President Trump's inaugural balls kick off

President Trump's inaugural balls kick off



President Donald Trump triumphantly greeted supporters at the first of three inaugural balls on Friday night, joining his stunning first lady on stage to tell them: 'We did it.'

The pair made a stylish entrance to the Liberty Ball at the Washington Convention Center, arriving just after 9.30pm to take their first dance as POTUS and FLOTUS to 'My Way'.

The first lady dazzled in an ivory Hervé Pierre gown which featured a crimson waist ribbon while the president stuck to a traditional tuxedo.



Addressing the crowd, President Trump said: 'Well, we did it. We did it. We began this journey and they said we, we, and me, we didn't have a chance but we knew we were going to win and we won.'

After dancing alone for the song's first verse, they were joined on stage by Vice President Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence.  The whole family was then invited to join the couple on stage.

In a brief speech before his dance, President Trump again taunted his critics.  'Today we had a great day. People that weren't so nice to me were saying that we did a really good job today.

'They hated to do it, but they did it and I respect that. I respect that but I have to say the crowd was unbelievable today.

'I looked at the rain which just never came. You know, we finished the speech, went inside for lunch, it poured, then we came outside.

'Amazingly, it was like God was looking down on us. I will tell you.' Thanking his fans, he paid tribute to the first lady, his 'number one supporter'. 'What she puts up with... thank you honey.'

Having already signed his first executive orders, President Trump reminded supporters at the ticketed event how he vowed to get to work straight away.



'You are going to see things happening over the next few weeks. Oh you are going to be so happy.

'We want to see great things happen for our country. We want to make America great again and we will, we will. So now, it's a tremendous honor to have the first dance with Melania and we're going to be joined by the Vice President, some very wonderful, wonderful children as we go along.

'They happened to be my children and Mike's children.'

Taking a final moment to thank his fans, he said; 'I want to thank everybody. We always felt we were going to win.

'There are no games. We're not playing games. The work begins. We love you, we are going to be working for you and we're going to be producing results.'



president then moved swiftly on to his second event of the night - another ball at the same venue where he said: 'The fun now begins'.

In lighthearted speech, he asked guests if he should keep his beloved Twitter account. The room gave a resounding 'yes', to which Trump responded gleefully: 'I think so! I think so! The enemies keep syaing it's terrible but it's a way of by-passing dishonest media.'

The couple will attend a third, final ball at the National Building Museum before spending their first night at the White House.

Erin Boheme and The Rockettes were among the first acts to perform at the Liberty Ball alongside YouTube sensation The Piano Guys also gave a performance.

The third is an invitation-only affair for US Armed Forces veterans and their families. The Salute To Our Armed Services Ball took place at the National Building Museum.



As the glitzy galas got underway, President Trump signed his first executive orders, making his way straight into the Oval Office after the Inaugural Parade.

He signed in General James Mattis as Secretary of Defense and signed a more vague second order which vowed to 'ease the burden of Obamacare'.

At the Salute to Our Armed Service ball, the heavily-uniformed crowd was first entertained by Tony Orlando, who talked about how the now-president used to hire him to perform in Atlantic City, back when Trump owned casinos in the beachfront town.

Orlando sang a number of tunes including 'Candida' and 'Knock Three Times,' asking the youngish crowd how many of them knew his hits, which came out in 1970 and 1971, respectively.

Alluding to Hollywood's boycott of the Trump inaugural and the difficulty the Presidential Inaugural Committee had in finding entertainers, Orlando asked his 'fellow performers' to 'someday find their heart for the country first, for this nation.'



Lead singer Josh Weathers, of his eponymous group, the Josh Weathers Band, joked to the crowd: 'I know nobody in this room knows who I am,' pointing out that Orlando is, in fact, a bigger star.

Weathers got the group going with the country crowd-pleaser, Garth Brooks' 'Friends in Low Places.'

He also sang Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You,' hitting the high notes with aplomb.

At the Salute to Our Armed Services Ball, President Trump and Vice President Pence will speak onstage to military members video-conferenced in from Afghanistan and Iraq.