Inauguration Day, Donald Trump-style: Who is attending and what’s in store?

It will be the first time that a Presidential inauguration has been moved indoors since 1985. President Ronald Reagan also had to move the event indoors due to cold weather conditions.

Donald Trump inauguration: The guest list

• Donald Trump‘s guest list for the inauguration has people ranging from prominent world leaders to tech moguls.
• India will be represented by external affairs minister S Jaishankar. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that Jaishankar will also have meetings with representatives of the incoming Trump administration during his visit to the US.
• The other two Quad nations Japan and Australia will also be represented by their respective foreign ministers Takeshi Iwaya and Penny Wong, respectively. Argentina’s President, Javier Milei and Hungry’s Victor Orban, both strong Trump supporters, are also likely to attend.
• Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani is also likely to attend the events surrounding the inauguration with his wife Nita Ambani, according to several media reports.
• Chinese President Xi Jinping is not attending, despite an invitation, but he would send Vice President Han Zheng to attend the inauguration, vowing to “enhance dialogue” with the new administration. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, however, is likely to be present at the event.
• While the UK and Germany are sending their respective ambassadors to the US to represent their countries, hard right leaders from both the countries, Reform UK’s Nigel Farage, and Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) Tino Chrupallaas are coming. French far-right politician Eric Zemmour is also going to be there while the country’s President Emmanuel Macron is not attending.
• European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen will not attend. Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced that he had received an invitation to Trump’s inauguration. But Brazil’s Supreme Court denied a request by Bolsonaro to temporarily restore his passport so that he could attend the inauguration. His wife Michelle Bolsonaro will attend the inauguration in his place.
• All the living former Presidents of the US, Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama will be attending the event. Outgoing President Joe Biden will also be there. Trump’s had appear at Biden’s swearing-in four years ago
• Both the candidates who lost to Trump, Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, and Vice President Kamala Harris, will be present.
• Several prominent leaders from the tech sector are planning to attend Trump’s inauguration, the latest sign that the industry is trying to bolster its relationship with the President-elect ahead of his return to the White House. These include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and many others.
• Elon Musk, who will also be heading the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), will be present.
• OpenAI announced that its CEO Sam Altman plans to go to the swearing-in ceremony along with company’s President Greg Brockman and Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil.
• Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will be at some of the surrounding festivities, according to the company. Uber also plans to host an inauguration party in Washington with Elon Musk’s X social media firm and The Free Press, a media company.
• TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to attend the inauguration and be granted a prime seating location on the dais as the president-elect’s national security adviser signals that the incoming administration may take steps to ‘keep TikTok from going dark’, despite the US Supreme Court upholding the potential ban.
• Apple CEO Tim Cook is also planning to attend the event, and so is Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.

What else is happening?

The inauguration day will start with a Church service at St. John’s Episcopal Church, located across Lafayette Park from the White House, a tradition for presidents-elect. It will be followed by the White House tea, and then the actual swearing-in at the Capitol. Donald Trump will then give his inaugural address, before bidding farewell to Biden.

After that, the newly-installed US President will head to the president’s Signing Room ceremony at the President’s Room just off the Senate Chamber. This will be followed by the inaugural luncheon, a pass in review and a Presidential parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to Washington’s Capitol One Arena. The event is expected to feature remarks from Trump and marching bands

The schedule for Monday also includes the Oval Office ceremony and the three traditional Inaugural balls.