President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to unite America as he addressed thousands of vocal supporters on the eve of his inauguration. Much like Obama did in 2008, the president-elect promised change on the steps of the Abraham Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.
In a short but emotionally pungent speech, Trump stated: "We are going to unify our country again. It has been broken for far too long.
We're going to make America great for all of our amazing people".
An address to the 'forgotten people'
Many Trump supporters have traveled from across the country to Washington DC over the past few days. In a few remarks, Trump reminded his supporters of the unlikeliness of his presidential election campaign success. "They completely forgot about a lot of us. Well, we are no longer the forgotten people of America. Things are going to change, I assure you. We're going to do things that America hasn't done for years," Trump said.
Earlier in the day, the president-elect appeared with Melania, his wife, at a lunch for members of his administration-many of whom possess a problematic past. Trump, excitedly, said: "Tomorrow we begin the real work.
We have a tonne of incredibly smart people on our team. We have the highest combined IQ of any cabinet assembled in US history.
Protesters expected
Despite Trump's pledge to unify America, thousands of Trump protesters are expected to descend on the White House. Over the past week alone, Summer Zervos, a former contestant on his television show "The Apprentice" filed a lawsuit against Trump for defamation of character and sexual assault while reports of his ties to Russia refuse to go away.
Trump is scheduled to be sworn in at 12:00 EST (17:00 GMT). Yesterday, the president-elect stated his speech will be "deeply personal and philosophical". Sean Spicer, the incoming press secretary, echoed Trump's sentiments: "It's going to be very personal. He will talk about what is means to be an American, the challenges that are on the horizon. It's going to be beautiful".