Highlights from Donald Trump's Presidential Inauguration | Jan. 20, 2025 (original) (raw)

The live updates from the event have ended. Follow new live coverage for Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025.

Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, setting out to reshape the country’s institutions.

What to know:

Trump’s Day 1 actions: Trump turned his rally at a downtown Washington arena into a signing ceremony for executive actions that his new administration is taking to institute major policy changes. Follow the AP’s campaign promises tracker.
Trump’s inaugural speech: Trump’s second inaugural address promised massive national success, pledging an expansion of U.S. territory and an end to foreign wars, with a sweeping indictment of the status quo.
Cabinet tracker: Senators are back at the Capitol for a late-evening session pushing ahead on Trump’s Cabinet picks. They unanimously voted to confirm Sen. Marco Rubio as the nation’s Secretary of State. Follow the AP’s live Trump cabinet tracker.

▶ En español: Sigue nuestra cobertura en vivo.

Trump arrives at the second ball of the evening

The Liberty Ball, in the same convention center as the Commander in Chief event, was packed with people eager to see the new president.

Songs by Rihanna, Lynyrd Skynard and Michael Jackson blasted on the speakers ahead of his entrance to the second ball.

Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived to raucous applause. They again danced to “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and shared the floor with JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance.

Trump and Musk’s budding partnership was evident at inaugural events

The blossoming relationship between Donald Trump and Elon Musk was on full display throughout Monday’s inauguration ceremonies.

Musk sat near Trump during the ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, and he pumped his fists when the president promoted the goal of putting American astronauts on Mars.

The moment sharply illustrated the unusual partnership the billionaire tech titan, who has lucrative contracts with the federal government, has established with the incoming president.

▶ Read more about Trump and Musk’s partnership

‘How’s Kim Jong Un doing?’ Trump asks US military in South Korea during ball

Trump spoke by satellite to a small contingent of U.S. servicemembers stationed in South Korea during an appearance at the Commander in Chief Ball.

He opened by asking after the leader of North Korea, the enemy of the United States and its ally, South Korea.

“How’s Kim Jong Un doing?” Trump asked. He described Kim as someone with “bad intentions” and a “tough cookie” but added that he had a good relationship with the reclusive dictator. Trump controversially met face to face with Kim during his first term and has often spoken highly of him despite his nuclear ambitions and confrontations with the U.S. and its allies in the region.

Trump and Vance, accompanied by their wives, used military sabers to cut a cake adorned with the seals of the branches of the military and topped with a plane.

The cake was adorned with a model of one of the modified Boeing 747 that the Air Force is buying to serve as Air Force One repainted in the color scheme Trump had picked before it was ditched by Biden.

The planes, whose purchase Trump negotiated in his first year in office in 2017, are years-delayed and may not be ready in time for him to fly in before he leaves office in 2029.

ACLU and other advocates sue Trump over executive order ending birthright citizenship

The American Civil Liberties Union and other advocates have sued Trump over his executive order ending automatic citizenship for anyone born in the United States, arguing that he is wrongly denying a right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

“Birthright citizenship embodies America’s most fundamental promise: that all children born on our soil begin life as full and equal members of our national community, regardless of their parents’ origins, status, or circumstances,” according to the complaint filed in Concord, New Hampshire. “This principle has enabled generations of children to pursue their dreams and build a stronger America.”

Trump said in his order that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment “has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States.” It was adopted in 1868 to ensure citizenship for Black people.

In 1898, the Supreme Court ruled that Wong Kim Ark, born in San Francisco, was a citizen because he was born on U.S. soil. Still, Trump said he believed he was on “good (legal) ground” to change it.

The lawsuit, which seeks to invalidate Trump’s order, was filed by the ACLU, Asian Law Caucus, State Democracy Defenders Fund and Legal Defense Fund on behalf of organizations with members whose children were born on U.S. soil and would be denied citizenship.

South Korea’s acting leader hopes for bilateral relationships to improve

South Korea’s acting leader, Choi Sang-mok, has expressed hopes that the Trump administration’s inauguration would serve as a chance for bilateral ties to develop reciprocally.

Choi ordered officials on Tuesday to pursue boosted high-level communications with the new U.S. government and strive to improve bilateral relations based on the decades-long military alliance between the two countries.

In a separate meeting, Choi cited worries that trade policies by the Trump government could cause “considerable effects” on South Korea’s export-driven economy. He said the government will mobilize all available resources to respond to changes in the trade environment and improve the local economy.

