The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States is expected to take place on Monday, January 20, 2025. Due to expected freezing temperatures and high winds, it will be held inside the United States Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. It will be the 60th U.S. presidential inauguration and the second inauguration of Trump as U.S. president, marking the commencement of his second and final non-consecutive term as U.S. president, the term of JD Vance as the vice president, and the second ever non-consecutive re-inauguration for a U.S. president, after the second inauguration of Grover Cleveland in 1893.[1] It is also the first presidential inauguration to take place indoors since Ronald Reagan's public ceremony in 1985. Trump's first inauguration was eight years earlier, in January 2017.
The event will include a swearing-in ceremony, a signing ceremony, an inaugural luncheon, a pass-in-review, a procession, and a parade. Inaugural balls are held at various venues before and after the inaugural ceremonies. Several Democratic members of Congress will boycott Trump's inauguration.
Planning:
Held on the third Monday of January, the inauguration will occur on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which marks the second time an inauguration has occurred on the same date as the holiday following the second inauguration of Bill Clinton in 1997.[2][3] On January 17, Trump announced the inauguration ceremony would be moved indoors due to cold weather, and would take place in the Capitol rotunda, a first since the public second inauguration of Ronald Reagan on January 21, 1985
Joint Congressional Committee:
In May 2024, both houses of Congress appointed a Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies to oversee the construction of the platform and other temporary structures that would be necessary for the ceremonies and celebrations.[6]
Construction of the inaugural platform ceremonially began on September 18, 2024, with the driving of the first nail by United States Senator Amy Klobuchar using a nail made from iron ore mined and processed from the Iron Range in Minnesota
In October 2024, the United States Capitol Police conducted an intelligence assessment that concluded an activist group "with a history of large-scale demonstrations involving illegal activity plans to protest the Inauguration regardless of the outcome" and that other groups protesting the Israel-Hamas war were "nearly certain to target the Inauguration" regardless of the winner in the U.S. presidential election.[8] According to the New York Times, organizers of the 2017 Women's March were committed to recreating it under the refreshed branding "People's March".[9] On January 18, thousands participated in the march, but the turnout fell short of the expected 50,000 attendees
Agencies expected to be involved with planning of the ceremony include the U.S. Capitol Police, the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police, and the U.S. Park Police.[11] Twenty-four states offered National Guard support for the electoral vote certification and inaugural ceremonies.[12]
On January 17, approximately 8,000 National Guard soldiers were deputized as Special Deputy United States Marshals, providing them police authority within the National Capital Region
Inaugural Committee:
On November 9, 2024, Trump announced the formation of the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee, Inc., a 501(c)(4) organization dedicated to planning inaugural events. The committee co-chairs are Steve Witkoff and former U.S. senator Kelly Loeffler, longtime friends and supporters of the president-elect
Donations:
The leaders of various tech companies have pledged donations and services for the inauguration. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said through a spokesperson that he will be making a $1 million personal donation. Mark Zuckerberg, the head of Meta and the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, sent $1 million.[16][17] It is also reported in the Wall Street Journal that Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, has offered[needs update] to stream the ceremony on Amazon Prime, and this will amount to a $1 million in-kind donation.[18] Observers say[according to whom?] these donations are because some of these tech leaders had been in conflict with Trump in the past, in hopes of reducing regulatory pressure on their companies under the incoming administration.[17]
On December 18, Uber Technologies and its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi each agreed to donate $1 million to the inauguration. This was Khosrowshahi's largest donation to a political candidate.[19]
On December 23, the Ford Motor Company and General Motors announced that they would donate $1 million each and provide a fleet of vehicles for the inauguration
Invitees:
Trump’s inauguration will mark the first time in U.S. history that a president-elect formally welcomes foreign leaders to the ceremony.[21]
Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden (who defeated Trump in 2020 and was inaugurated as the 46th president in 2021), outgoing U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (who had been Trump's main opponent in 2024), former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama (whom Trump first succeeded in 2017) will attend the inauguration. Former first ladies Hillary Clinton (Trump's former opponent in 2016) and Laura Bush will also attend the inauguration. Former first lady Michelle Obama will skip the inauguration.[22] Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who served under Trump during his first term, is also planning to attend the inauguration.
