LISTEN: Disappointed D.C. Govt. Prepares For Trump’s Inaugural

Steve Burns
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON – (WMAL) The nation’s capital, whose residents overwhelmingly rejected Donald Trump on Tuesday, will now be hosting the President-elect for at least four years and will be responsible for organizing the festivities around his inauguration on January 20, 2017.

Officials are casting the day as another run-of-the-mill high-security event, something they have become used to putting on over the last few decades.

“We have been through this many times,” DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a news conference. “The first order of business for Washington, DC is to work with the President-elect’s Presidential Inauguration Committee.”

“In the coming days we will meet with the President-elect’s Inauguration Committee, as we have in every other Presidential inauguration, to coordinate the activities that will take place during the inaugural period,” D.C. Homeland Security Director Chris Geldart said. “The District has a long history of successfully executing inaugurations and major special-security events in our nation’s capital.”

He said 7,000 National Guard troops and 3,000 law enforcement personnel will be on hand, the same number as previous inaugurations.

Some protests are already in the works, including one organized through Facebook that indicates over 4,000 people attending with 16,000 interested as of Wednesday evening.

Bowser, despite her city’s efforts to plan the inauguration, still expressed a sense of apprehension at the reality of a soon-to-be President Trump.

“Many of our residents today are anxious, are angry, and are hurting,” she said.

The two do have a common interest, she said, in rebuilding infrastructure.

“He should start with his new hometown,” Bowser said.

As for the more long-term impact of a Trump presidency on the District, Bowser said Trump’s vagueness on the campaign trail make it a tough call.

“There are things that we want to drill down in to, from what is known about his policy agenda, and start analyzing what it could mean if those policies are implemented.”

When asked if she would attend inaugural festivities despite her refusal to attend Trump’s hotel opening, Bowser said she would if she’s invited.

“I’m the Mayor of the District of Columbia, and I will represent the District of Columbia,” she said. “I felt strongly that the opening of the Trump hotel was a campaign event. The campaign’s over.”