Inauguration concert: Watch Trump sing along to Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless the USA’ during uber-patriotic performance
The concert was dominated by country music
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.On the eve of his swearing-in ceremony, Donald Trump hosted an inauguration concert at the feet of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. last night filled with incredibly patriotic music and military displays.
To sum up the vibe, at on point a firework went off spelling out ‘USA’ as Trump and his family stared in silence.
The already infamously weak list of performers included country singer Toby Keith, who Trump described as “one of the most popular artists in history” and Lee Greenwood, who sang his verging-on-parody ballad ‘God Bless the USA’.
“Sing it!” Greenwood shouted at one point, with Trump mouthing along to the chorus and grinning.
Trump looks to have drawn a significantly smaller crowd than Barack Obama did in 2009.
This year, the Trump administration managed to gather 10,000 attendees, according to MSNBC. By contrast, the Obama administration drew an estimated crowd of 400,000 people to his first concert.
Follow the latest updates from the inauguration live
It was expected that fewer people would attend Trump's concert due to the lacklustre line-up, which also included 3 Doors Down, The Piano Guys and DJ Ravi Drums.
Performers at Obama's concert included Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen, U2, James Taylor, John Legend, Shakira, Stevie Wonder, Mary J Blige, Jon Bon Jovi, Garth Brooks and Sheryl Crow among others.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments