Black-clad demonstrators brought violence to Donald Trump’s first presidential inauguration in 2017, and Bill Clinton got caught out by Hillary as he ogled Melania Trump and mouthed her name.
But what is expected this time at the inauguration of President Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance? There will be a long day of celebrations, including live concerts and a celebratory parade through Washington, DC.
Also, on Monday, January 20, there will be some breaking with traditions as the Trump team is making this one a more international affair than previous years with around a dozen world leaders invited and many others told through their embassies not to bother coming.
Who is attending Donald Trump’s inauguration?
This year, we can expect to see Argentina’s President Javier Milei, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, S. Jaishankar, India’s Foreign Minister, who will be taking the place of Prime Minister Modi; Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa; Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro; and Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Such an international presence is not normal at a US presidential inauguration, but there will be some notable faces who have been snubbed, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen, and Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (although Santiago Abascal of Vox is on the guest list), nor French President Emmanuel Macron.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg will be in attendance after making a dramatic U-turn on his censorship policies that he likes to refer to as ‘fact-checking.’ It is known that Zuckerberg is keen to get on the good side of Trump and so be invited to take a chair of the technology committee alongside other notable tech magnates, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.
A cold weather snap has been blamed for this inauguration’s move inside into the warmth of the Capitol Rotunda, although a more likely reason is probably to do with the recent assassination attempts on Trump.
When does Donald Trump’s inauguration start?
The inauguration ceremony is expected to begin at around 11.30am local time, or GMT -5, with the procession to the Capitol. Then comes the vice-presidential and the presidential swearing-in ceremony, followed by Trump’s inaugural address. Once worn in, President Trump, it will be time for the honorary departure of the outgoing president and vice president, the signing-in ceremony, proclamations and executive orders, and the President’s parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.
