Coldest ever inauguration: All you need to know about Donald Trump’s swearing-in
Updated: Jan 20th, 2025
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The United States of America is set to get her 47th president with Donald Trump’s inauguration scheduled on January 20.
Vice president-elect J D Vance will also take the oath on the same day. The event will occur at the US Capitol in Washington D.C. beginning at 12 pm (10.30 pm IST) on January 20.
When is Inauguration Day?
For the first time this century, a US president will be inaugurated on a federal holiday as Inauguration Day, coinciding with Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Inauguration Day occurs every four years on January 20 (or January 21 if January 20 falls on a Sunday).
Full schedule of events
January 18, 2025
On Saturday, the inauguration will commence with a reception and fireworks display at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. Additional public events scheduled for the day include a reception at the Cabinet and a dinner with Vice President-elect JD Vance, as per reports.
January 19, 2025
Arlington National Cemetery Ceremony
Wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Make America Great Again Victory Rally
Candlelight Dinner and President Donald Trump's speech
January 20, 2025
On Monday, Trump will
St. John’s Church Service
Tea at the White House
Swearing-In Ceremony
Farewell to the former president and vice president
The President’s Signing Room Ceremony
JCCIC congressional luncheon
The president’s review of the troops
Presidential parade
Oval office signing ceremony at the White House
Commander-in-Chief ball
Coldest inauguration?
Amid the threat of an “Arctic blast” -- extreme cold and winds -- forecast for Monday in Washington, Trump’s inauguration ceremonies are shifted indoors after 40 years.
He announced on Truth Social on Friday afternoon that the swearing-in ceremony with his inaugural address, other speeches, and prayers will be held in the rotunda under the dome of the Capitol building which contains the Senate and House of Representatives chambers.
He said, “The various Dignitaries and Guests will be brought into the Capitol. This will be a very beautiful experience for all, and especially for the large TV audience!”
The swearing-in is scheduled to take place at noon local time (10:30 pm IST) and will be videocast on several networks and internet channels.
India in US for inauguration
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be representing India at the inauguration.
Among those attending will be China’s Vice President Han Zheng in place of President Xi Jinping, whom Trump had invited, and Argentina’s President Javier Milei.
While sidelining European leaders, Trump has invited his ideological peers like Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage, France’s Reconquete party president Eric Zemmour, Belgium’s nationalist Vlaams Belang party boss Tom Van Grieken, and former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Special invites
Twitter owner and Tesla founder Elon Musk, who has emerged as a top adviser to Trump, and tech CEOs Sundar Pichai of Google, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta/Facebook, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and Tim Cook of Apple are among the special invitees.
At the swearing-in, by tradition, Trump’s wife Melania will hold the bibles on which he will place his left hand and raise his right hand to take the oath of office administered by Chief Justice John Roberts.
In 2017, Trump stacked his personal bible and, in a nod to history, the one used by President Abraham Lincoln to take the oath of office in 1861.
JD Vance will take the oath of office administered by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The Rotunda has an area of only 706 sq metres where the VIPs, from abroad and from within the US, will have to be accommodated.
Trump said that he was doing it only because he did not “want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way” from the weather that “could take temperatures into severe record lows”.
The weather forecasts are for a high of -4 degrees Celsius and a low of -13 degrees with wind gusts of up to 50 kmph, which together could make the real feel temperature several degrees colder, between -11 and -16., after snow on Sunday.
Trump pointed to a precedent for the indoor swearing-in, the 1985 inauguration of President Ronald Reagan on a very chilly day.
The arctic chill sweeping parts of the US will be damper for Trump who loves grand spectacles and huge crowds.
How do you get tickets to the presidential inauguration?
The JCCIC makes a limited number of inauguration tickets available to the public through members of Congress. Tickets are free and allow you to watch in person on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol as the president and vice president are sworn in on January 20, 2025.
Tickets will be available from your members of Congress in the weeks leading up to the inauguration. Some members may begin accepting requests for tickets before then.
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