Donald Trump isn't president for another day, but he's already made enough of a mark on Washington's historic sites and neighborhoods to inspire a custom tour of Trump's D.C.
Bill Thomas is a veteran political journalist whose books on the secrets and scandals of Washington's rich and powerful are coming in handy for the tour company he runs now that Trump is coming to town.
"Our phones are ringing off the hook for tours, not just Trump Tours, but tours of Washington," says Thomas, founder of Private Tours of Washington. He credits the enthusiasm Trump generated among his supporters while on the campaign trail. "There are people calling who have never been to Washington, never had an inclination to come here."
The tour features the Capitol's Inauguration Day setup, rolls past the Trump International Hotel along Friday's Pennsylvania Avenue parade route to the White House, and up through the elite neighborhood where Trump's most trusted advisors — his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner — will be neighbors with the Obamas.
As it turns out, Thomas' knowledge of Washington's elite is matched by his experience as a reporter in Russia, the alleged newest power player as Trump comes to Washington. After pointing out the Russian Military Intelligence building just steps away from the Ivanka's and Obama's new homes (and a brief stop at Hillary Clinton's nearby house), Thomas takes the tour to his grand finale: the sprawling Russian Embassy high atop the city.
"The Trump Tour, if you will, is creating itself as we're standing here talking," Thomas said as Russian diplomats' cars flowed in and out of the double-gated, heavily secured compound. "Things happen everyday in the news and we try to incorporate as much of that into tours as we can manage to do so."
