Inauguration of Trump: US President Biden to Transfer Powers to the Newly Elected President at the Capitol in Washington

On Monday, 20 January, US President Biden will hand over power to President-elect Donald Trump at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US media reports. Monday, 20 January, will be Donald Trump's first day in office as the 47th President of the United States since he was sworn in. 

After the day's ceremonial events, which were moved indoors due to the cold weather, Trump will sign a number of decrees. The evening will end with the inaugural balls.

A preparatory programme will begin in Congress at 10:00 a.m. ET (17:00 Kyiv time). Trump will attend a morning service at St John's Church in Washington. It is expected that at around 12:00 p.m. Washington time (19:00 Kyiv time), US Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and President Donald Trump will be sworn in. Afterwards, the 47th President of the United States Donald Trump will deliver his inaugural address.

The swearing-in ceremony will take place in the Capitol Rotunda. This will be the first time the ceremony has been held inside since 1985, when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated for a second term. 

According to the programme, the next step will be an official farewell to the 46th President of the United States Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who will leave the Capitol.

After the ceremony, Donald Trump will head to the Presidential Room in the US Congress to sign the first executive orders and appointments to positions in his administration. The new president and vice president will then attend an inaugural dinner at the National Sculpture Hall of the US Congress, after which they will conduct a ritual inspection of military units at the Capitol steps.

The new president will then head to the White House, where the traditional ceremony will take place in the Oval Office, the office of the American head of state. The time of these events is not clearly set and, as noted by the Inaugural Committee, may vary.

Three inaugural balls are also scheduled for Monday evening. In particular, the Liberty Ball will start at 19:00 (02:00 on Tuesday, Kyiv time), where the president is expected to make a speech. At 19:30 (02:30 Kyiv time), the Commander-in-Chief's Ball will begin. In addition, there will be another ball for donors.

Trump announced the change of plans on Friday. He also effectively cancelled the traditional parade, noting that guests will be invited to watch the inaugural events at the nearby Capital One Arena. He would join the guests after the ceremony.

The next day, on Tuesday morning, Donald Trump will attend a traditional prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, which will be the final event of the 47th US President's inaugural programme.

The first week of Donald Trump's presidency will be busy. Trump's new team has already promised to issue more than a hundred decrees and decisions on the first day of the new White House's tenure and many more in the days to come. Firstly, this will include executive actions in the area of immigration policy, with the possible introduction of a state of emergency due to the situation at the border to unblock the use of the Ministry of Defence funds for activities in this area.

It is expected that Trump will recognise a number of drug cartels as foreign terrorist organisations and order the resumption of the Migrant Protection Protocol policy known as ‘Stay in Mexico’.

According to the US media, Trump's team has also prepared decrees in the energy sector aimed at increasing energy production in the US. 

It is also expected to approve a number of executive acts on the activities of the Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, which will be responsible for cutting spending on US federal programmes.

The day before, during a speech at the Victory Rally, Donald Trump officially announced the return of the banned TikTok to Americans and promised to immediately begin building the Iron Dome.

‘I will order our army to start building a large Iron Dome, a missile shield that will be entirely made in the United States,’ Trump announced.

He also promised to immediately ‘bring the US army back to its senses’ and make it what it used to be.