On Jan. 20, 2025, Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president in the Capitol rotunda, and JD Vance became the 50th vice president. Trump became the oldest president to ever take office, and Vance the third-youngest vice president.

The historic ceremony was only the second regular inauguration since 1833 to not take place outside, as both Trump and Ronald Reagan’s second swearing-ins were moved inside the Capitol due to cold weather. 

In the morning, President Trump, Vice President Vance, and their families attended religious services at St. John’s Episcopal Church, which has been regularly attended by presidents since the early 19th century. He then met with outgoing President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for tea before departing for the Capitol. 

All attendees of the inauguration filled the Capitol rotunda, including Biden, outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris, former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, and former Vice Presidents Mike Pence and Dan Quayle.

 Other former leaders who attended included former Speakers of the House Kevin McCarthy, John Boehner, and Newt Gingrich. Celebrity attendees included Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Carrie Underwood, Antonio Brown, Mike Tyson, and others.

The ceremony officially began when President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrived and entered the rotunda. Following statements by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Deb Fischer, members of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, and musical performances, JD Vance was the first to take his oath. It was administered by Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Shortly after, Donald Trump took his oath on both the Lincoln Bible and his family’s Bible. It was administered by Chief Justice John Roberts.

Although they took their oaths a few minutes later, Trump and Vance formally took office at exactly noon, when the term of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris officially ended. 

In his inaugural address, Trump began by seeking to unify the country behind his agenda for economic renewal.

“Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” Trump said. “For this purpose, we are establishing the External Revenue Service to collect all tariffs, duties, and revenues. That will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury.”

He then addressed his plan to renew domestic energy production and reduce foreign dependency.

“The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices, and that is why today I will declare a national energy emergency,” Trump said. “We will drill, baby, drill!”

Trump also proposed a renewal of the American policy of Manifest Destiny and territorial expansion through foreign intervention. He also declared his intention to begin a new era of American space exploration.

“The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations, and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons,” Trump said. “And we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars.”

President Trump declared his fervent opposition to policies of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and he proposed a new federal hiring protocol for his presidency.

“This week, I will end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life,” Trump said. “We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based.”

Trump continued by discussing his foreign policy priorities, praising the recent cease-fire agreement in the Middle East and pledging to promote peace worldwide.

“Like in 2017, we will again build the strongest military the world has ever seen. We will measure our success, not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars we end, ” Trump said. “And perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.”

Finally, Trump addressed one of the defining issues of his previous campaigns: immigration. 

“[Our government currently] fails to protect our magnificent law-abiding American citizens, but provide sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions, that have illegally entered our country from all over the world,’ Trump said. “I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”

Following the conclusion of the ceremony, former President Biden and the former first lady departed the west front of the Capitol and boarded the Marine One helicopter, which took them to Joint Base Andrews, and then to vacation in California via a presidential aircraft. Former Vice President Harris and the former second gentleman also departed. 

Simultaneously, President Trump signed a document formally submitting his Cabinet nominees to the Senate. Confirmation votes on each choice will be held in the coming days and weeks. 

As the whole Biden administration had already resigned, Trump formed an acting Cabinet filled with department deputies and others. They will serve in their roles until the confirmation of their successors; Secretary of State-designate Marco Rubio has already been confirmed by the Senate and will take office imminently. 

Trump and Vance then attended an inaugural luncheon with congressional leaders, foreign dignitaries, and other guests. Before departing the Capitol, Trump and Vance reviewed a small parade of military troops on the steps of the Capitol before departing for their traditional inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena. 

Finally, Trump moved into the White House and began the work of his administration. He signed over a large sum of executive orders covering a range of issues from border security, the renaming of landmarks, the reduction of inflation and prices, the pardoning of Jan. 6, 2021 convicts, and the proposed creation of the Department of Government Efficiency.

Trump will conclude his day by attending three inaugural balls around Washington. As this is Trump’s second term in office, he is ineligible to seek another term and will leave office exactly four years from now. But in the 1,461 days before his departure, President Trump will be among the most powerful people in the world.

“The golden age of America begins now,” Trump said. “My top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free.”