Donald Trump, America’s 45th president, will take oath as America’s 47th president on Monday late morning eastern time (Monday night IST) in Washington DC, sealing one of the most remarkable political comebacks in recent history and inaugurating a term that promises to remake the American state and overturn the international system.
Trump’s inauguration, like much of his politics, will depart from the norm. Freezing temperatures in the US capital have forced the transition committee to shift the venue of the oath to inside the US Capitol, and his supporters will no longer congregate at the National Mall, but in the Capitol Arena, a DC stadium.
“The weather forecast for Washington, D.C., with the windchill factor, could take temperatures into severe record lows. There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country. I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way…Therefore, I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda,” Trump had announced on Thursday.
Trump is scheduled to address supporters at the Arena on Sunday afternoon eastern. On Sunday night, the tradition usually is that the President-elect stays at Blair House, the President’s guest house next to the White House. Trump, along with the incoming First Lady Melania Trump, will then pray at St John’s Church on Monday morning, located right across the White House, before President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden host them for tea in the White House. All four will then depart for the US Capitol, for a much smaller ceremony than planned.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath to Trump, while SC Justice Brett Kavanaugh will do the same for the Vice President elect JD Vance. Trump will then deliver his inaugural address, the theme of which he told NBC News this weekend will be “unity and strength”.
Trump has signalled his intent to announce a slew of executive orders minutes after taking office on Monday. These are expected to range from a more permissive policy on energy drilling, orders to close the southern border and embark on deportation of illegal immigrants, the creation of an external revenue service to collect higher tariffs, a more liberal regime on crypto currencies, a potential 90-day extension to TikTok which has gone dark in the US after the Supreme Court upheld a law mandating a change in its ownership, US withdrawal from Paris climate agreement, among other steps.
Trump and Vance will attend an inaugural lunch at the Capitol itself, before moving to the Capitol One Arena which will host the presidential parade. He will then head to Oval Office. Trump is scheduled to attend three inaugural balls, for supporters, donors and military service members on Monday night.
The first president to win non-successive terms in over a century, Trump rejected the results of the 2020 election, faced accusations of inciting a mob to attack the US Capitol to block the certification of the results, lost the support of his party leadership, confronted four criminal indictments, got convicted as a felon, and survived two assassination attempts.
And yet, Trump swept the Republican primaries, exposed Biden’s age-related deficits in the first presidential debate, confronted Kamala Harris with 100 days to go for the elections, constructed a campaign that focused on inflation, immigration and America’s foreign entanglements and weakness abroad, created a wider multi-racial coalition, and won over the support of major tech and Wall Street donors. The result – he won all the seven swing states, the popular vote, and the Republicans got a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Monday marks the beginning of this new presidential chapter in American history, with Trump set to preside over the country in the 250th year anniversary of the American Revolution and Declaration of Independence next year.