Donald Trump running Facebook ads asking people to attend his inauguration

The Department of Homeland Security estimates up to 900,000 people will come to DC – including tens of thousands of protesters – for the inauguration. Obama had 1.8 million

Trump claims there will be record-breaking attendance. That is not true (Getty)

With only a few days left before he takes office, Donald Trump is running ads on Facebook to invite attendees to the upcoming inauguration.

The President-elect will assume his seat at the Resolute desk in the White House Oval Office with one of the lowest favourability ratings among an incoming US leader. According to an ABC News/Washington Post poll, only 40 per cent of Americans view the New York real estate mogul positively – that is 21 per cent below President Obama’s outgoing rating.

“The inauguration is our moment in American history, and I want you to be with me on inauguration day,” Mr Trump said in a Facebook video. “It’s going to be so exciting.”

Tonight Show staffer Marina Cockenberg noticed that the Facebook ads were targeted to New Yorkers over the age of 27.

As Mr Trump – who also failed to secure the popular vote – struggles to have entertainers agree to perform, the Department of Homeland Security expects up to 900,000 people to arrive in Washington during inauguration week – about half the number of people who went to Mr Obama’s ceremony in 2009. But a significant portion of those are likely to be protesting the minority President-elect’s administration.

The estimations indicate that Mr Trump lied yet again in an interview with the New York Times.

“We are going to have an unbelievable, perhaps record-setting turnout for the inauguration, and there will be plenty of movie and entertainment stars,” he said, despite even a Bruce Springsteen cover band turning down the opportunity to perform.

“All the dress shops are sold out in Washington. It’s hard to find a great dress for this inauguration.”

Mr Trump appears to have pulled the anecdote about dress shops from thin air. According to Washington retailers, big and small, there is a veritable surplus of ball gowns in the nation’s capitol.