In a message posted on the social platform X, Choi congratulated Trump over the inauguration, saying that “The Republic of Korea looks forward to Making the Alliance Great Again in the 47th presidency, as we have during the 45th.”

The Trumps dance at the Commander in Chief Ball

The Trumps began the night at the Commander in Chief Ball, where the president and first lady danced to “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” They were then joined on stage by the Vances.

Terrorism designation on Cuba is act of ‘arrogance,’ Cuban president says

The Cuban president says Trump’s decision to redesignate Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism is an act of “arrogance and contempt for the truth.”

“It is not surprising. His goal is to continue strengthening the cruel economic war against Cuba for the purpose of domination,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on the social platform X.

Díaz-Canel said that being on the list, along with the U.S. embargo, is one of the reasons behind the “shortages” in the island that are driving people to immigrate to the U.S. territory.

Trump on Monday reversed an executive order issued by Biden that had lifted the designation.

Chuck Schumer says Trump shouldn’t have pardoned Jan. 6 offenders

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump is ushering in a “Golden Age” for people who broke the law Jan. 6, 2021.

“The people who invaded the Capitol on January 6th, whether they committed violence or not, should not have been pardoned,” Schumer said in a statement. “Donald Trump is ushering in a Golden Age for people that break the law and attempt to overthrow the government.”

The world’s richest men had reserved seats at the inauguration

Some of the most exclusive seats at Trump’s inauguration were reserved for powerful tech CEOs who also happen to be among the world’s richest men.

That’s a shift from tradition, especially for a president who has characterized himself as a champion of the working class.
Seats so close to the president are usually reserved for the president’s family, past presidents and other honored guests.

Attorney for former Proud Boys chairman says his client’s pardon is a ‘turning point’

Nayib Hassan, an attorney for former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio, said in a statement that his client’s pardon “symbolizes a turning point for our nation.”

“Throughout this journey, we have steadfastly maintained that the charges and the subsequent prosecution were politically motivated, and today, with President Trump’s act of clemency, that long-fought battle concludes,” Hassan said.

‘Thanks America,’ DC police officer says

Metropolitan police officer Daniel Hodges, who was nearly crushed in a doorway while defending the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, posted a message on social media that he learned about Trump’s mass pardons of rioters after working all day to ensure that Monday’s inauguration was “secure and peaceful.”

“Thanks America,” he wrote.

Trump signs memorandum allowing security clearances for some aides

Trump signed a memorandum allowing his White House counsel to grant interim six-month security clearances — including access to the highest levels of government information — to some aides whose federal background checks are pending.

Trump delayed in signing an agreement with the outgoing Biden administration last year that would have enabled the FBI to begin processing those clearances faster.

Trump’s memo directs that they be granted access to federal property, technology and information immediately.

Trump raises possibility of invoking wartime power act to deport gang members

Trump is raising the possibility of invoking a wartime power act for the first time since World War II to deport gang members who are deemed members of a foreign terrorist organization.

He is directing the Homeland Security and Justice departments to prepare for him to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the president to deport any noncitizen from a country considered an enemy of the U.S.

The law has been invoked only three times: during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II, when it was used to detain Japanese citizens following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Trump’s executive order paves the way for criminal organizations such as Tren de Aragua or MS-13 to be named “foreign terrorist organizations.”

“The Cartels functionally control, through a campaign of assassination, terror, rape, and brute force nearly all illegal traffic across the southern border of the United States,” the order reads.

PHOTOS: Trump’s Inauguration Liberty Ball

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Guests mingle as the Liberty Ball gets underway before President Donald Trump arrives, during the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at the Washington Convention Center in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

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The stage is ready before President Donald Trump arrives at the Liberty Ball during the 60th Presidential Inauguration, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at the Washington Convention Center in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

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Trump signs order halting offshore wind expansion

Trump has signed an executive order halting offshore wind lease sales and pausing the issuance of approvals, permits and loans for both onshore and offshore wind projects.

Trump’s order says the interior secretary will review federal wind leasing and permitting practices. The assessment will consider the environmental impact of onshore and offshore wind projects, the economic costs associated with the intermittent generation of electricity and the effect of subsidies on the viability of the wind industry, the order states.

Trump wants to increase drilling for oil and gas and has been hostile to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind.

Taiwanese president congratulates Trump and Vance

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te congratulated Trump and Vance on their inauguration in a message on the social platform X.

