Donald Trump Inauguration Day: Donald Trump is all set to return to the White House with his second inauguration as president of the United States.
Trump, 78, will formally be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, January 20. Trump, who won the US Presidential elections in November by defeating Democrat Kamala Harris, will take over from the incumbent President Joe Biden.
The swearing-in events will formally kick off with fireworks on Saturday, January 18. The four-day schedule will also include three VIP events at Trump’s golf course outside Washington, DC, and a Make America Great Again (MAGA) victory rally on the eve of the oath-taking, apart from the main oath-taking event on Monday.
As per the US Constitution, the new President's term begins at noon on January 20 (or the day after if it falls on a Sunday), and the president takes the oath of office.
The swearing-in will take place on January 20 at 10.30 pm IST. The inauguration day will begin with a service at St John's Church, Lafayette Square, a historic Washington DC church, followed by tea at the White House.
Musical performances and opening remarks will be held on the main event stage - on the West Lawn of the US Capitol building - at 09:30 EST (8 pm IST).
Trump will take the oath of office with Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in front of the US Capitol's scenic West Lawn, overlooking the National Mall in Washington DC, in front of thousands of people.
The president-elect will recite the oath of office: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Trump officially becomes the 47th president once he says those words. He previously served as the 45th president between 2017 and 2021.
JD Vance, the Vice President-elect, will take oath before Trump.
After taking the oath, the new president delivers an inaugural address in which he is expected to lay out his plans for the next four years.
Apart from Trump, Vance and their families, outgoing President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris will attend. Harris lost to Trump in November. Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, and Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, will also attend.
Former presidents—Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama will attend. All wives of former presidents, except Michelle Obama, will attend the event.
Billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Shou Chew, the head of Chinese social media giant TikTok, are expected to attend the event, according to US media.
US senators and House members will attend, along with the guests of the incoming administration.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend Trump’s inauguration, but he is sending Vice President Han Zheng as his special representative.
Giorgia Meloni, the Prime Minister of Italy, Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary and Javier Milei, the President of Argentina, have been invited to the event.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent India at the inauguration, following an invitation from the Trump-Vance inaugural committee.
More than 2,20,000 tickets are being distributed to the public via lawmakers' offices, according to news agency AFP.
Those unable to get official tickets can watch the ceremony alongside tens of thousands of other spectators, live from the National Mall on large video screens.
Trump has indicated that he is preparing to sign multiple executive orders as early as his first day in office, aimed at undoing many of the Biden administration's policies.
Among multiple promises for day one, Trump has pledged to launch a mass deportation programme and increase oil drilling. He has also said he might immediately begin pardoning January 6 rioters, his followers who ransacked the Capitol in 2021, according to AFP.
Famed country singer Carrie Underwood will sing "America the Beautiful" during the swearing-in ceremony. Country singer Lee Greenwood, whose patriotic anthem "God Bless the USA," which was a well-established Trump rally anthem, will also perform.
A pre-inauguration rally on Sunday will include performances by The Village People (whose 1970s-era "YMCA" was another Trump rally staple), Kid Rock and Billy Ray Cyrus.
Country musicians, including Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts and Gavin DeGraw, plus the Village People, will perform across Trump's three official inaugural balls, news agency AFP said.
After taking oath, Trump will head inside the President's Room (near the Senate chamber)to sign key documents.
He will then attend a lunch hosted by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. Afterwards, the president will travel in a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House.
Later in the evening, Trump will appear at three inaugural balls throughout the city - the Commander-in-Chief Ball, the Liberty Inaugural Ball and the Starlight Ball. Trump is expected to speak at all the three Inaugural Balls.
United States presidential inaugural balls are large social gatherings held to celebrate the commencement of a new term of the president.
The Presidential Inaugural Committee plans and sanctions the official inaugural balls, which will occur throughout the evening of Inauguration Day in the Washington, DC, area.
State societies, businesses, and private organisations also organise other informal balls before and on the Inauguration Day.
(With agency inputs)
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