Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US President in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, on January 20, 2025. Republican Donald Trump has assumed office of the U.S. presidency again on Monday, after taking the oath of office inside the U.S. Capitol.
He called for a “revolution of common sense” during his inaugural address, and he said he would start signing a raft of executive orders to reshape the American political landscape to his liking. “The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump said.
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance takes oath as his wife Usha Vance reacts on the day of the Presidential Inauguration of Donald Trump at the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025.
On a frigid day in Washington, Trump, accompanied by his wife Melania, Vice President-elect JD Vance and their families, began his second inaugural day eight years after his first by attending a traditional service for incoming presidents at St. John’s Episcopal Church across a park from the White House.
Afterward, the Trumps headed to the White House for a preinaugural tea with outgoing President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, before heading to the U.S. Capitol for Trump’s swearing-in ceremony in the building’s rotunda, where about 600 people will watch as the country’s 45th president also becomes its 47th.
US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden pose alongside President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump as they arrive at the White House on Jan. 20, 2025, before departing for the US Capitol where Trump will be sworn in as the 47th US President.
It will be only the second time an American president has served a second non-consecutive term after Grover Cleveland in the 1890s. Trump, at 78, is the oldest person ever inaugurated as president, eclipsing Biden who was five months younger when he took the oath four years ago. Vance, 40, will be sworn in as the 50th vice president and the third youngest in history.
Mini slideshow – Donald Trump’s second inauguration
Trump becomes the first felon to serve as U.S. president, after his conviction last year on 34 criminal charges linked to falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to porn film star Stormy Daniels, although a judge declined to penalize him in any way.
Charges that Trump, a Republican, tried to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden were dropped when he defeated his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, in the 2024 election because of a long-standing Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.
U.S. presidential inaugurations, a symbol of the Democratic country’s norms of a peaceful transition of presidential power, are traditionally held on the steps of the Capitol overlooking the vast sweep of the National Mall, with crowds of 250,000 or more watching the quadrennial event.
But with an Arctic blast of freezing temperatures hitting Washington — days ago Trump moved the ceremony into the Capitol Rotunda — the same spot where 2,000 of his supporters rioted in 2021 to try to keep Congress from certifying that Biden had defeated him in the 2020 election.
Several U.S. billionaires — Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla and X owner Elon Musk —were among those watching the inauguration, as will be TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew. SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk arrives to the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
