A week of protests ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration as US President is set to kick off today with a civil rights march in Washington by activists angry over the Republican's comments on minority groups including Muslims and Mexicans.

Civil rights leader the Reverend Al Sharpton plans to lead a march along the National Mall ending at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, about three km from the steps of the US Capitol, where Trump will be sworn in as president on January 20.

Trump won his first-ever campaign for elected office with an angry, populist platform that included promises to build a wall along the Mexican border and restrict immigration from Muslim countries, as well as promises to crack down on companies moving jobs out of the United States.

His supporters admire Trump's experience in business, including as a real estate developer and reality television star, and view him as a brash problem-solver likely to break through political logjams.

Trump's controversial comments about immigrants and women, and his vow to repeal the sweeping healthcare reform law that was President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy achievement, has drawn the anger of many on the left, who plan a series of protests.

"The 2017 march will bring all people together to insist on change and accountability," Sharpton said. "Donald Trump and his administration need to hear our voice and our concerns."

Civil rights groups including Sharpton's National Action Network, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Council of La Raza, as well as Democratic lawmakers including US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York plan to join today's march.

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