As Donald J. Trump was sworn into his second nonconsecutive presidential term on Jan. 20, 2025, some parts of the day were traditional — being welcomed to the White House by the outgoing administration, including tea with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, attending a church service — and others looked very different than usual, including an indoor “parade” at the Capital One Arena due to cold temperatures, and VIP onstage seating for the many tech billionaires who have thrown support behind Trump’s declared upcoming policies.
See some of the most interesting photos from the day ahead.
Family Time
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Baron Trump, Melania Trump and Donald Trump arrive for church services at St. John’s and sit ahead of his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Vice Presidents and Spouses
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Incoming second lady Usha Vance, outgoing first gentleman Doug Emhoff, outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris and incoming Vice President J.D. Vance also met at the White House.
First Ladies
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Outgoing first lady Jill Biden and incoming first lady Melania Trump leave the White House after sharing tea there.
Vice Presidents
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Outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris and incoming Vice President J.D. Vance leave the White House after meeting their with their spouses.
Tech CEOs
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Lauren Sánchez, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk waited in the Capitol Rotunda for the event to begin.
Selfie Moment
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OpenAI’s Sam Altamn takes a photo with Jake Paul and Logan Paul ahead of the event.
Mitch McConnell and Elaine Chao
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Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who issued a warning after Trump’s election, telling The Financial Times“We’re in a very, very dangerous world right now, reminiscent of before World War II. Even the slogan is the same. ‘America First.’ That was what they said in the ’30s,” enters with his wife Elaine Chao, who served as transportation secretary in Trump’s first term (and who he has recently antagonized on his social media platform, Truth Social).
-Mark Zuckerberg
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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stands between his wife Priscilla Chan and Jeff Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sánchez.
Friendship
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First lady Jill Biden, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former U.S. President George W. Bush watch the events.
Trump supporters booed the Obamas, Clintons and former Vice President Mike Pence as they walked to their seats.
Spouse Support
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Melania and Donald air-kiss before she holds two bibles for him to be sworn in on.
Heads of State
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Vance and Trump have a word before they are both sworn in.
Sworn In
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Trump celebrates with his family, including sons Barron and Eric and daughters Ivanka and Tiffany.
Elon Musk
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Elon Musk does a double first pump in celebration.
‘America the Beautiful’
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Singer Carrie Underwood performs “America the Beautiful” as some in the audience sing along.