“Taiwan looks forward to working with your administration to promote enduring freedom, peace & prosperity around the world,” the statement read. “We wish you great success in the years ahead.”

The U.S. is Taiwan’s largest unofficial backer and arms provider. The government in Taipei hopes the Trump administration will continue to offer its support in the face of annexation threats from China, which considers the self-ruled island its own territory and threatens to take it over, by force if necessary.

Trump signs order directing attorney general to help states get lethal injection drugs

Trump has signed a sweeping execution order on the death penalty, directing the attorney general to “take all necessary and lawful action” to ensure that states have enough lethal injection drugs to carry out executions.

Trump wrote that “politicians and judges who oppose capital punishment have defied and subverted the laws of our country.”

A moratorium on federal executions had been in place since 2021, and only three defendants remain on federal death row after Biden converted 37 of their sentences to life in prison.

▶ Read more about Trump’s death penalty order

Trump is not confident ceasefire in Gaza will hold

Trump said Hamas is weakened, but he’s hardly certain that the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas will hold.

“I’m not confident,” Trump told reporters. “That’s not our war. It’s their war.”

He said his administration “might” help rebuild Gaza, which he compared to a “massive demolition site.”

“Some beautiful things could be done with it,” said Trump, the real estate developer turned commander in chief, noting the territory’s coastline and “phenomenal” weather and location. “Some fantastic things could be done with Gaza. Some beautiful things could be done with Gaza.”

JUST IN: Trump signs sweeping order on death penalty, compels attorney general to help ensure states have lethal injection drugs.

Trump suspends US foreign assistance for 90 days pending reviews

Trump has signed an executive order temporarily suspending all U.S. foreign assistance programs for 90 days pending reviews to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals.

It was not immediately clear how much assistance would be initially affected by the order. Funding for many programs has already been appropriated by Congress and obligated to be spent, if not already spent.

Republicans want local police to cooperate with immigration authorities

The majority of U.S. adults think local police in their community should cooperate with federal immigration authorities to deport people who are in the country illegally at least some of the time, according to a January AP-NORC poll. Americans are more likely to say cooperation should happen in some cases but not others than they are to support cooperation across the board.

About 4 in 10 Americans say local police “should always cooperate,” and about half say they “should cooperate in some cases.” Only about 1 in 10 say the local police in their community should never cooperate in these circumstances.

Republicans are especially likely to want cooperation all of the time. About two-thirds of Republicans say local police should always cooperate. Only about one-third of independents and one-quarter of Democrats agree.

Trump’s immigration order restores 2017 deportation criteria

One of Trump’s more impactful orders on immigration simply restores what was in place when he took office in 2017.

Trump wants to end federal grants to “sanctuary” jurisdictions, or state and local governments that limit cooperation with immigration authorities. The White House maintains that sanctuaries are breaking a law that forbids interfering with federal law enforcement officers.

He also wants negotiations with state and local governments to deputize local police to enforce immigration laws, known as 287(g) agreements after a section of a 1996 immigration law.

The order restores deportation criteria to pursue everyone in the country illegally, not just those with serious criminal records, those deemed national security or public safety threats, and those who recently crossed the border.

Congressional Republican leaders are heading to the White House

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are tentatively heading to the White House on Tuesday to meet with Trump.

That’s according to a person familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss them. The plans were first reported by Axios.

It’s not clear if other Republican leaders are joining for what is expected to be an afternoon meeting.

‘No legitimate rationale’ to cut federal workforce, union head says

The president of a government employees labor union says there’s “no legitimate rationale” to cut the size of the federal workforce.

Everett Kelley spoke out Monday in response to Trump’s executive order freezing government hiring.

“Make no mistake — this action is not about making the federal government run more efficiently but rather is about sowing chaos and targeting a group of patriotic Americans that President Trump openly calls crooked and dishonest,” said Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees labor union.

AFGE is the largest federal workers union, representing 800,000 federal and D.C. government workers.

Pelosi calls pardons for Jan. 6 defendants ‘shameful’

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said Trump’s actions to pardon and commute sentences of those convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack are “shameful.”

“The President’s actions are an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution,” Pelosi said in a statement. “It is shameful that the President has decided to make one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers who put their lives on the line to stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power.”

She said that despite Trump’s decision, the country must remember the “extraordinary courage and valor of the law enforcement heroes who stood in the breach and ensured that democracy survived on that dark day.”

Trump praises Bill Clinton’s ‘great political sense’

As he sat down to sign executive orders, Trump was asked which former president he would call for advice.

