Trump arrives in Washington with a wave and a salute

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ready for his big moment, Donald Trump traded in his beloved private plane for a military jet today and swooped into Washington for three days of inaugural festivities.

As the president-elect left New York behind, the capital braced for an onslaught of inaugural crowds and demonstrators numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

Trump was already taking on more of the trappings of the presidency, giving a salute to the Air Force officer who welcomed him as he stepped off the military plane with wife Melania at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington.

Meanwhile, the White House was quickly emptying out. President Barack Obama's schedule was clear beyond his daily briefing and his final weekly lunch with Vice President Joe Biden,

Vice President-elect Mike Pence, in a tweet, called Inauguration Eve "a momentous day before a historic day," as security barricades and blockades went up around Washington in preparation for Friday's swearing-in ceremony and all of the hoopla and hand-wringing that comes with it.