Preparations for Trump's inauguration are well underway: Security at the highest level, but fear of 'lone wolves' always remains

(Patria) - With 48 kilometers of high black temporary fencing, 25,000 police officers, and security checkpoints set up to process hundreds of thousands of spectators, Washington is preparing for the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump next week.

The swearing-in ceremony on Monday on the steps of the U.S. Capitol and the parade to the White House will follow a weekend of protests by Trump's opponents and parties, as well as rallies by Republican supporters.

The inauguration follows a campaign marked by two assassination attempts on Trump's life - including one by a potential assassin who grazed his ear with a bullet - and a couple of New Year's attacks on ordinary Americans, reports Voice of America.

In one, 14 people were killed and dozens injured when a U.S. Army veteran drove a truck into a crowd of New Year's revelers in New Orleans. On the same day, an active-duty U.S. Army soldier detonated a Tesla Cybertruck outside a Trump-branded hotel in Las Vegas, killing himself.

- We are in a higher threat environment - said U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Matt McCool at a press briefing on Monday.

The inauguration itself, when Trump formally takes the oath with members of Congress, the Supreme Court, his future administration, and tens of thousands of others watching, will be held on the steps of the Capitol, facing the Washington Monument.

It is the same place where, on January 6, 2021, thousands of Trump supporters smashed windows, fought with police, and forced lawmakers to flee and save their lives, in an attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.

Trump's opponent in the 2024 election, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, conceded her defeat on November 5, unlike Trump, who still falsely claims his loss was the result of fraud.

Security officials said they are not aware of any specific, coordinated threats to the inauguration. What they are concerned about are lone wolves, like the New Orleans attacker, or two separate incidents last week.

In one, a man was arrested for trying to bring a machete into the Capitol. In another, a man was arrested for trying to set a fire near the Capitol.

- That threat of lone actors remains the biggest justification for us being in this heightened state of readiness over the next week - said U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger at a security briefing.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security today warned police across the country about the risk of copycat attacks similar to the New Orleans incident.

Much of downtown Washington - stretching about three kilometers from the White House to the Capitol - will be closed to vehicle traffic, with entry points blocked by concrete barriers, garbage trucks, and other heavy objects.

The 48-kilometer-long, two-meter-high black fence, designed to be unclimbable, will be the longest ever erected in Washington, officials said.

About 7,800 National Guard soldiers and 4,000 officers brought in from other police departments across the country will bolster security.

While some city residents, where 90% of voters voted for Harris, prepared to leave for the holiday weekend or stay home to avoid the gridlock because of Trump, tens of thousands of people are expected to come to the city for celebrations and protests.

About 70% of Washington's 34,500 hotel rooms were booked for inauguration night and the night before, as of last week, according to data from Smith Travel Research reported by Destination DC, Washington's official tourism organization.

Hotel occupancy was about 95% for Trump's 2017 inauguration and about 78% for former President Barack Obama's second inauguration in 2013.

Trump's 2017 inauguration was marked by massive protests and counter-protests. His former spokesman Sean Spicer famously began his tenure by claiming - contrary to photographic evidence - that the crowd on the grassy National Mall was "the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration."

The Women's March the following day drew hundreds of thousands of people to the streets of Washington - and even more to solidarity events held across the country.

A much smaller group of 25,000 people is expected to participate in an anti-Trump march in D.C. on Saturday, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said today.

Thousands of people are also expected to show up at nearly a dozen other protests or rallies that local officials have permitted between Saturday and Monday, including a Trump rally at the 20,000-seat Capital One Arena on Sunday.

Juliette Kayyem, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School who served as a homeland security official during the Obama administration, said officials appear to be following standard practice in planning for all possibilities.

- What you plan for is the worst-case scenario, but I doubt you'll get it, which is good. In terms of planning, it's always easier to scale down than to scale up - Kayyem said.