On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump took office for his second, non-consecutive, term. Through criminal charges, assassination attempts, and persistence to win back the White House, President Trump continued on his path towards the celebration of his election at the inauguration, after Americans voted to make him the 47th President of the United States, hoping to “Make America Great Again”.
The path back to the Oval Office started after President Trump’s loss to former President Biden back in 2020. After this loss, however, many speculated that Trump would make a run in 2024. The President won the nomination for the GOP, and selected Vice President J.D. Vance as his running mate. A Trump-Biden presidential race seemed very likely until July, when Biden ended his campaign for re-election, setting up former Vice President Kamala Harris to run on the Democratic ticket, and resulting in a Trump-Harris election.
According to CBS election correspondent and BHS alumni Jake Rosen, who followed President Trump during his campaign, “[The Trump campaign] expected [the race] to get closer, but they said to reporters that they felt good about their chances either way.” With this in mind, Trump’s advisors and political followers did not expect the majority of votes. Trump defeated Harris gaining 312 electoral votes and winning the popular vote as well.
President Trump swore the oath of office at the Constitutionally appointed time of noon, immediately following Vice President J.D. Vance. The ceremony was staged inside the Capitol Rotunda for the first time since 1985, due to the frigate weather in the nation’s capital.
President Trump then gave his first address to the nation as America’s new President, which lasted more than 30 minutes. During his speech, Trump said that America was entering its “golden age”. The President also said that he wants to be remembered as a “peacemaker and unifier.” After his address, Trump’s and Vance’s families walked now-former President Biden and his family out of the Capital to Marine One, which took them to Joint Base Andrews where they took off for California.
Biden leaves politics after half a century of serving the country as a senator from Delaware for 36 years, as the Vice President under former President Barack Obama for eight years. He then spent four years out of public light before becoming the 46th President.
Trump signed five executive and official orders that appointed cabinet, sub-cabinet, acting designations, and chairman appointments. Trump also signed an order that said all flags should be flown at full staff for all future inaugurations. The President also said that he would sign 200 executive orders impacting various areas of debate from immigration, TikTok, energy, diversity, and a temporary federal hiring freeze. Trump has floated renaming the Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali, the Gulf of America, and Mount McKinley respectively as executive orders. Trump also signed executive orders that revoked 78 of Biden-era policies at Capital One Arena, which was held as fill-in for the famous parade. At the White House, the President pardoned about 1,500 January 6th rioters, as previously promised.
Dr. Hogge, BHS’s AP US History teacher, said “The inauguration has become a much larger event since Washington’s inauguration in 1789, when it was held on a balcony.” To date, the inauguration of presidents, including Trump, is filled with live music, celebrities, former presidents, politicians, and other large events. Some notable attendees include former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, as well as their wives. Other famous guests are tech titans such as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg, Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and close Trump-ally, Elon Musk. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was also in attendance with his video-sharing app in limbo of being banned. Trump broke tradition by inviting leaders from other countries, such as China’s Xi Jinping, who could not attend, while Argentine President, Javier Mileli as well as Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, were in attendance.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama skipped the inauguration. Alongside First Lady Obama, former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi also did not attend the event; it would have been her 12th time attending. The three former Presidents did not attend the famous luncheon that dates back to 1897.
Carrie Underwood performed “America The Beautiful,” and had technical difficulties which led the crowd to sing along with her. Alongside, Underwood performing at the inauguration events are Kid Rock, and the Village People, who performed their hit song, “YMCA”. Rascal Flatts, Jason Aldean, and Lee Greenwood also performed
While the cold temperatures were the main reasons that the inauguration was moved inside, security for the new President was the prime concern for the Secret Service.
Rosen said after Trump’s assassination attempts, “The U.S. Secret Service started to use drones to fly over the crowds. There were increased security checkpoints as well where they would check our cars when we pulled into rally sites. Trump was not allowed to go shake the hands of supporters as often, and he spoke behind bulletproof glass.”
These and other measures were meant to ensure the safety of President Trump and others. The measures that the Secret Service took were in effect during the inauguration and most likely carried on throughout the 47th President’s term. When asked what kind of security level would be at the inauguration, the Newark Secret Service field office reported that they would be unable to discuss this at this time. During his first speech, Trump said that he felt that his life was spared during the Butler assassination attempts for a reason.
While millions of voters were disappointed by the results of the close election, there is hope that the inauguration, one of the country’s oldest traditions, will spur an era of unity in America.
