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It was Saturday afternoon and two men who voted for Donald J. Trump were wandering the frosty streets of downtown Washington, not sure where to go or what to do.
They traveled a long way — one from Arkansas, one from Louisiana — to watch Mr. Trump’s inauguration. Now it has been moved inside, and they do not know if it will be included in the square where it will be sent on Monday.
“I’m kind of frustrated, because that’s what we came here for,” said one of the men, a 76-year-old retired Navy man from Fayetteville, Ark., named Bob Jaynes. “We talked to a lady from Australia today, and yesterday people from Hawaii, and at lunch people from New Mexico. So they must be disappointed too. The future is far and it is expensive to stay here”.
Standing in the shadow of the Washington Monument in yellow caiman leather boots was a 63-year-old man from Oklahoma City named Tom Trepaignier. He said he planned to watch the inauguration from his living room. He looked up and down all the white marble in the mall and said it was still “very nice” to be there. “It’s like the Roman Empire.”
This is the moment the supporters of Mr. Trump four long years to find him. Those who gathered in the capital last weekend packed bars and rode around the city in pedicabs ringing the city’s residents. They took a night tour of Georgetown, marveling at the size of the federal building. They were excited.
But an interesting split screen was released over the weekend.
On the streets of the nation’s capital, some of the most ardent members of Mr. Trump’s grassroots base were frustrated by all the canceled plans among Trump-loving elites. Instead, they were surrounded by each other but could not be caught.
Lobbyists, venture capitalists and tech billionaires gave champagne toasts aboard yachts and in downtown restaurants and Kalorama buildings. It seems to reflect one of the central contradictions of Mr. Trump’s political movement — that the rich who are about to get richer can easily coexist with working-class voters who have nothing. . seems to be invited to a party.
On Saturday night, many big shots gathered on the Trinity yacht called “Liberty” which collided on the cold Potomac. The boat belonged to a wealthy member of Mar-a-Lago who hosted a party for Matthew Swift, a founding partner of something called the Montfort Group, which describes itself as a ” strategic business providing executive consulting and crisis management services driven by excellence and driven by a commitment to sustainability and social responsibility.” (In Palm Beach, Fla.)
Dr. Mehmet Oz, a heart surgeon turned TV personality, was there, as well as some famous lawyers, a few ambassadors, the president of Paraguay and several National Defense types. A young lobbyist who worked in the first Trump administration drank an espresso martini. When asked to describe the makeup of this party, he said, “Oh my God, it sounds terrible, but it’s a combination of the 1 percent coming. This time it’s not the Trump crowd that’s anti-establishment. It is a marriage between the two. On a nearby table sat a copy of one of Mr. Trump, “Letters to Trump”, signed for $399.
The excitement in the capital for Mr. Trump’s latest inauguration was extraordinary. There were no mass protests, street fights or burning limousines this time. “Ultimately, he didn’t get a fair chance,” said Brian Ballard, a top lobbyist who is very vocal about Mr. Trump’s administration.
Mr. Ballard, whose company held a party at Mastro’s Steakhouse on Friday night, continued, “A million people showed up the day after the inauguration and protested. The guy was not president for 18 hours. It’s a completely different deal. It will be fun.”
However, Mr Trump appeared nervous and angry in his official inauguration photo. “That picture is wonderful,” countered Mr. Ballard. “He recreated the original portrait and the mug shot, kind of a nice mix.”
In Georgetown, a wonderful party was held at Cafe Milano. Men in robes and women in pearls sipped free Davidoff cigarettes in a smoky room while a perma class took place in Washington – a gathering of media personalities, consultants and social workers. -a policy that always seems to work well no matter who sits in the Oval Office – stood three deep near the bar.
Mark Ein, a venture capitalist who owns shares in the city’s football team and bought the former Katharine Graham building on the east side, stood next to Jack Evans, a Democrat and DC local who was in of the City Council for decades. She blew Peroni in her Brooks Brothers suit. The party was for a media startup called “Meet the Future.” Asked who he thought was paying for it, Mr Evans said: “I don’t know. I am not.” It was co-hosted by the Hardware Manufacturers Association.
Sean Spicer, who was Mr. Trump’s first press secretary, was also there. “Last time, when we came into office,” he noted, “there was massive opposition from corporate America, the media and big tech.” Not this time!
On the first day of Mr Trump’s last administration, he ordered Mr Spicer to lie about what he had seen. He boastfully said: “This is the largest audience to witness an inauguration, period, live or in the world.” When asked if he had any advice for the new secretary of Mr. Trump, Karoline Leavitt, who at 27 will be the youngest person to hold the job, said Mr. Spicer had “an advantage that I didn’t have. Number one, he used to work in an office, last term. Second, he has a wonderful relationship with President Trump that is much deeper than mine. “
It was a challenge for the liberal protesters who were in town for Saturday’s march, which was smaller than those that formed in response to Mr. Trump’s inauguration in 2017. Two women from New Jersey and Manhattan marched. A bartender hopped into a bar in Penn Quarter that afternoon and eyed a beef bourguignon. “It’s like a silent protest,” sighs Manhattanite Liza Meneades, a 55-year-old woman who works in podcast ad sales. “I heard people in bars say, ‘Oh, we’re taking our country back.’ And I said, what is this man talking about? Coming back what?”
He sipped bourbon and said of Mr. Trump: “The door to the White House is open, and he’s for sale to the highest bidder. It is obvious. It’s not a secret.”
(On Friday, ethics experts screamed when Mr. Trump and his family began pushing a new crypto token called $Trump. to be the first woman published on social media, sharing a link to Melaniememe.com )
A few results later, Mr. Jaynes, the retired Navy man from Arkansas, wandered into the Old Post Office Building, now the Waldorf Astoria. He and his fellow Trump supporters were so impressed by the grand architecture and clock tower that they stopped on the hotel’s grounds.
It used to be a Trump hotel, until the family vacated it in 2022. Now there are rumblings that they want to bring it back. Perhaps that’s why the lobby bar was the scene for Trump’s associates this weekend.
Mr. Jaynes and his company watched as black Cadillac Escalades lined up to seat rich people in ties and hairdos on the front steps. But not only one person could walk the streets. Those without reservations were turned away by the hotel staff.
“We just wanted to go in to see what the rich were doing,” said Mr. Jaynes, “but we couldn’t go in.”
Why not?
“Because we’re white trash, I guess,” he said with a smile.
