How Many Inauguration Balls Will Trump Have?

With less than 30 days left until the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, plenty of people have past inaugurations on the mind ― whether or not that's an effort to distract from the present, it's hard to say. But there are a lot of questions flying around, including ones about the post-inauguration parties and celebrations that'll be going down. For instance: how many inauguration balls will there be this year, and how does that number stack up to years past?

As it happens ― and somewhat surprisingly, given Trump's well-documented penchant for bombast and adulation ― there are currently far fewer inaugural balls planned than in recent years past. According to U.S. News & World Report, Trump will be attending three balls this year, in addition to the parade that'll be happening in advance of his swearing-in. By means of comparison, President Obama's first inauguration featured ten different balls, and former president George W. Bush's first inauguration featured eight. The all-time high came amid the second Clinton inauguration, when there were a whopping 14 of them.

The official Twitter account for the Trump transition revealed as much this week, announcing a welcome rally, a parade, two inaugural balls, and another ball "saluting armed services and first responders." The answer therefore kind of depends on how you classify that last armed services ball ― if you view it as under the inauguration ball umbrella, then there are three. If not, there are only two. But considering that the ball is happening in honor of the armed services on the occasion of Trump's inauguration, and that he'll reportedly be in attendance,

three seems like a perfectly good answer.

Of course, what kind of entertainment will be on hand is another matter altogether. Various reports have indicated that the Trump team is having an awful time trying to find talented performers who're willing to show up to celebrate Trump's ascension to the presidency.

This is really no surprise ― beyond the liberalism inherent to much of the entertainment world, Trump is a particularly toxic figure, thanks to the campaign he ran, and the views he espoused. As such, associating with his inauguration carries the risk of being bad for business, beyond just the political views of the individual performers in question.

If you're curious to see how the Trump inauguration goes down, with all the ceremony, celebration, and in all likelihood, teeming protests and discontent, you won't have to wait much longer ― it'll be taking place on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017.