand to provide security.