Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump kicked off the inauguration of the 47th American president on Monday, January 20, by attending a religious service at Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Washington. For the first time in four decades, the ceremony will be held inside the Capitol, due to weather conditions. A few hours before the event, the president-elect held a final meeting in Washington on Sunday evening. “We will stop the invasion of our borders”he said, even though he had made immigration one of his main campaign themes. Follow our live stream.
A ceremony adapted to the weather. It is under the rotunda of the Capitol, and not on its steps, that Donald Trump will take the oath of office. Faced with the expected freezing temperatures, the inauguration ceremony will be broadcast in the Capital One Arena, a venue in the center of Washington with a capacity of around 20,000 seats. It will also host the parade traditionally organized on the immense esplanade of the Mall, for which 7,500 participants were initially announced. Donald Trump promised to join the public there after his swearing in. This historic day will end in the evening with a usual series of balls. Three speeches by the new Republican president are planned.
A “stronger” security system than usual. Some 25,000 police and military personnel mobilized, 48 km of barriers erected, snipers on the roofs and drones in the sky: the Secret Service, responsible for the protection of high-ranking personalities, describes “a slightly more solid security plan” than for previous investitures, justified by “a more threatening environment”. During his campaign, Donald Trump was targeted by several assassination attempts, including one in the middle of a meeting, in which he was injured in the ear.
Among the guests, tech bosses and figures from the far right. The guest audience will feature tech multi-billionaires. In addition to the inevitable Elon Musk, the bosses of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, and of Apple, Tim Cook, are expected. In the political ranks, the Italian far-right Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, will be present, as will the French Marion Maréchal and Eric Zemmour, the British Nigel Farage and one of the leaders of the German AfD party, Tino Chrupalla.
