WASHINGTON — At Saturday’s Hispanic Inaugural Ball, the outfits told much of the story. One woman wore a long, flowing ballgown adorned with a map of Puerto Rico. A man wore three-piece suit plastered with American flags, and a matching cowboy hat. Another woman wore red and blue light-up sneakers.

But around the ballroom’s exterior, and darting in and out of the service areas, there was uniformity: the black suits, white shirts, black ties and black sneakers of the hospitality workers.

Throughout the evening, the workers went mostly unnoticed. Employees of the hotel, the Omni Shoreham, they shuffled in and out of the ballroom, clearing tables and carrying trays of glassware. But at a gala where sponsors paid between $15,000 and $100,000 for premier seating, it was these hourly-wage staff who arrived first and left last. As the ball’s speakers praised President-elect Donald Trump’s economic and immigration agenda, they listened.

Some told me they are excited by Trump’s return to the White House. Others are skeptical. Most of the staff I spoke with were already in the U.S. during Trump’s first term; one came to the country only recently. What they know about Trump and his promises comes, they said, from friends, the news or events like this, where they catch snippets of speeches as they bustle in and out.

Their first taste of life under Trump 2.0 is this chaotic weekend. One server, who asked his name not be used in the story, said this is the busiest weekend of the year: he started work at 7 a.m. Saturday, and he would not be off until the gala concluded, sometime in the early morning hours Sunday. He was scheduled to work again at 7 a.m. Sunday morning. When I asked if he’d be going home between shifts, he laughed.

Others see opportunity in the chaotic schedule. Carmen, a 52-year-old from Peru, said the inauguration is the “busiest time” of the year — meaning “more work and more pay.”

She is optimistic that Trump will follow through on his economic promises, like decreasing inflation and ending taxes on tips. One of her coworkers, Shen Jing, a 43-year-old from China, agrees, though she sees Trump’s allure not through specific policy promises, but by his ability as a “businessman” to “make the whole economy better.”

“If business gets better, it’s more for us,” Shen Jing said. “We’re not paid by salary. We’re paid by event. More events means more work.”

At this event, they had plenty of work. Billed as the official inauguration event for Hispanics, attendees were treated to Mariachi Vargas, the self-proclaimed “best mariachi band in the world,” and GUSI, a Colombian singer. In an adjoining room, an international buffet featured a sizzling paella tray and stacks of steaming tamales; next door, the line for alcohol snaked down the hall.

Buzzed and buzzing, the audience showed little interest in the program. When Argentina’s President Javier Milei, the small-government libertarian elected last year, took the stage, he was met by raucous applause. “This guy is a semi-god to our readers,” a reporter for a Spanish-language outlet whispered to me. But when Milei launched into a speech in Spanish, most attendees returned to their conversations and their food. In the back of the hall, Trump adviser Roger Stone commanded a small gaggle of reporters; others filed back into the line for drinks. “What do we have to do to be quiet?” an exasperated woman in the affordable, standing-room-only section yelled. “Have some respect.”

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Later, when a bishop prayed over Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, he was frustrated by the noise. “That doesn’t sound like a prayer, saints,” he told the audience. “If someone is talking next to you, tell them to stop.”

But the service staff, exiting and entering between clearing plates and dishes, were paying attention. When Sen. Ted Cruz delivered a speech in favor of Trump’s planned deportations, he suggested only criminals would be affected. “If you’re a murderer, if you’re a rapist, if you’re a gangbanger, pack your bags, because you’re getting out of here,” Cruz said.

Trump’s allies have promised that is where they’ll begin, but some — including the president of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank — think this is not true. Carmen, who migrated from Peru over 25 years ago, has friends who are equally skeptical. “But I think they will be okay,” she said. “If people are good, keep the law, they don’t have to be scared. If they sell drugs and things like that, it is different.” Cesar, a 67-year-old from Peru, agreed. “The people who are causing crime need to go,” he said. “The people like us, that work like us, they’re good.”

Well past midnight, when the tables were cleared to make way for a dance floor, the workers huddled in the back. They waited for guests to leave to finish cleaning tables. Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick to be secretary of state and the son of Cuban immigrants, was slated to make an appearance; at 1 a.m., there was still no sign of him. Shen Jing, the worker from China, shrugged. That’s not what she was there for. “We love this country,” she said. “We love Trump.”

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