Donald Trump’s Presidential Inauguration Set for January 2025

Republican Donald Trump is poised to become the next US president, having defeated Democrat Kamala Harris in the November election. Trump previously held the US presidency from 2017 to 2021. He is currently the president-elect, with his running mate, JD Vance, designated as the vice-president-elect. Trump is scheduled to assume office at the presidential inauguration on Monday, 20 January 2025, at which point he will legally take on the role of president. To symbolize the peaceful transfer of power, Trump met with the outgoing president, Joe Biden, at the White House. He has engaged in discussions with various international leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Additionally, he has convened with several influential business leaders at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, among them Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew, and Apple’s Tim Cook. Ahead of the inauguration, the president-elect and his team have received classified national security briefings covering current threats and ongoing military operations. Trump has also nominated more than two dozen individuals to fill key positions, some of whom are controversial. These include Fox News presenter and military veteran Pete Hesgeth as defence secretary. Since his nomination, Hesgeth has faced scrutiny regarding his qualifications, and a past sexual assault allegation has emerged. He denies any wrongdoing. Robert F Kennedy Jr, known for repeatedly stating widely debunked claims about vaccine harm, is Trump’s selection for health secretary. For the role of attorney general, Trump nominated his long-time ally Pam Bondi. His initial choice, former Congressman Matt Gaetz, withdrew after facing intense scrutiny over allegations—which he denies—related to drugs, bribes, and sex. All of Trump’s cabinet nominations require approval by the US Senate. Billionaire businessman Elon Musk is slated to lead the newly-announced Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, with a mandate to cut spending and eliminate waste. Doge will function as an advisory body rather than an official government department, and both Musk and Ramaswamy have stated their intention to “serve as outside volunteers.” Trump has put forward two relatives for roles: Massad Boulos, his daughter Tiffany’s father-in-law, as an adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs; and Charles Kushner, his other daughter Ivanka’s father-in-law, to serve as ambassador to France. He has also nominated businessman Warren Stephens to be ambassador to the UK. Separately, he appointed British TV executive Mark Burnett, who produced him on The Apprentice, as his special envoy to the UK. Once all valid votes have been tallied, the electoral college process formally determines the election result. Each state allocates a varying number of electoral college votes. Securing a majority of these votes, rather than solely the popular vote, ultimately wins the presidency. Generally, electoral college votes are awarded to the candidate who won the popular vote in each state. This was the case when state electors met across the country on 17 December, with the final count showing Trump won 312 votes against Harris’ 226, well above the 270 threshold. The new US Congress is scheduled to convene on 6 January to ratify the electoral college votes and confirm the next president. Kamala Harris, in her capacity as the outgoing vice-president, will preside over this process. This congressional meeting is the same type of event that Trump supporters attempted to halt in 2021, when they marched on the US Capitol after Trump refused to concede to Biden. Trump will be sworn in as president during the inauguration ceremony at the Capitol on 20 January. He will take the oath of office and then deliver his first speech as president, known as the inaugural address. Trump did not attend Biden’s inauguration in 2021. However, the White House has confirmed that Biden will be present at Trump’s swearing-in ceremony. The 22nd Amendment of the US Constitution prohibits anyone from holding presidential office three times. This applies even if, as is the case with Trump, the two terms were not consecutive. Theoretically, the amendment would not prevent a former president from becoming vice-president in a future administration, but constitutional experts consider this scenario extremely unlikely.