Trump’s Inauguration Day: Blog updates

Greeted by chants of “USA,” the 47th president walked through a crowd of supporters at the Capital One Arena as the inaugural parade began indoors.

Butler, Penn., first responders carried the fire jacket of Corey Comperatore, the firefighter who was shot and killed during the first assassination attempt on Trump.

Trump is expected to sign a swath of executive orders following the event.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump have departed the Capitol Rotunda and are en route to Capital One Arena.

The inaugural parade will take place in the arena due to cold weather and Trump plans to address supporters and sign additional executive orders.

The executive orders signed earlier in the day were primarily administrative in nature and largely routine to ensure the government keeps running.

Another element of the inauguration that was moved indoors was the First Honors Ceremony.

Service members assembled in formation before President Trump for the traditional event.

Following the first indoor inauguration in 40 years, Trump and his family exit the Capitol Rotunda.

The traditional inaugural parade will be held at the Captial One Arena, where supporters gathered to watch the inauguration via TVs, because of the cold weather.

If you needed any more evidence as to how important the tech leaders’ relationship with President Trump is, take a look at the seating chart at the Statuary Hall luncheon today: Trump’s incoming cabinet, his nominees for secretaries of state, defense and labor, along with his attorney general nominee, all sitting behind the row with X owner, Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, TikTok CEO Shou Chew and others. Our partners at The Hill who were in the room spoke with some lawmakers who said they noticed these seating arrangements.

NewsNation’s Niall Stanage and Mike Viqueira discussed Trump’s remark that success will be measured not only in wars won, but in wars ended or avoided.

The philosophy is a shift from the traditionally hawkish views on foreign policy, something that has also been evident in recent criticism of the Iraq war that was started by former President George W. Bush.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is addressing President Donald Trump’s supporters at the Capital One Arena.

Musk has become an ally of Trump’s and heads his Department of Government Efficiency.

Lawmakers, cabinet nominees and guests of President Trump have gathered in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall for the inauguration lunch. The pool cameras in the room have shown some of the guests seated together:

• Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio and the president’s youngest son Barron Trump
• Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, along with his wife Ginni Thomas
• Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

— Joe Khalil, Kristen Eskow

Kellyanne Conway, President Donald Trump’s former senior adviser in his first term, said she’s excited for his second.

“I think this sequel will be kick a–, better than the original,” Conway told Trump supporters at the Capitol One Arena.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, and evangelical leader Rev. Franklin Graham delivered the invocation at Donald J. Trump’s inauguration.

Before he began his prayer, Graham addressed President Trump. “Mr. President, the last four years, there were times I’m sure you thought it was pretty dark. But look what God has done,” he said to applause.

Read more about how faith played a role in President Donald Trump’s second inauguration.

Journalist Sam Donaldson likened the inauguration to President Franklin D. Roosevelt taking over from President Herbert Hoover.

Donaldson noted that some of Trump’s policies, like his stance on gender, will have little effect except on those being marginalized.

He also criticized Trump for some of his broader statements, including the pledge to take back the Panama Canal. Donaldson noted that only Congress can declare war and Trump’s only power in that arena is negotiation.

“So why don’t you say that instead of making these broad statements that aren’t true?” Donaldson asked.

He also attacked Trump’s plan for tariffs, noting that they are regressive and consumers will pay the price as foreign countries increase their prices to compensate. Donaldson also noted that history shows other countries are likely to enact retaliatory tariffs that can harm the U.S.

The journalist also accused Trump of misleading his supporters to get them to follow them.

“We’ve had more jobs created in the past four years than in recent times before them,” Donaldson said. “It’s a fact but he would have you believe that people can’t find work. It’s not true.”

Donaldson said Trump has touched a nerve with Americans and said Democrats need to reorganize the party to address the things that have driven Americans to support Trump.

Still, Donaldson said he is for Trump’s success as long as he does it the American way, but doubts that Trump has the way to success and fears his actions will prove harmful to the country.

2017:

2025:

President Donald Trump took the oath of office for the nation’s highest office for the second time Monday, after a four year gap.

His inauguration in 2017 looked very different from the ceremonies held Monday, from the location to the people in attendance and the fashion on display.

Here’s a comparative look of Trump’s inaugurations from 2017 and 2025.

People from around the country to watch President Donald Trump’s inauguration — and some people are looking to profit from it.

“Yesterday was a killing, today we’re trying to do the same,” one man from South Carolina who is selling Trump merchandise told NewsNation.

In his first action of his second term, Trump began signing executive orders, including one detailing 47 sub-cabinet nominations and other bills authorizing interim roles.

Trump also signed a bill proclaiming that all flags should be flown at full mast at all inaugurations.

Biden had ordered flags flown at half-staff for a month following the death of former President Jimmy Carter, but House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said they would fly at full-staff for the inauguration despite it occurring within that month.

Trump is expected to sign additional orders in front of a crowd of supporters at the Capital One Arena.

After Donald Trump’s speech to his supporters before his Signing Room ceremony, NewsNation correspondent-at-large Geraldo Rivera said the president had “the most remarkable comeback in the history of politics.

At the end of his last term and loss to previous President Joe Biden, Rivera said Trump left “sneaking out of the Capitol.”

But now, “He has shown now how the comeback is so, so profound.”

NewsNation political editor and host of “The Hill: Sunday” Chris Stirewalt says President Donald Trump has a long list of priorities on day one.

“The question for Republicans who are in his administration and who are in that room, the members of Congress, is this: ‘What are the three things that you are going to focus on?'”

Trump repeated his claim that the 2020 election was rigged, though there has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

The president also detailed his 2016 victory as well as his current victory.

He also talked up support from union members despite objections from union leadership who endorsed the Democrats.

