On the eve of his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump promised his supporters and countrymen that he will act at historic speed to fix every single crisis facing the United States.
"Starting tomorrow, I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country. We have to do it," Trump told his supporters at the Capitol One Arena, which was full to its capacity of 20,000 for a "Make America Great" victory celebration, with a large number of people waiting outside in chilling cold.
Trump, 78, made a stunning comeback when he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in last year's general election to become only the second person in US history to be sworn in as the president after a gap of four years.
Trump, who will replace Joe Biden as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, arrived at the US Capitol on Saturday.
On a jam-packed day full of engagements, Trump addressed thousands of his supporters at what he called a 'victory rally'.
"Before even taking office, you are already seeing results that nobody expected to see. Everyone is calling it the Trump effect. It's you. You're the effect," Trump said.
"Since the election, the stock market has surged, while small business optimism has soared a record 41 points to a 39-year high. Bitcoin has shattered one record after another. Major investment company DMACC Properties has announced that it will invest between USD 20 billion and USD 40 billion in the US.
"SoftBank, another great company, has pledged between USD 100 billion and USD 200 billion. These are all investments that are only being made because of the fact that we won the election," he added.
Referring to meeting Apple CEO Tim Cook on Sunday, Trump said, "He said they're going to make a massive investment in the US because of our big election victory."
Giving an insight into his Day 1 plans, he told the cheering crowd, "Our incoming administration has achieved all of this in the Middle East in less than three months without me being the president. We've already achieved more than what they've (Joe Biden administration) done in four years.
"Just imagine all the good things we will accomplish together with four more years in the White House. We are going to do a lot of things. You're going to see something tomorrow. You're going to see executive orders that are going to make you extremely happy."
Elaborating further, Trump said, "We have to set our country on the proper course. By the time the sun sets tomorrow, the invasion of our borders will come to a halt, and all the illegal border trespassers will, in some form or another, be on their way back home. Think of it. Millions and millions of people came into our country through open borders. No checks, no vetting, no anything. And a lot of those people are murderers."
Trump also said the border security measures he will outline in his inaugural address on Monday will be the most "aggressive, sweeping efforts to restore our borders the world has ever seen".
"We had the best, safest border in the history of our country," he said.
Appearing briefly on the stage, Tesla owner Elon Musk, who has been made in-charge of the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency, said they are looking forward to making a lot of changes.
"This victory is the beginning. What matters going forward is to actually make significant changes, cement those changes, and set the foundation for America to be strong for centuries, forever... And make America great again," Musk said.
-- By Lalit K Jha from Washington, DC
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