The incoming US President, Donald Trump has pledged to unify America as he addressed cheering supporters at a concert on the eve of his presidential inauguration.
Speaking on the steps of the Lincoln memorial in Washington DC, the president-elect also promised to bring change.
Among attendees at the two-hour event were his family, actor Jon Voight and soul man singer Sam Moore.
Mr. Trump takes office later today after a bitter presidential campaign marked by allegations of sexual harassment, race baiting and foreign hacking and some of the parties were apparently as divisive as the president-elect himself.
Outside the DeploraBall, a gathering of tech-savvy Trump backers who take pride in offending liberals, several hundred protesters shouted obscenities as they squared off with riot police on the streets.
Police deployed chemical spray after protesters threw trash at those leaving the building, according to the Washington Post.
Elsewhere in the city, Trump backers wearing American flag-themed apparel and red “Make America Great Again” hats shared sidewalks with people carrying signs that called the incoming president a fascist.
Helicopters roared overhead as a pickup truck towing a “Honk 4 Trump” trailer blared the 1971 Don MacLean hit “American Pie.”
Trump himself has struggled to attract top-level talent for the festivities, settling on lesser known acts like Three Doors Down for a concert at the Lincoln Memorial earlier in the day.
He wasn’t the only one with problems. The Garden State party had to scramble for entertainment after a Bruce Springsteen tribute band canceled on the New Jersey-themed event, saying the artist whose songs they played would not approve.
That didn’t seem to phase Trump, who made an appearance at a candlelight dinner for donors in Union Station, promising “four incredible years” and bragging about his surprise November victory.
“I think I outworked anybody who ever ran for office,” he said.
Across town, the New York Society ball could boast rare bipartisan bona fides as the home state of both Trump and his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
“If Hillary had won, all this would still happen,” said Brenda Alford, 59, who was dressed in a gold skirt and a gold silk top as a tribute to Trump’s gilded Manhattan residence. A Trump supporter, she bought tickets before the Nov. 8 election.
Held at the Fairmont Hotel, which recently completed a $27 million renovation, the party featured a giant Teddy Roosevelt mascot, celebrity host Joe Piscopo, and political figures from both parties.
Several Republicans at the ball confided that they were not in town to celebrate Trump’s victory as much as they were to celebrate the end of Democratic President Barack Obama’s term, and, above all, have a good time.
