Will Trump Have A Ball On Inauguration Day?

The inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump is growing closer by the day, and with that looming reality comes a host of questions. Will he attract any major talent to perform, in the midst of a reportedly immense swell of opposition? Will it be beset by massive protests? How many of the Rockettes will show up? And, of course, all the post-inaugural pomp ― for instance, will Donald Trump have an inauguration ball?

The answer, obviously, is yes. Freshly minted presidents basically always attend inauguration balls ― Obama attended a whopping ten of them in 2009, and by comparison, Trump will reportedly only attend three, with one of them being a ball for the armed services.

But even if there hadn't been any official schedule put out, it'd be no surprise that the answer is yes. While Trump might be eager to project the sense that he's less caught up in the celebratory atmosphere than the previous two presidents ― George W. Bush attended eight of them on the day of his first inauguration ― is there really anything about his history, his persona, or his aesthetic to make you think he'd skip out on the gala experience altogether? Simply put, that Trump would like people to hail his victory at a big, fancy party has never in doubt.

Of course, whether there will be anyone worth seeing at the balls is an open question, as the lineup released for the All American inaugural ball is, well, a little underwhelming by recent standards. Ok, maybe that's selling the dearth of top names short ― but there will be acts like The Reagan Years, The MIXX, and the Star Spangled Singers there! Really, probably the most worthwhile person you could get to see at the event is Buzz Aldrin, who (according to the ball's website) will be appearing as an honored guest.

In short, it may not be the celebrity-laden, show-stopping affair that Trump would probably prefer ― although he's fiercely denied being bothered by the lack of celebrity attention, tweeting: "The so-called "A" list celebrities are all wanting tixs to the inauguration, but look what they did for Hillary, NOTHING. I want the PEOPLE!"

Obviously, for political progressives, the inauguration won't be a time for celebration. To the contrary, while the Women's March on Washington won't be until one day later ― January 21st, 2017 ― you can be sure that there will be some impassioned scenes of protest at the swearing-in, the natural result of one of the most incendiary victorious presidential campaigns the country has ever seen.