“I think we have to stop thinking about Donald Trump and comparing him to what we associate with a ‘normal president,'” said NewsNation anchor and host of “NewsNation Now” Connel McShane. “He’s going to do things differently and he did today.”

“(Trump’s address) felt more like a state of the union, like a laundry list,” he said. “But at the same time if you’re a Trump supporter, you got what you were promised today… this is what we should have expected.”

Trump talked about adding anti-climb panels to his wall along the Mexican border, noting that previously people carrying drugs would climb over the wall and into the U.S.

Trump attacked the Biden administration for not continuing construction on the wall and for not allowing governors in border states to use already-purchased materials to construct walls in their own areas.

He also repeated his claim that immigrants are coming from prisons and mental institutions, though there is no evidence other countries are specifically sending people from those institutions to the U.S.

Trump hailed his rally sizes and his victory in the election.

He also attacked states that do not have voter ID laws, singling out California’s law that prohibits poll workers from asking for IDs, which are not required to vote.

Trump suggested he would have one if IDs were required, talking up his support among Hispanic voters.

Trump attacked Biden’s pardons of those involved in the Jan. 6 committee investigation.

Trump repeated claims he’s made in the past about the committee, including accusing members of destroying evidence and repeated the claim that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., turned down National Guard troops. That claim has since been debunked by fact checkers.

Trump also went after specific members of the committee and said he didn’t include it in his inaugural speech but would tell his stories to the group of supporters.

After the swearing-in ceremonies, NewsNation anchor and host of “CUOMO” Chris Cuomo shared his thoughts:

“One message I got from today? Americans can work together. That’s what Carrie Underwood showed us,” Cuomo said. “You can make a difficult situation into an opportunity. Will we do that on a bigger level? We’ll see.”

Meanwhile, NewsNation Anchor and host of “On Balance” Leland Vittert says the issue for him for today is “how different Donald Trump is and how different Washington is than it was eight years ago.”

“The difference between how Donald Trump is being received, not only by the Democrats, not only by the media, not only by business but also by the Republican Party… this is clearly Donald Trump’s Republican Party and even you could say, Donald Trump’s town.”

Trump said his wife and vice president urged him not to include more divisive ideas in his speech and said he should focus on unity.

Trump said he included those items anyway because he knows they would play well with his supporters.

Trump described House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., as a “menace liked by everybody,” noting Johnson is facing the difficult task of unifying Republicans who hold a narrow majority, in part due to resignations of representatives who are taking on roles in the Trump administration.

Speaking to supporters, newly inaugurated President Donald Trump suggested holding the inauguration inside more often, thanks to January weather.

Trump reiterated points from his inaugural address and talked up Vice President J.D. Vance as well as praising Vance’s wife Usha.

Not one to shy away from the spotlight, President Donald Trump is set to sign a slew of executive orders in front of a live audience at Capital One Arena on Monday.

Trump said he plans to sign nearly 100 executive orders on his first day. That will happen at a desk set up onstage in Capital One Arena.

Read more here.

Former president Joe Biden and previous Vice President Kamala Harris are leaving Washington, D.C. after current President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

An immediate change by the new Trump administration was the shut down of the CBP One app.

The tool was used to allow migrants to schedule appointments to meet with a Customs and Border Protection official at a port of entry to make an asylum claim.

The use for immigration was a repurposing of the app, which was originally developed for imports and exports.

The app was solely meant for making appointments but was not meant to be an app used for vetting immigrants or information.

Nearly one million people entered through the app and around 270,000 were attempting to get an appointment as the app closed.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum had suggested she was open to discussing the app with the new administration, expressing her commitment to finding safe, legal pathways for immigrants.

Sheinbaum also launched her own app called ConsulApp, which offers emergency contact storage, a consulate locator, a “know your rights” guide and an emergency button.

The Trump administration has sent a memo to congressional Republicans on goals for the next four years. Those include strengthening border security, boosting domestic energy production and reducing the size of government.

Border

Trump says he will end previous president Joe Biden’s border policies, and reinstate his “Remain in Mexico” policy. Also called “Migration Protection Protocols,” this required asylum-seekers to stay in Mexico until their claims were processed.

In addition, he is suspending refugee resettlement ,which let hundreds of thousands of people from around the world fleeing war and persecution to come to the United States.

Members of the Armed Forces, including the National Guard, are set to be deployed to the border, Trump said.

Cartels, Trump said, will be designated as foreign terrorist organizations,including the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragura. He plans to use the Alien Enemies Act to remove them.

Meanwhile, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she took a number of “proactive steps to address migration challenges and safeguard Mexican migrants in the United States” as Trump takes office.

This includes launching “ConsulApp,” which is available for Android users and offers emergency contact storage, a “Know Your Rights” guide, a consulate locator, and an emergency button for urgent situations.

Energy

Trump will declare an “energy emergency,” end leasing to wind farms and withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, among other measures.

He said in the memo he will review whether to cancel regulations on the mining and processing of non-fuel minerals.

Government

The memo detailed Trump’s plan to freeze bureaucrat hiring, return federal employees to in-person work and direct the State Department to have an “America First” policy.

NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt noted the inclusion of several extremely specific policies in Trump’s speech and the president did veer off the teleprompter at points during his speech.

The delivery was more subdued than some of Trump’s speeches, potentially due to the indoor venue.

One item missing from Trump’s laundry list was pardons for Jan. 6 defendants, Elizabeth Vargas noted.

NewsNation’s Leland Vittert broke down Trump’s idea of when America was last great, pointing to the post-WWII era of the 1950s and 1960s.

One sure to get attention is the declaration of only two genders, though NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo said it was unlikely to be a policy with much practical impact.