- The Washington Times - Wednesday, January 18, 2017

President-elect Donald Trump says he wants “the people” — not the celebrities — at this week’s inaugural events and that there will be crowds “rarely seen before.”

“Many of the celebrities that are saying they’re not going — they were never invited,” Mr. Trump said in an interview that aired Wednesday on “Fox & Friends.” “I don’t want the celebrities — I want the people.”

“And we have the biggest celebrities in the world there — the biggest in the world,” he said.

There will be three official presidential inaugural balls this year, compared to the 10 that President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama attended in 2009.

“We have one ball — I think it’s 25,000 people and they’re going to be bigger,” Mr. Trump said. “Who wants to have like 10 different balls?”

“So we did fewer. Everything’s sold out. You can’t get a ticket,” he said. “In fact, my biggest problem is you can’t get tickets to … this stuff. It’s impossible.”

“I was told some of the dress shops in Washington — you can’t get a dress anymore. It’s just going to be an amazing weekend,” Mr. Trump said. “It’s going to be something special.”

“And you will have crowds like they have rarely seen before,” he said.

Mr. Trump also said fashion designer Tom Ford, who said last year he declined to dress incoming first lady Melania Trump a few years ago, is an example of someone he could have done without anyway.

“Never asked Tom Ford — doesn’t like Tom Ford,” Mr. Trump said of his wife. “Doesn’t like his designs.”

“Tom Ford is an example — ’I will not dress the first lady.’ He was never asked to dress,” he said.

Mr. Trump said real estate developer Steve Wynn called him recently and said he thought what Mr. Ford said was so terrible “that he threw his clothing out of his Las Vegas hotel.”

“I’m not a fan of Tom Ford — never have been,” Mr. Trump said.

• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.

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