Chinese President Xi Jinping was invited to the ceremony but will send Vice President Han Zheng as his special representative instead.[23][24] This marks the first time a senior official of China's government has been sent to a US presidential inauguration.[25] CBS News also reported that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been invited.[26] El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are also reportedly invited.[27]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,[28] Argentine President Javier Milei,[29] and the last democratically-elected Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili are reportedly planning to attend.[30][31] Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has indicated that he is an invitee, but he would need his confiscated passport to be returned by the government in order to travel.[32] Russia confirmed that President Vladimir Putin did not receive an invitation.[33] Trump stated that he had not invited President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his inauguration but expressed willingness to welcome him if he decided to attend.[34] Former British prime minister Liz Truss will attend the inauguration.[35] Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña are also planning to attend.[36] Edmundo González, whom the U.S. recognizes as the winner of the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, will also reportedly attend.[37]
The foreign ministers of QUAD nations including, S. Jaishankar from India, Penny Wong from Australia, and Takeshi Iwaya from Japan, will also attend the inauguration. They are expected to meet with Trump the day after the ceremony for discussions.[38][39][40]
French Reconquête politicians Éric Zemmour and Sarah Knafo, as well as Identity–Freedoms leader Marion Maréchal, will also attend the ceremony.[41][42] Spanish Vox leader Santiago Abascal is also reportedly planning to attend the ceremony.[43] Belgian Vlaams Belang leader Tom Van Grieken, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, Alternative for Germany co-leader Tino Chrupalla, and former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki have also confirmed their attendance.[44] Members of the Bundestag Jan Wenzel Schmidt and Beatrix von Storch alongside her husband Sven von Storch have confirmed their attendance.[45] AfD co-leader Alice Weidel[45] and Freedom Party of Austria Herbert Kickl, who was invited, will not attend the ceremony.[46]
Businessmen Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, three of the world's richest men, are set to attend the inauguration. They will have a prominent role at the event, seated together on the platform alongside other distinguished guests, including Cabinet nominees and elected officials.[47] It was also reported that TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew, would attend the inauguration.[48] Apple's Tim Cook, Alphabet's Sundar Pichai, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi are also set to attend the event.[49][50]
Several celebrities and sportspeople including Victor Willis, Carrie Underwood, Antonio Brown, Mike Tyson, Jorge Masvidal, Evander Kane, Anuel AA, Justin Quiles, Rod Wave, Kodak Black, and Fivio Foreign are all confirmed to be attending the ceremony
Order of events:
Preliminary events:
On the morning of January 19, Trump and Vance visited the Arlington National Cemetery where they placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.[52] They were joined by family members of some of the decedents of the 2021 Kabul airport attack.[52]
That evening, the Trump campaign organized a rally for supporters at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The event featured performances by Kid Rock and Lee Greenwood, as well as speeches by Trump and Megyn Kelly.[53] Trump also performed the Trump Dance to a rendition of Y.M.C.A. performed by Village People who joined the president-elect on stage
Inauguration Day ceremonies:
An order of events for the January 20, 2025, inauguration has been published by the Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and the National Park Service, with a detailed schedule to follow closer to the event
| United States Capitol, Rotunda | During the swearing-in ceremony, the president-elect and vice president-elect will take the oaths of office, and then the new president will deliver an inaugural address. |
| President's Room | Following the swearing-in ceremony, the president is scheduled to withdraw to the President's Room (Room S-216), where he customarily has a photo portrait made and signs transitional documents. |
| National Statuary Hall | The president and vice president are scheduled to attend an inaugural luncheon with leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as invited guests. |
| United States Capitol, east steps | After the luncheon, the president and vice president customarily transit to the east steps of the Capitol to review the military forces that will form the processional escort, including the Commander-in-Chief's Guard, the "President's Own" United States Marine Band, and others. |
| Pennsylvania Avenue | Joined by the military escort, the president is expected to travel in the presidential state car across Pennsylvania Avenue to the reviewing stand in front of the White House. |
| Capital One Arena | A parade, consisting of military and civilian marching and performance units from each of the states, traditionally proceeds past the reviewing stand in front of the White House. Due to inclement weather, this was moved indoors and will take place at Capitol One Arena. |
Inaugural balls:
Customarily, inaugural balls are held at various venues before and after the inaugural ceremonies.[60] Official balls, at which the president and first lady appear, are organized by the inaugural committee, while unofficial balls are not.[60]
Three official inaugural balls are scheduled, at which performers including Nelly, Rascal Flatts, and Jason Aldean are scheduled to appear.[61] A larger number of unofficial balls have been organized
