Washington D.C. -- President-elect Donald Trump went into his inauguration weekend with a bang on Thursday night.

After paying respects to military veterans at Arlington National Cemetery, Trump arrived at the National Mall and Lincoln Memorial just before sunset to join the "Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration" where singers Toby Keith, Lee Greenwood, and 3 Doors Down all performed in front of a crowd of thousands.

"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," Trump said in his brief speech. "And we're going to unify our country. And our phrase, you all know it -- half of you are wearing the hat, 'Make America great again.' But we're going to make America great for all our people, everybody. Everybody throughout our country. That includes the inner cities. That includes everybody."

The crowd, which stretched all the way to the Washington Monument was full of hopeful Americans looking for change. After eight years of Barack Obama, the American people overwhelming voted for different management, and that point was made clear in Washington, D.C. Thursday night.