He responded that Bill Clinton was a “very interesting politician” and said he had a “great political sense.”

Trump said Clinton was “disrespected” and “not used properly.”

Trump was also asked about his friendly chat with former President Barack Obama during former President Jimmy Carter’s state funeral.

“We were having some crazy conversations,” he said.

Trump moves to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization — again

Trump has signed an executive order beginning the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization.

It was the second time in less than five years that he’s ordered the country to withdraw from the organization, despite it being a move many scientists fear could roll back decadeslong gains made in fighting infectious diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Experts also warn it could weaken the world’s defenses against dangerous new outbreaks capable of triggering pandemics.

Trump vs. Biden

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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The contrast couldn’t be more dramatic.

Trump is continuing to riff and answer questions from reporters in the Oval Office as he signs another round of executive action.

He’s been joking and opining on everything from foreign policy to drones to the way he’s redecorated the ornate room and seems at ease and supremely confident.

Biden was known to rarely engage with reporters at length.

Trump says he’ll talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin soon

“Most people thought that war would have been over in one week,” Trump said of Russia’s nearly three-year war against Ukraine. “I think he’d be very well off to end that war.”

Trump said he thinks Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants to make a deal to end the conflict.

Trump says the US should broker a deal to own half of TikTok

Trump says the U.S. should broker a deal to own half of TikTok, which he estimated could be worth $1 trillion.

“I think the U.S. should be entitled to get half of TikTok and, congratulations, TikTok has a good partner and that would be worth, you know, could be $500 billion,” Trump said, adding that rich people have called him about that deal.

He signed an order to keep the China-based social media platform open temporarily so that it can find a potential buyer and avoid being shut down on national security grounds.

JUST IN: President Trump directs attorney general to seek dismissal of about 450 pending criminal cases against Jan. 6 defendants.

Trump says he favors legal immigration as he signs order declaring border emergency

Trump said he favored legal immigration as he signed orders declaring a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border, suspending refugee resettlement and ending automatic citizenship for anyone born in the U.S.

Trump acknowledged an imminent legal challenge to overturning birthright citizenship, which has been enshrined in the U.S. Constitution since 1868. He said automatic citizenship was “just ridiculous” and that he believes he was on “good (legal) ground” to change it.

“That’s a big one,” he bantered with reporters while signing an order declaring the border emergency.

Trump said immigrant labor was needed for investment that he anticipates will accompany higher tariffs.

“I’m fine with legal immigration. I like it. We need people,” he said.

Trump executive order keeps TikTok online for now

President Donald Trump holds a pen as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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Trump has signed an executive order to keep TikTok operating for 75 days, a relief to the social media platform’s users even as national security questions persist.

TikTok’s China-based parent company was supposed to find a U.S. buyer or be banned last weekend. Trump’s order gives them more time to find a buyer.

“I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok,” Trump said.

Biden declined to enforce the bipartisan measure that he signed into law, while Trump has pledged to keep TikTok open after crediting it for aiding his 2024 election victory. Trump’s legal authority to preserve TikTok is unclear under the terms of the law recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Correction: The order keeps TikTok operating for 75 days, not 90.

Attorney for commuted former Proud Boys organizer calls Trump’s action ‘wonderful’

Norm Pattis, an attorney for former Proud Boys organizer Joseph Biggs, said it was “wonderful” to learn that Trump commuted his client’s 17-year prison sentence for seditious conspiracy.

“It gets him out of prison,” Pattis told The Associated Press. “He had 13, 14 more years to go, and there’s no place like home.”

Trump says 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico could start Feb. 1

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles watches as President Donald Trump talks as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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Trump says he could place 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting Feb. 1. He declined to give a date on China tariffs.

Trump has talked extensively about his tariff plans and his affection for the levies on imported goods during his multiple public remarks today.

Trump revokes protections for transgender troops set by Biden

“The previous administration has embedded deeply unpopular, inflationary, illegal, and radical practices within every agency and office of the Federal Government,” Trump said in a statement accompanying his order, which revoked dozens of previous Biden orders, including the transgender protections.

The number of transgender troops known to be serving is possibly from around 9,000 to potentially as many as 14,000.

The Department of Defense has referred queries on the number of transgender troops to the individual services, and because of the different ways transgender troops can identify and whether or not they have received medical procedures, there is no one database that tracks them.

