A litany of billionaires, foreign leaders and American celebrities were at the U.S. Capitol Monday to witness President Donald Trump’s swearing-in for his second term.
Key facts
Billionaires at the Capitol on Monday included Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, billionaire Trump supporter Miriam Adelson, media mogul Rupert Murdoch and others.
International heads of state in attendance included Argentine President Javier Milei and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, a rare instance of a president inviting foreign leaders to an inauguration.
Former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President George W. Bush, former First Lady Laura Bush and former President Barack Obama all sat together at the inauguration, and former Vice Presidents Dan Quayle and Mike Pence were also in attendance. – after Pence notably clashed with Trump.
Also in attendance were TikTok CEO Shou Chew, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, internet personalities Jake and Logan Paul, Secretary of Defense candidate Pete Hegseth and comedian Theo Vonn, as well as dozens of senators and representatives.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) made waves when he arrived at the inauguration ceremony, which was moved indoors due to the cold, in gym shorts and a Carhartt sweatshirt.
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To watch
A church service at St. John’s was the first stop of the day. Participants included Musk, the world’s richest man, as well as Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Bezos, a litany of tech titans who have sought stronger relations with Trump after once clashing with him. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden then hosted tea at the White House for the Trumps before the swearing-in ceremony. The Bidens did not attend the church service. Trump was sworn in at noon Eastern Time in a ceremony that was moved inside the Capitol Rotunda due to weather conditions. The inauguration ceremony will be followed by farewells to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, a signing room ceremony and a presidential parade, which will be held indoors for the first time since 1985. The parade will be followed by another dedication at the White House, this time in the Oval Office, and Trump will attend three inaugural balls and is expected to speak at all of them Monday evening.
Further reading
Trump Inauguration: Here’s What You Need to Know About Tomorrow’s Schedule, Guest List, Weather, Artists and More (Forbes)
All the Big Artists at Trump Inauguration Events: Carrie Underwood, Village People and More (Forbes)
Microsoft donates another $1 million to Trump’s record-breaking inaugural fund (Forbes)