--- title: Donald Trump Promises Change, Unity on Eve of Inauguration description: Donald Trump pledged of upcoming change, promised the country would unify and praised his presidential campaign ahead of his inauguration. canonical: https://time.com/4640317/donald-trump-inauguration-concert-speech/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-19T23:36:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:43:19.308Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Promises Change, Unity on Eve of Inauguration og:description: "We are going to make America great again. And I’ll add, greater than ever before" og:url: https://time.com/4640317/donald-trump-inauguration-concert-speech/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf692b4f47afca9a3/6988b654cd1bbaae75703ab4/donald-trump-inauguration-lincoln-memorial-family.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: donald-trump-lincoln-memorial-family-inauguration og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Promises Change, Unity on Eve of Inauguration twitter:description: "We are going to make America great again. And I’ll add, greater than ever before" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf692b4f47afca9a3/6988b654cd1bbaae75703ab4/donald-trump-inauguration-lincoln-memorial-family.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Promises Change and Unity on Eve of Inauguration > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Donald Trump Runs for President: A Look Back [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump Runs for President: A Look Back](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dgn8DCbB.m3u8) (7:19)  _Published 2016-10-31. In one of the most shocking U.S. elections in modern political history, Donald Trump has defeated Hillary Clinton._  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 19, 2017 11:36 PM UTC  President-elect Donald Trump stands with his family during the "Make America Great Again Welcome Concert" at the Lincoln Memorial, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) President-elect Donald Trump stands with his family during the "Make America Great Again Welcome Concert" at the Lincoln Memorial, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Evan Vucci—AP  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 19, 2017 11:36 PM UTC [President-elect Donald Trump](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump/) pledged change, promised the country would unify and praised his presidential campaign as a “movement” Thursday on the eve of his official [inauguration](http://time.com/4639340/donald-trump-inauguration-events-schedule/). Trump delivered remarks during a “Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration” [concert](http://time.com/4639381/donald-trump-mike-pence-wreath-laying-arlington-inauguration/) in Washington, D.C. after several musicians, including Three Doors Down and Toby Keith, took the stage. “So this journey began 18 months ago. I had something to do with it, but you had much more to do with it than I did,” Trump told a crowd gathered near the Lincoln Memorial. “I’m the messenger. I’m just the messenger . . . We all got tired of seeing what was happening, and we wanted change. But we wanted real change. And I look so forward to tomorrow. We’re going to see something that is going to be so amazing.”  A view of the setup at the "Voices of the People: Make America Great Again Welcome Concert" in front of the Lincoln Memorial on Jan. 19, 2017. Peter van Agtmael—Magnum Photos for TIME Trump reiterated his campaign mantra that he would “make America great again” after boasting about his unprecedented “movement” that led him to the Oval Office. “It’s a movement like we’ve never seen anywhere in the world, they say. There’s never been a movement like this, and it’s something very, very special. And we’re going to unify our country.” Trump is the first person to be elected president without having prior experience in public office. “We are going to make America great again. And I’ll add, greater than ever before,” Trump said. Earlier in the day, Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence attended a traditional wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, which kicked off their first official inaugural events. Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the U.S. on Friday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4640317/donald-trump-inauguration-concert-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4640317/donald-trump-inauguration-concert-speech/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Promises Change and Unity on Eve of Inauguration","datePublished":"2017-01-19T23:36:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:43:19.308Z","description":"\"We are going to make America great again. 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