Watch live: Donald Trump’s second US presidential inauguration
Donald Trump will be sworn in as the president of the United States of America for the second time today.
Trump announced on Friday that frigid temperatures meant the inauguration would have to be moved inside the Capitol building.
The Republican president has invited a number of tech titans to attend as VIPs, including billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, as well as Shou Chew, the head of Chinese social media giant TikTok, according to US media.
Outgoing president Joe Biden will attend the ceremony – despite Trump’s refusal to appear at Biden’s swearing in when he beat Trump in 2020. All living former presidents – Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama – will attend, as will their wives, except for Michelle Obama.
Donald Trump.
Photo: AFP/ Jim Watson
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Trump has indicated he is preparing to sign multiple executive orders as early as his first day in office, aimed at undoing many of the Biden administration’s policies. Among multiple promises for day one, Trump has pledged to launch a mass deportation programme and increase oil drilling. He has also said he might immediately begin pardoning 6 January rioters, his followers who ransacked the Capitol in 2021.
Trump is expected to attend all three of his official inaugural galas on Monday night. More than a dozen others are also planned. Apart from the balls, Trump held a ‘Make America Great Again Victory Rally’ at Capital One Arena the night before inauguration.
– AFP