WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — It's 60 degrees and a light rain falls on the luscious grass at the National Croquet Center, but the mood of more than 100 people gathered to watch President Donald Trump take his oath of office is far from dampened.
The Palm Beach County Republican Party event, held down the road from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, was marked by raucous cheers throughout Trump's address that declared "America's decline is over" and boos at mention of his political opponents from both parties.
Carl Cascio, the county party chairman, said before the ceremony began that the start of the new administration was an historic opportunity to move the country forward.
"I think the first four years of Trump taught him a lot, that he needed maybe to see what was going to happen," Cascio said. "I think more importantly, the American people needed to see the difference in leadership between Donald Trump's first four years and then what would happen when somebody else took over and tried to undermine what this country was trying to do."
Alan Mentser, one of the organizers of sign-waving supporters who line Southern Boulevard and cheer as Trump's motorcade passes to and from Mar-a-Lago, says one word that sums up his views about the next Trump term is "expectant."
"I'm expectant for the government to come back to what it should be: for 'we the people,'" he said. "I'm expectant for the border to be closed. I'm expectant for the president to make America strong again, great again, healthy again, more law abiding. I'm expectant for all of those things that all of his appointees will hopefully be confirmed and get our country back. I mean, we've got to get our country back."
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