President-elect Donald Trump — set to become the 47th president of the United States at noon on Jan. 20, 2025.
As preparations for Monday's inauguration are finalized, Americans – and the rest of the world – wait in anticipation of what a second Trump presidency will bring.
At noon on January 20, the 47th President of the United States of America – Donald Trump – will be sworn into office. This timing aligns with the U.S. Constitution, which specifies that the presidential term begins at noon Eastern Standard Time on January 20 following an election year.
Due to the below freezing temperatures forecast in Washington D.C., there will be no ceremony on the steps of the Capitol. Instead, the incoming president will take the oath inside the Rotunda, meaning that the leader obsessed with crowd sizes will have a small in-person audience to mark the beginning of his second term. This is the first time in 40 years that a president is not sworn in at the traditional location. Ronald Regan's second term in 1985 also began with an indoor swearing-in. There has also been speculation that the indoor ceremony is due to security concerns.
The incoming president will have to deal with a series of important domestic and foreign-policy matters immediately upon assuming office. As both Mr. Trump and TikTok CEO Shou Chew have indicated, a newly-installed President Trump is expected to announce a 90-day extension on the ban of the social media app, allowing Americans to continue using the platform while a new ownership structure is negotiated. Mr. Trump has said he would like the United States to own a 50 percent stake in the company.
Meanwhile, on the international front, several Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners have been released early on Monday as the terms of a recently-negotiated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began to take effect. With Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu emphasizing that the cessation of hostilities is only temporary, President Trump must decide on a path forward. The president-elect had long called for a cease fire before his inauguration, or there would be "hell to pay" for all involved. Experts, however, do not expect a change in the American embrace of Israel; however the American support of Ukraine may be a different story.
Republicans in Congress have been opposed to the military aid currently being given to the eastern European country as it fends off Russian aggression. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has begun speaking of the incoming U.S. leader using increasingly complimentary language, using a tactic favored by foreign powers during Mr. Trump's first term in office – flattery. Whether that will be successful in blunting Republican opposition to America's support of Ukraine remains to be seen.
Domestically, Mr. Trump's stated policy of beginning a mass deportation campaign on Day 1 in office, eliminating large government agencies including the Department of Education, and implementing sweeping trade tariffs are all being anticipated with either excitement or dread, depending on which side of the political spectrum the observer finds themselves.
