Trump officially becomes President at noon and will take the oath of office at his inauguration around that time.
It’s a historic moment as a man who has never before served in government ascends to the nation’s highest public office.
Here are a few things to know if you want to watch the festivities that make up the beginning of Trump’s presidency.
The inauguration is the formal transfer of power from one president to the next. On Friday, President Barack Obama will complete his second term in office and cease to be the sitting president, transferring the authority of his office to his elected successor, Trump.
At noon, Trump will become the President and Vice President-elect Mike Pence will become the sitting vice president.
Trump will take the oath of office administered by Chief Justice John Roberts and deliver a speech commemorating the occasion.
And
as is tradition, the President and vice president will lead a parade to the White House after their inauguration.
What else is going on this weekend?
The inauguration ceremony is sandwiched amidst days of events, including lavish dinners, the parade and concerts.
Thursday kicks off the first
performances organized by Trump’s inaugural committee.
An event billed as “The Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration” will be at Lincoln Memorial at 4 p.m. ET and open to the public. Artists including Toby Keith, 3 Doors Down and Lee Greenwood are scheduled to perform.
The inaugural committee also announced another pre-inaugural celebration, called “Voices of the People,” which the team said “will feature groups from the hundreds of applications received by the Presidential Inaugural Committee to take part in inaugural festivities.”
After Friday’s official ceremonies, inaugural balls are also part of the week’s traditions. Trump
will attend three balls: two inaugural balls and a ball “saluting armed services and first responders.”
Didn’t get an invite to one of the official balls but still want a night on the town? A number of organizations sell tickets to their own balls during inauguration week.
Here’s a list of some of them from USA Today.
There are also a number of
pro- and anti-Trump rallies scheduled for this weekend; the Department of Homeland Security expects as many as 99 groups to gather this weekend. Organizers from
the Women’s March on Washington said they were expecting upwards of 200,000 people for their event.
Where will the Obamas be?
The president and the first lady will attend the swearing-in ceremony, then they have planned to head to
Palm Springs.
But soon, they will settle into their new home in a
swanky DC neighborhood, not too far from the White House.
Trump’s eldest daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, an incoming White House member, have also
reportedly staked out a home in the same neighborhood.
What will Trump eat?
In the morning, he’ll have tea with the Obamas. Then, after taking the oath, Trump will have lunch with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Here’s Trump’s
inaugural lunch menu. He has said he’s not a drinker, but it looks like the rest of the attendees will have plenty of California wine.
Who will not be going?
Reps. Barbara Lee and John Lewis, progressive Democrats, announced they would not attend the inauguration. After Lewis said Trump was not a “legitimate” president, Trump attacked the Civil Rights icon for days.
Meanwhile, the number of Democrats boycotting the event snowballed.
Here’s a running list of Democrats not attending the inauguration.
How many people will be attending?
It’s always hard to estimate crowd sizes, but many hundreds of thousands could show.
In comparison, estimates pegged Obama’s
first inauguration crowd at 1.8 million and
the second at about 800,000.
Leave a Comment