Trump debuts on Washington social scene at theatre gala
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump made his debut on Washington’s social circuit on Sunday by headlining an annual fundraiser for Ford’s Theater, scene of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.
Trump, accompanied by his wife, first lady Melania Trump, said he was glad to help continue “this long tradition of preserving one of America’s most important theatres and honouring one of its greatest presidents and recognizing some of its most accomplished citizens.”
Trump said Ford’s Theater contributes to the “vibrant culture of our nation’s capital” and does “tremendous work” educating Americans about “a leader who preserved our nation in its single greatest hour of danger and forged a new birth of freedom from our bloody civil war.”
The president told the audience — Vice-President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen; members of Congress, Cabinet secretaries and others — that partly because of their efforts “Lincoln’s presence is not just here. It lives with us down through the ages. He suffered so much. His life was hard and he’s remembered for his leadership, inspiration and his enduring vision of a government of, for and by the people.”