The Village People and Me: My Night Chasing Trump’s Inaugural Balls

If Cinderella is a Donald Trump supporter, things threatened to get awkward Monday evening as the three major inauguration balls where the newly sworn-in 47th president was set to make an appearance stretched long past midnight.

It’s unclear if any Prince Charmings made the guest lists at the Commander in Chief, Liberty, and Starlight Balls, all of which hosted the Trump family, that of Vice President JD Vance, and more spins of Village People songs than any person should be humanely submitted to.

There were, however, members of the Space Force, grass-roots campaigners, big-pocketed Trump donors, D.C. elite with good connections, Mike Tyson sitting on one of the Paul brothers’ shoulders, and, if a report from CNN earlier in the night came to fruition, at least one recently released Jan. 6 prisoner who planned to book it straight from jail to the dance floor.

No glass slippers were reported left at any of the events’ locations, as of the time of this writing, but perhaps some attendees were able to leave with an errant feather from one of the Village People’s headdresses as a souvenir. Or, at the very least, a picture in front of the McDonald’s drive-thru or mugshot-wall photo-ops that were set up at the Liberty Ball party.

Performers including Rascal Flatts, Jason Aldean, Gavin DeGraw, Nelly, and—have we mentioned them yet?—the Village People all performed at these events, all of which featured a dance from the president and first lady as well as some remarks.

These balls have, in modern times, produced some indelible pop culture-meets-politics TV moments, with Beyoncé’s emotional rendition of “At Last” while Barack and Michelle Obama danced after his first inauguration chief among them.

So I was curious—with more mainstream musicians embracing opportunities to perform for Trump and the campaign’s promise for more pomp and circumstance at these events—what this year’s version of a moment like that might be.

I can’t quite say that what we were able to see was… profound. But there was a freewheeling wackiness to it all that was, to be honest, quite appealing. Was it entertaining? You know what, sure. Let’s call it that.

There was no full network coverage of all three balls and, obviously, I was not in attendance for any of them. So I consumed them in what is absolutely the best way to take in a piece of entertainment: watching four livestreams at once, and feverishly searching for videos on social media.

Trump’s appearances at these events started much later than originally planned—hours later—which meant that a lion’s share of my evening’s fun was spent watching how the respective events vamped. That meant a cocktail of DJs spinning the best wedding playlist from 1994, various government marching bands playing patriotic ditties until their fingertips calloused and mouths went numb, and Billy Ray Cyrus having an onstage meltdown of epic magnitude.

The “Achy Breaky Heart” singer’s bizarre behavior was an auspicious start to the night at the Liberty Ball, but soon after he finally left the stage—following minutes of dancing and meandering after producers cut the mic and stage lights on him—country singer Jason Aldean came to the audience’s rescue. And by rescue, I mean that he performed, I’m not exaggerating, 14 full songs. It’s unclear whether he was filling time or if the plan was always for him to put on a full-length Jason Aldean concert at the event, but considering he joked to the crowd, “I think Trump’s still fixin’ s---,” I’d venture the latter.

He was good at it, too, singing hits like “Burnin’ It Down,” “Big Green Tractor,” “Try That in a Small Town,” “Crazy Town,” “Hicktown”...basically his full repertoire on towns. He ended the extended set by hyping the crowd that Trump was almost there, which was a nice thought except for the fact that Trump, at that moment, was close to arriving at a different ball.

He made his first appearance at the Commander in Chief Ball, which focused on military service members. There’s been a lot of curiosity as to what his and Melania’s official first dance would be for his second term. It was Elvis Presley’s “An American Trilogy,” a medley of “Dixie,” “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and “All My Trials.”

Despite reports that the couple may be serenaded by a recently reunited Rascal Flatts at the ball, the song seemed to be a Presley recording—though social media briefly spun into a tizzy wondering if Trump had booked an Elvis impersonator to perform at his inauguration event.

While a major musical moment was not in the cards, Trump would never appear at an event like this and not leave us with something memorable.

For my money, it’s a toss-up between two instances. There was Trump enthusiastically asking “How’s Kim Jong Un?” to the service members appearing via satellite from South Korea, where they were there to, ostensibly, fight Kim Jong Un. And there was “YMCA” playing after Trump had cut a celebratory cake with a commemorative military saber—and then did his endearing lil’ “YMCA” dance again, but this time while swinging around a commemorative military saber.

The delegation scooted out before Rascal Flatts hit the stage, arriving at the Liberty Ball at around 11:20 pm ET to do an encore of the Elvis dance, deliver nearly identical remarks, and then shimmy once again to the sweet sounds of “YMCA.” This time, however, the Village People were there live! The Trump and Vance families may have thought they’d be offstage by the time the band started, but Trump stopped them at the exit, causing a pileup of unenthused adult children and their spouses, forcing them to watch the full performance.

Nearly the entire Trump family then, one by one, shook the hands of the cop, the construction worker, the biker, the Native American chief, the soldier—you get the deal—while the stage and audience was otherwise completely silent, save for the Trumps’ polite “thank yous.” It was transfixing.

When they finally made it off stage, the Village People moved on to “In the Navy,” an illuminating number that raises questions such as, “Did you know how long Village People songs are?”

Sadly, the Trumps and Vances didn’t stick around to awkwardly dance to Nelly performing songs like “Hot in Here,” depriving the American people of what they truly wanted to see. But they had to hightail their way over to Union Station for the Starlight Ball, perhaps the splashiest event of the night. It’s the one where press isn’t allowed, so there was no TV coverage or livestream. Yet it was also the ball for which I found the most content posted on social media from partygoers. Go figure.

Vince Vaughn and Caitlyn Jenner were spotted there, as were Tyson and the Paul brothers. DeGraw, who probably is neck-and-neck with Nelly for the “whoa, I can’t believe he’s performing at a Trump event!” crown amongst liberal millennials, sang his big hits “Chariot” and “I Don’t Wanna Be,” greeting the crowd, “What’s up, D.C.? Great to be with the party of common sense.”

So what to make of my inauguration night odyssey, an attempt to discover or crystallize something “special,” so to speak, from the evening? I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t expect more polish and at least a little bit of profundity, but now I wonder why that was my expectation in the first place.

In my piecemeal parachuting into the various parties and performances through the coverage I was able to access, it was a night of scattershot enthusiasm from the various audiences for whatever was being thrown at them. An unhinged Billy Ray Cyrus? Two hours of marching-band music? An off-the-cuff Trump speech and the Village People 400 times? There was excitement for it all. It was infectious.

Is it what Cinderella would’ve wanted? Probably not. But I get the feeling that’s exactly the point.