WASHINGTON // America's capital city has been turned into a fortress ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday as it prepares for more than a quarter of a million protesters.
He will be sworn in with record low approval ratings, following a bitter election campaign that has divided America.
Police are expecting about 900,000 people at the public events, far fewer than the two million who attended Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009 and a number that will be dwarfed by protests due to climax on Saturday with the Women's March on Washington – an event forecast to attract a quarter of a million people.
But on inauguration eve, Trump administration officials said they were concentrating on getting to work on day one.
Mike Pence, who will be sworn in as vice president, told reporters that the day would be "humbling and moving".
He said the president-elect's team had drawn up a one-day plan, a 100-day plan and a 200-day plan to translate their energy and excitement into concrete action.
"We are all ready to go to work," he said. "We can't wait to get to work for the American people to make America great again."
Mr Trump has promised to roll back much of Mr Obama's legacy, overturning Obamacare, ditching environmental regulation and removing what he sees as business red tape.
His bitter campaign rhetoric has sown fear among opponents that basic rights – including freedom of the press and freedom of worship – will be undermined.
So as one part of the country is preparing to welcome an unconventional leader with little political experience, another part is launching a four-year campaign of opposition.
Thirty groups have permits for demonstrations in Washington during the inauguration.
About 28,000 security personnel will be deployed around the city.
Jeh Johnson, who heads the department of homeland security, said they would try to separate different groups in order to defuse tension – a tactic used at the party conventions last year.
"The concern is some of these groups are pro-Trump, some of them are con-Trump, and they may not play well together in the same space," he told MSNBC.
The inauguration itself will include nods to two of the great Republican presidents in history. Mr Pence will be sworn in as vice president using Ronald Regan's family Bible, while Mr Trump will use one belonging to his own family and one used at the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln.
Analysts said Mr Trump's inauguration address would prove one of the most crucial of recent times, setting the tone for his presidency.
He will have to show that he can offer not just words of healing to a divided nation but also follow through and maintain that spirit in the days, weeks and months to come, according to Paul Glastis, a speechwriter for former president Bill Clinton.
"If he is magnanimous and says wonderful things about groups that he has previously insulted and then two days later insults them again, if he doesn't carry through with those interesting bipartisan policy ideas he has put forward, then it's empty rhetoric," he told CNN.
Mr Trump was adding final touches to his speech on Thursday, according to his spokesman.
The overall tone of the inauguration has surprised many commentators. Mr Trump – a billionaire known for his lavish lifestyle complete with private jet and gold-accented apartment – has opted for low-key rather than ostentatious.
After being sworn in, his parade is expected to last only 90 minutes. Four hours has not been unusual in the past.
And he plans to attend three inaugural balls, whereas Mr Clinton managed 14.
Officials say it is in keeping with his businesslike approach to governing the country.
However, the events have also been hit by a string of boycotts by entertainers, who turned down invitations to appear.
Elton John, Celine Dion, Kanye West and Charlotte Church were all reportedly among performers who said they would not peform.
Instead Tony Orlando, who had hits in the 1960s and 1970s with songs such as Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir will do the honours.
Dozens of Democrat politicians are also staying away, angered by Mr Trump's verbal abuse of John Lewis, a veteran of the civil rights movement.
Keith Ellison, a representative from Minnesota who is touted as a potential leader of Democrat opposition to Mr Trump, tweeted his reason for staying away.
"I will not celebrate a man who preaches a politics of division and hate," he said.
For his part, Mr Trump was to fly in to Washington on Thursday from his headquarters in New York for a lunch reception at his hotel in the city before a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Ceremony and a concert at the Lincoln Memorial.
He made a flying visit to Washington on Wednesday evening, appearing at a dinner to honour Mr Pence, before returning home.
He used the opportunity to return to his theme of overhauling Washington's political culture and promised to reform the system of political action committees, which can raise unlimited funds for campaigning.
"It's like the great sinkhole. You have no idea who's doing it, who's running them," he said.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Trump’s team raring to go – and so are his opponents
Donald Trump's inauguration is expected to draw more people planning protests against the new US president than people who support him.
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