Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on Monday, January 20. It’s the second time Trump will be sworn in as President.
Trump, who previously served as the 45th President from 2017 to 2021, is the second President in American history to serve two nonconsecutive terms. And, after he takes the oath of office, Trump will become the first person with a felony conviction to assume the presidency.
On Friday, organizers announced that the Inauguration would be moved indoors to the United States Capitol Rotunda because of forecasts of extreme cold in Washington, D.C. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies issued over 220,000 tickets for the swearing-in ceremony, which ordinarily would take place outside the U.S. Capitol building.
Trump’s second swearing-in comes after the previous transition of power in 2020 was marked by tension, after Trump refused to concede and a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump himself broke a long-time tradition by skipping President Joe Biden’s Inauguration that year. The transition of power this time around has been more peaceful, and both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to attend Trump’s Inauguration on Monday.
Inauguration Day will include various ceremonies, events, and performances, beyond just the swearing-in ceremony.
Read below for TIME’s coverage, keeping you updated throughout the day.
When did the inauguration change from March to January 20?
Inauguration Day had initially been set for March 4, 1789, although George Washington wasn’t sworn into office until April 30 of that year because of delays related to a particularly bad winter.
Inauguration Day used to be in March because it took officials time to count votes and travel took longer due to poor road infrastructure. But the four month gap between Election Day and Inauguration Day could raise complications between incoming and outgoing Administrations, and as technology and infrastructure improved, Inauguration Day was moved up earlier.
In 1933, the 20th Amendment was ratified, moving Inauguration Day up to Jan. 20. The first President to be sworn into office in January was Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937. It was the second of his four inaugurations. —Chantelle Lee
Read more: Why Inauguration Day Is on January 20
Who performed at Trump’s 2017 Inauguration?
Organizers behind Trump’s first inauguration in 2017 struggled to book performers for the ceremony, with many artists turning down requests to take the stage that day. Ultimately, performers including Jackie Evancho, a then-16 classical singer who finished second in America’s Got Talent in 2010, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and the Rockettes entertained crowds at Trump’s first inauguration. —Chantelle Lee
Who is performing at the 2025 Inauguration Day?
Here are all the music artists who were scheduled to perform at this year’s Inauguration Day events, according to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, before it was moved indoors due to freezing weather. The locations of some of these performances may have since changed:
The swearing-in ceremony
- Grammy Award-winning country singer Carrie Underwood, who will perform “America the Beautiful.”
- American Tenor Christopher Macchio, who will sing the national anthem.
- Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Lee Greenwood, who also performed at a Trump event the day before his 2017 inauguration.
The Make America Great Again victory rally
- Multiplatinum singer-songwriter Kid Rock
- Disco band The Village People
- Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Billy Ray Cyrus
- Greenwood will perform again
- Liberty University’s Praise Choir
The Liberty Ball
- Multiplatinum singer-songwriter Jason Aldean
- The Village People will perform again
- A surprise musical guest will also perform
The Commander-in-Chief Ball
- Country band Rascal Flatts
- Singer-songwriter Parker McCollum
The Starlight Ball
- Singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw—Chantelle Lee
Which inauguration had the biggest crowd in history?
Since Trump’s Inauguration has moved indoors to the U.S. Capitol rotunda, only a few hundred people are expected to be in attendance. The National Park Service doesn’t release official estimates of crowd sizes for events on the National Mall, where the ceremony is usually held. But, according to PolitiFact, former President Barack Obama’s first Inauguration in 2009 is considered a record crowd size on the National Mall. The Washington Post reported at the time that an estimated 1.8 million were in attendance.
After Trump’s first Inauguration in 2017, his then-press secretary, Sean Spicer, claimed that it featured the largest audience, both in person and around the world, of any Inauguration, sparking widespread controversy. An expert hired by The New York Times estimated that the number of people in attendance on the National Mall that day was about a third of the number of people at Obama’s first Inauguration in 2009—about 600,000. —Chantelle Lee
What time is Trump sworn in?
Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance are scheduled to be sworn in at noon. As per custom, the Supreme Court Chief Justice, John Roberts, will administer the oath of office to Trump. —Nik Popli
Who is expected to attend?
Trump’s second inauguration will be attended by some of America’s most influential billionaires and politicians, as well as some foreign leaders and celebrities that have embraced the incoming president. Since the event was moved indoors to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, it’s unclear if any high-profile guests may end up watching from an overflow location. Here are a few of the notable guests who were previously announced:
Politicians
- President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to revive the tradition of defeated presidential candidates sharing the inauguration stage with the people who defeated them. Trump notably chose to skip Biden’s inauguration in Jan. 2021, leaving for Florida after he mounted a failed effort to overturn his election loss.
- Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton are also expected to attend the exercise, though all three are forgoing the traditional post-inauguration luncheon. Of their spouses, only former First Ladies Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush will be in attendance; Michelle Obama is not attending.
- Several Republican members of Congress will also attend, but a sizable number of congressional Democrats are planning to skip Trump’s swearing in—including former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Tech executives
- The world’s three richest people—Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg—will attend Trump’s inauguration and have a prominent spot at the ceremony. The tech moguls are expected to be seated together on the dais alongside former presidents, Trump family, and Cabinet nominees.
- Shou Chew, the CEO of TikTok, also plans to attend Trump’s inauguration and was reportedly invited to sit on the same dais as the other tech executives. Trump has embraced TikTok as it faces a ban in the U.S. on Jan. 19, even though in his first term he tried to block the app in the U.S. and force its sale to an American company.
- Other big-tech executives who will reportedly be in attendance are Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI; Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google; Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple; and Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of Uber.
Foreign leaders
- While foreign diplomats such as ambassadors have typically attended U.S. presidential inaugurations, no foreign head of state has previously made an official visit for the occasion, according to the Associated Press. But that is set to change for Trump.
- Trump’s inauguration guest list includes right-wing populists like Argentina President Javier Milei, whose economic reforms have drawn praise from the U.S. President-elect, and Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a vocal Trump ally who is expected to attend if her schedule permits, according to Politico.
- Among the other ideological comrades around the globe who are planning to attend Trump’s inauguration are Belgium’s Vlaams Belang party chairman Tom Van Grieken, Éric Zemmour of France’s nationalist Reconquête party, Tino Chrupalla of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Spain’s Vox party president Santiago Abascal, and Nigel Farage, leader of the populist Reform UK party.
Internet personalities and celebrities
- According to TMZ, Jake and Logan Paul, Theo Von, Bryce Hall, and the Nelk Boys will be in attendance. Trump did interviews with Von and the Nelk Boys during his campaign, appearing on their male-focused podcasts in a deliberate attempt to make inroads with young men voters and pursue the so-called “bro” vote.
- Other celebrities set to attend, according to TMZ, include Caitlyn Jenner, Amber Rose, Dana White and Megyn Kelly. Carrie Underwood will be performing “America The Beautiful.” —Nik Popli
Will J.D. Vance be there?
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance will, in fact, be at the inauguration despite joking that he would skip it to attend the Ohio State-Notre Dame college football national championship game, which is taking place on the same day. Vance is an Ohio State University alumnus.
Around noon, Vance will recite the oath of office just before Trump is sworn in as President, with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh administering Vance’s oath. Vance’s wife Usha clerked for Kavanaugh when he served on the U.S. Court of Appeals’ D.C. Circuit.
While Trump and Vance will both be sworn in on the same platform, that was not always customary. Before 1937, most Vice Presidents took the oath of office in the Senate chamber prior to the President’s swearing-in ceremony. —Nik Popli
