US president-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office as the 47th president of the US during his inaugural ceremony at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Monday. This is his second but non-consecutive term as president.
Donald Trump’s inauguration date and time
On Monday, Trump, 78, who defeated Kamala Harris in the US presidential election last November, will take the oath of office. He takes Joe Biden’s place in the White House after the latter defeated him four years ago.
The US Constitution’s 20th Amendment describes the transition down to the minute, including the date on which power passes from one president to the next.
President-elect Trump will formally take office on Monday at noon, in accordance with the amendment. The inauguration ceremony will start around 11:30 a.m. ET.
Trump’s swearing in ceremony
Due to freezing temperature predicted for Washington on Monday, the president-elect opted to move the swearing in ceremony indoors to the Capitol Rotunda instead of holding it on the West Lawn of the US Capitol. The massive temporary platform on the West Lawn played host to swear in newly-elected presidents earlier.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court typically administers the oath of office. John Roberts will take Trump’s oath of office on Monday.
Additionally, Trump will give his inaugural address during the ceremony, outlining his four-year goal.
At the inauguration event, JD Vance, the incoming US vice president, will also take the oath of office alongside Trump.
Guest list of Trump’s inauguration
Breaking from tradition, Trump has invited world leaders to attend his oath of office. As per US tradition, only diplomats like foreign ministers or country ambassadors to the US act as representatives and attend the inaugural ceremony.
However, this year, Argentine president Javier Milei, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, Chinese president Xi Jinping and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi have all received invitations from the Trump to attend his inauguration. Not all of them will attend, reported AFP.
China said Friday that Vice President Han Zheng will be sent by Jinping to the US to attend the inauguration event. Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will represent Modi at the US presidential inauguration.
They will be joined by a number of tech heavyweights, such as Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk. The invitation list also includes Shou Chew, the CEO of the Chinese social media platform TikTok.
The event will be attended by outgoing president Biden, even though Trump has declined to attend the former’s swearing-in ceremony in 2020.
The guests will also include former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.
The public has been given more than 2,20,000 tickets to attend the ceremony via the offices of lawmakers.
Additionally, the ceremony will be shown live from the National Mall on big screens on major news channels like ABC, NBC, and CNN. Additionally, this event will be accessible worldwide through live streaming on a variety of platforms. International broadcasters like BBC and Al Jazeera, as well as major news networks like Fox News and MSNBC, will offer live coverage.
Star performances
Country music artist Carrie Underwood has been invited to perform “America the Beautiful” at Trump’s inauguration. There will also be Lee Greenwood, whose patriotic song “God Bless the USA” was played at Trump campaign rallies.
On Sunday, The Village People, whose “Y.M.C.A.” often included in Trump rallies, performed at a pre-inauguration rally. Billy Ray Cyrus and Kid Rock also played at the event.
During Trump’s three official inaugural balls, country music artists Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts, and Gavin DeGraw are scheduled to perform.