How to watch Inauguration Day 2025

Washington
CNN
—

Donald Trump will be sworn in as president on Monday, returning to power to implement his sweeping vision for America after leaving office in disgrace four years ago.

Trump will become the nation’s 47th president at noon on Monday, ending a remarkable four-year arc after he left Washington as a pariah at the end of his first term. JD Vance will be its 50th vice president, a steep rise for a man elected to the Senate in 2022.

Both Trump and Vance have vowed to move to enact a wide-ranging agenda that is expected to include immediate executive action on immigration.

The day is already shaping up to be out of the ordinary. Expected cold temperatures in Washington, DC, prompted Trump to announce on Friday that he would take the oath of office inside the US Capitol – the first time the ceremony has taken place indoors since the second inauguration of Ronald Reagan in 1985.

Here’s what you need to know about Inauguration Day:

Temperatures for this year’s ceremony are expected to be in the low 20s — likely the coldest since Reagan’s second inauguration.

Trump described Monday’s conditions as “dangerous” and added that he did not “want to see people hurt or hurt in any way.”

“Therefore, I have ordered the inaugural address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be held in the United States Capitol Rotunda, which was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985, also because of very cold weather,” he said on Truth Social on Friday.

Capitol One Arena — not far from the National Mall, where crowds would normally gather to watch the ceremony — will be opened to watch the inauguration, and Trump said he would stop by the arena after his swearing-in.

The relatively small area inside the US Capitol will deprive Trump of the overflow crowd he would have wanted on the Mall. It is also likely to cause jockeying among dignitaries and lawmakers to be able to witness Trump’s swearing-in in person.

Concerns about Inauguration Day weather come with historical context. President William Henry Harrison is widely believed to have caught a cold during his inauguration ceremony in 1841, during which he gave a two-hour speech wearing no coat or hat. He later contracted pneumonia and died a month after his deployment.

Trump has said he will take steps to immediately enact parts of his big agenda, with executive actions on immigration enforcement expected to be released within the first hours of his second term.

CNN previously reported that Trump’s plans include ordering U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in major cities, sending more Pentagon resources to the U.S. southern border, placing additional restrictions on who is eligible to enter the U.S., and rolling Biden era policies back.

Trump will quickly implement executive actions on immigration, energy policy and federal government operations to check off dozens of campaign policy priorities, according to two sources briefed on a Sunday call held by Trump aide Stephen Miller, who previewed the actions with senior congressional Republicans.

One of the first steps Trump said he will take as president is to sign an order delaying the law that banned TikTok and briefly rendered the app unusable for Americans over the weekend.

The divest-or-ban law, which received bipartisan support and was signed by President Joe Biden in April, required TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app by Jan. 19 or face being blocked for its 170 million US users.

Trump said Sunday he would issue an order “to extend the period before the law’s ban goes into effect so we can reach an agreement to protect our national security.” He also proposed a 50-50 partnership between ByteDance and an American owner.

Trump proposed a TikTok ban during his first term, but has since embraced the app because of its influence among young people. “We won on TikTok, and the Republicans have never won the young vote, the youth vote,” Trump said during an inaugural rally in Washington on Sunday. “So I like TikTok,” he added.

Trump has also said he plans to quickly pardon people convicted of their roles in the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol. CNN previously reported that the president-elect’s team has compiled a list of Jan. 6-related pardons that Trump plans to issue on his first day.

The extent of Trump’s planned pardons is unclear. About 1,270 people have been convicted of crimes related to the attack.

Throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump vowed to seek retribution against his opponents and political enemies. Those opposed to Trump will be watching the opening hours of his second administration closely to see how quickly he carries out these threats.

He said of his political opponents last summer: “When this election is over … I would have every right to go after them.” He said that “sometimes revenge can be justified.”

Opponents of Trump, including the prosecutors who have investigated him, the lawmakers who have opposed him, the political figures who have opposed him and the news media who have covered him, will be watching closely to see how Trump handles his first day in office to decide. whether these threats weigh heavily.

Trump’s first inaugural address of 2017 is remembered for its dark imagery of “American carnage”. But Trump has also shown he can be conciliatory if contradictory.

A brief call between Biden and Trump after the former president’s victory was described as “very friendly,” with Biden aides expressing surprise at Trump’s approach to respect and flattery. Trump has been seen in seemingly friendly conversation with first lady Jill Biden and former President Barack Obama in the months since his victory and spoke highly of his meeting with Biden in the Oval Office after his election victory.

But at the same time, Trump hasn’t shied away from his usual bellicose language toward the president, referring to him as “Crooked Joe Biden” on Jan. 14.

Biden’s last official act as president will be to witness the inauguration of his successor, a man he has repeatedly warned represents a fundamental threat to this country’s future.

On Monday, the 82-year-old president will leave public service, bound to retire to his home state of Delaware after a trip to California following his departure from Washington.

During his farewell speech from the Oval Office last week, Biden said his landmark legislative achievements will have far-reaching repercussions that outlast his presidency.

“I’m so proud of how much we’ve accomplished together for the American people,” Biden said, “and I wish the incoming administration success because I want America to succeed.”

Still, the image of him handing that office to the very man he worked so hard to keep out could provide one final defining moment of his presidency.

CNN will provide live coverage of Trump’s second inauguration during Monday. Special live coverage begins at 7:00 a.m. ET and conducts the ceremony, oath of office and inaugural balls in the evening.

CNN’s special coverage will also stream live on CNN, CNN-connected TV and mobile apps, and on CNN.com. It will also stream live on Max for Max subscribers.

CNN reporters, anchors and contributors will also participate in a live chat during the swearing-in, and the CNN app will feature a customized live stream with on-the-ground reporting, live updates, in-depth analysis and images.