Donald Trump will be inaugurated as president of the United States next Monday, the beginning of his second term and the culmination of one of the most surprising political turnarounds in American history.
Inauguration Day is, by tradition, largely devoted to pomp and circumstance. One president leaves the White House and another moves there. But Republican Trump also pledged to sign a series of executive orders on issues ranging from border security to oil and gas production on his first day in office.
Here’s what we know about Inauguration Day so far:
When is the inauguration?
Trump will take the oath of office, probably before the head of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, at 2 pm (Brasília time) in front of the US Capitol.
Trump will then deliver his inaugural address. In interviews, he said he intended the speech to be uplifting and unifying. It would be different from his first speech in 2017, which detailed a broken country that he described as “American carnage.”
Outgoing President Joe Biden has said he intends to attend the ceremony and witness the transfer of power, a courtesy Trump did not extend to him four years ago.
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The joint congressional committee administering the inauguration ceremony on the Capitol grounds said it will release more than 220,000 tickets for the event.
The National Park Service, which oversees the National Mall where members of the public who do not have tickets gather to watch the ceremony, issued a permit to Trump’s inauguration committee for a crowd estimated at 250,000 people.
Country music star Carrie Underwood is expected to perform at Trump’s inauguration ceremony.
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Who was invited?
Trump broke with precedent and invited several foreign leaders to the ceremony. Historically, they have not attended the inauguration due to security concerns and sent diplomats in their place.
Argentine President Javier Milei, a strong Trump supporter, has said he will attend, according to reports.
Another Trump supporter, Viktor Orbán of Hungary, said he was considering going, as did Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend, despite being invited, but will send a representative.
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Former president Jair Bolsonaro claims that he was also invited, but is awaiting a decision on the release of his passport — withheld by court decision — so he can travel.
Trump advisor Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, are expected to have prominent seats at the ceremony.
Parade to the White House
After a lunch with congressional leaders at the US Capitol, Trump will head down Pennsylvania Avenue in a motorcade to the White House, accompanied by a procession of military regiments, school marching bands, floats and groups of citizens. The new president and his guests will observe the rest of the parade from a grandstand.
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Starting to work
Two sources with knowledge of the planning said Trump is preparing a flurry of executive orders and directives that could number more than 100 on Day One and beyond.
He is expected to sign executive orders that will give immigration officials more freedom to arrest immigrants without criminal records, send more troops to the border with Mexico and restart construction of the border wall.
The decrees will include an initiative to increase energy production and continue Trump’s campaign promise to “drill, baby, drill,” in reference to oil and gas exploration.
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Trump is also likely to issue the first wave of pardons for defendants convicted of participating in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Parties and a rally
There will be at least 18 inauguration-related galas in Washington between the weekend and Monday, three of which are considered official and expected to be attended by Trump.
On Sunday, the day before his inauguration, Trump is also expected to hold a “Make America Great Again Victory Rally,” a campaign-style rally, at an arena in downtown Washington.
That event will likely help spur thousands of Trump supporters to flock to the city for inauguration festivities. It would be Trump’s first rally in the District of Columbia since the January 6, 2021, incident.
On Monday, Meta’s Zuckerberg will co-host a reception for billionaire Republican donors, alongside casino magnate Miriam Adelson and Houston Rockets basketball team owner Tilman Fertitta, Trump’s pick to be ambassador to Italy .
Oil and gas magnate Harold Hamm, one of Trump’s top donors, will host an inauguration party on Monday on the rooftop of the historic Hay-Adams hotel near the White House.
Who covers the costs?
The official events are funded by Trump’s inauguration committee, chaired by his longtime allies Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer chosen by Trump to be his envoy to the Middle East, and Kelly Loeffler, a former senator and Trump’s nominee to head the Small Business Administration.
The committee will be responsible for covering the costs of everything except the taxpayer-funded inauguration ceremony at the Capitol.
Bezos and Zuckerberg have pledged to donate $1 million each to the committee, as have Apple CEO Tim Cook and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Uber and its chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, each donated $1 million to the fund.
Trump raised a record $106.7 million for his inauguration festivities in 2017. His committee raised more than $170 million this time, according to news reports.
