AILSA CHANG, HOST:
With the inauguration indoors, President Trump moved his parade and viewing to a new venue. While the swearing in and inaugural address took place at the U.S. Capitol, supporters gathered at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, D.C., not far from the National Mall. NPR White House correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben joins us now. Hi, Danielle.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARCHING BAND MUSIC)
DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, BYLINE: Hey. Hey there.
CHANG: Hey. OK, so set the scene for us - the event at the arena, it replaced, you know, the traditional parade from the U.S. Capitol...
KURTZLEBEN: Right.
CHANG: ...To the White House. What did that event look and feel like?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, it feels a lot like a traditional Trump rally, except kind of turned up to an 11 or maybe you could say at 13. There's every special guest possible - longtime Trump adviser, Kellyanne Conway, gave a speech, so did conservative activist, Charlie Kirk. They got some big cheers. And you can hear right now we have a military band on the floor playing. So there's a lot more pomp than there usually is at a Trump rally. And this is really an all-day event. People started entering the arena this morning because there's been a livestream all day of what Trump's been up to. So people watched the swearing in at noon. And now, hours later...
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KURTZLEBEN: ...People have still been waiting. And I can tell you, just on the screen, Trump just left the Capitol, so that wait might be over soon.
CHANG: Yeah. OK, well, I know you've been milling around, talking to people. What is the mood like with Trump's crowd today?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, as you would guess, happy. They're happy they won. But as with any Trump rally, like I said, people waited a long time to get in. And one was Wade Lamberson. He's a 24-year-old from Arkansas. I talked to him while he was in line for coffee at the arena.
WADE LAMBERSON: So I got here at 12:30 a.m., and I have not slept. That's why I'm in line for coffee.
(LAUGHTER)
KURTZLEBEN: Well, he told me this thing that I've heard from several supporters, which is that Trump's 2024 win means more than his 2016 win. And to Lamberson, this win wasn't just about winning votes but about defeating what he and others perceive as powerful anti-Trump forces.
LAMBERSON: It's more about that - not about, like, just having an opponent and beating them fair and square, but, like, against the odds, right? Things are kind of - we believe things are set up against him.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARCHING BAND MUSIC)
KURTZLEBEN: So the overwhelming feeling among supporters right now is what you can describe as that Trumpian anger or defiance, but with a heavy layer of joy over it. The idea is that they're the underdogs. They're in battle, but they won anyway.
CHANG: You're doing a really good job, Danielle, of projecting, by the way, over the music.
(LAUGHTER)
CHANG: Now, I know that you were watching Trump's inaugural address there with his supporters. What was the reaction like from the crowd during the speech?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, a few moments got some really big cheers. One was when Trump said he - when he talked about the border, declaring an emergency there, also when Trump talked about wanting to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. Those all got a big reaction. But one of the biggest cheers - maybe the biggest - came on a point Trump made about there being only two genders. And to me, this really reflects a typical Trump rally, once again, because any mention at Trump rallies of there being two genders or about who should be able to play girls' or women's sports, that was always a big thing, always got a big reaction. And that issue is really a focal point of culture wars that his crowds care about - this idea that your gender is assigned at birth and cannot be changed.
CHANG: Well, what do you think the speech today said about Trump's priorities and really the state of the Republican Party at this point?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, a couple of things - one is about how much, again, culture wars are at the center of MAGA politics, but also how much the Republican Party has shifted. It is Trump's party now. The fact that the formerly small government, free market party is very much into, for example, tariffs. Those are big shifts, and Trump has really just taken ownership of the GOP.
CHANG: That is NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben. Thank you so much, Danielle, for your very long day.
KURTZLEBEN: Thanks, Ailsa. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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