Trump Supporters Flock To Washington For Inaugural

WASHINGTON, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Jan, 2017 ) : Republican Linda Cools journeyed from Chicago to Washington to be a part of history: the upcoming inauguration of her favorite candidate Donald Trump to be the United States' 45th president.

"I'm very excited. It'll be wonderful to see a new transition, a peaceful transition that does not happen globally," the 50-year-old public relations writer told AFP as she shopped for Trump inauguration souvenirs just a stone's throw from the White House.

Trump fans are converging on the nation's capital ahead of Friday's swearing in, keen to bear witness as the political novice takes the reins of US government -- and eager to see his legions of critics proven wrong.

As authorities fenced off parts of the inaugural parade route and viewing area, the weather was not obliging the city's visitors Tuesday as rain drenched the US Capitol grounds and Washington Mall, where some 800,000 people are expected to gather on Friday.

But several visitors were already soaking up the patriotic spectacle that accompanies the transfer of power every four years. Reconciliation should be the first order of business when Trump delivers his inaugural address, Cools said, acknowledging the divisive campaign fight between Trump and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

"I think it's more of a coming together than a coming apart," she nodded, calling for Trump to temper his rhetoric. "We'd like him to reel it in a little bit." It will be Cools's first inauguration, and she spent the day visiting the city's monuments including the Lincoln Memorial, where she admitted to turning emotional as she listened to a military band.

"It reminds you how important what we have here is," she said.