It’s the big day—President-elect Donald Trump at noon ET will inaugurated as the country’s 47th president.
The swearing-in ceremony was moved inside the Capitol Rotunda after weather forecasts predicted temperatures as low as 22 degrees F during the time Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance are set to take the oath of office.
This will be the first time a commander-in-chief has been inaugurated indoors since President Ronald Reagan was sworn in for his second term 40 years ago.
The musical performers include country music stars Carrie Underwood and Lee Greenwood, tenor Christopher Macchio, and the Village People.
Among the business moguls planning to attend Trump’s inauguration are Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Trump said that the Capital One Arena in Washington would be open on Monday for live viewing of his inauguration and to host the presidential parade.
Since the Capitol Rotunda can only hold 600 people, there are limited spots for Supreme Court justices, former presidents and their spouses, Cabinet nominees, military leaders, and visiting global leaders.
There are also 535 congressional lawmakers who historically get prime seating, but some Democrats have said they will skip the ceremony.
Inauguration Day begins with a service at St. John’s Church, followed by tea at the White House with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.
Trump then heads to the Rotunda for his swearing-in ceremony before bidding farewell to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The U.S. Capitol Departure Ceremony will follow before Trump signs formal nominations for his Cabinet in the White House Signing Room Ceremony. He then embarks for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) Congressional luncheon.
The presidential parade begins following Trump’s review of the troops.
After the parade, Trump travels to the Oval Office for the signing ceremony, where he is expected to sign a flurry of executive orders.
The final three events of the day are the Commander-in-Chief, Liberty Inaugural, and Starlight Balls, where Trump will deliver remarks as the 47th president.
The theme of Trump’s 2025 inaugural address will be “unity and strength, and also the word ‘fairness,’” he told NBC News on Saturday.
For the swearing-in ceremony, Trump will use the bible his mother gave him in 1955 to celebrate his Sunday Church Primary School graduation at First Presbyterian Church, in Jamaica, New York, along with the Lincoln Bible.
Other musical performers scheduled to take the stage during Monday’s inauguration events include country singers Gavin DeGraw, Jason Aldean, and Parker McCollum and country music band Rascal Flatts.
Several foreign leaders have indicated they will attend the inauguration ceremony, including Argentinian President Javier Milei, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Paraguayan President Santiago Peña, and Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa.
While he will instead send deputy leader Han Zheng as a representative, Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping was also extended an invitation.
Trump’s swearing-in ceremony will be closed to the public but will be viewable online.
NTD, The Epoch Times’ sister media, will stream the ceremony live, and several television networks, including C-SPAN, will broadcast the proceedings.
—Jacob Burg
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After blisteringly cold temperatures were forecast for Inauguration Day, President-elect Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony will take place inside the Capitol Rotunda, the site of President Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration 40 years ago. Despite the venue change, six Trump supporters, ages 22 to 78, told The Epoch Times why they felt the need to expend time, money, and effort to go to the celebration.
—Jacob Burg