China embassy issues statement on Vance’s talk with Chinese vice president

Vance says the new administration “looks forward to a long-term, productive relationship with China,” according to a Chinese statement on Vance’s meeting with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.

Han is in Washington to attend the presidential inauguration as the special representative of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Beijing is seeking a good start in bilateral relations with the new administration.

In his meeting with Vance, Han said China would be “willing to work with the U.S., upholding the strategic guidance of top-level diplomacy” and to “implement the important understandings reached between’” Xi and Trump, according to the statement by the Chinese embassy in Washington.

The two leaders had a phone call Friday.

No West Wing office for Musk

Trump says Elon Musk won’t get a desk in the West Wing.

Trump made the comment while signing executive orders in the Oval Office.

Trump has named Musk, the CEO of Tesla and X owner, as head of the Department of Government Efficiency.

Correction: Musk is the owner of X, not the CEO

Trump finds letter from Biden in the Oval Office

Trump found a letter from Biden in the Oval Office’s Resolute desk, but only after a journalist reminded him to look for it.

While signing a series of executive orders, a journalist asked Trump if he’d received a letter. Trump said he didn’t know and checked the desk drawers, holding up the letter for the cameras.

“Maybe we should all read it together,” Trump said before setting it aside. He said he’ll read it himself before sharing it publicly.

The letter’s envelope had “47" underlined, handwritten in what looked like pencil.

▶ Read more about the letter tradition

WATCH: Senate confirms Marco Rubio as secretary of state, giving Trump the first member of his Cabinet

The Senate quickly confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state Monday, voting unanimously to give President Donald Trump the first member of his new Cabinet on Inauguration Day.

A new round of executive actions

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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Trump is using the first appearance of his second term in the Oval Office to sign another series of executive actions.

Here are some of the key things he’s signed:

Pardons and commutations that Trump said would cover about 1,500 people criminally charged in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021
Overhauling the refugee admission program to better align with American principles and interests
Declaring a “national emergency” at the U.S.-Mexico border
Designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations

Trump issues sweeping pardon for Jan. 6 rioters

President Donald Trump holds up an executive order commuting sentences for people convicted of Jan. 6 offenses in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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Trump has issued pardons for people charged with participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump said he was pardoning about 1,500 defendants and issuing six commutations.

The pardons fulfill Trump’s promise to release supporters who tried to help him overturn his election defeat four years ago.

“These are the hostages,” he said while signing the paperwork in the Oval Office

Trump makes his Oval Office debut

After hours spent celebrating his new administration, Trump is making his first Oval Office appearance.

Trump has pledged to sign a series of executive actions from behind the oval-shaped room’s famous Resolute Desk.

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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He signed an initial flurry at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, where thousands of his supporters gathered to celebrate an inaugural parade that was moved indoors due to the cold.

Trump reverses several immigration orders from Biden

Trump has reversed several immigration orders from Biden’s presidency, including one that narrowed deportation priorities to people who commit serious crimes, are deemed national security threats, or were stopped at the border. It returns the government to Trump’s first-term policy that everyone in the country illegally is a priority.

Trump “border czar” Tom Homan has repeatedly said the new administration wants to target criminals first but that it won’t hesitate to arrest others when deportation officers are on the streets.

Trump revokes Biden order on voter registration

One of the 78 Biden-era executive orders that were rescinded just hours after Trump took office was one on voter registration that had drawn ire from Republicans in Congress.

The order, issued in March 2021, directed federal agencies to take certain steps to boost voter registration.

There was no indication the order favored one political party over the other, but Republicans had said the Biden administration had exceeded its authority and wasdirecting federal agencies to engage in activities beyond their mission.

Trump rescinds AI order by Biden

Trump has rescinded a policy created by the Biden administration that sought to guide the development of artificial intelligence to prevent misuse.

The repeal of Biden’s 2023 executive order on AI was one of a flurry of actions taken by Trump on the first day of his second term.

The order had required leading AI developers to share data about their products’ safety and security with federal regulators. It called for the creation of standards to ensure AI is developed in such a way as to balance its economic potential with concerns about its risks.

Trump is running very late

Inauguration Day is built around the country’s new president, so the day’s activities are taking as long as he wants.

That said, there was an unofficial schedule of events. And Trump is running very behind.

He was supposed to be arriving to the Oval Office to sign another flurry of executive orders shortly after 5 p.m. ET. Trump still had not done so by 7:30 p.m.

The delays mean Trump will be late arriving at a trio of balls, where dressed-up supporters are in for long waits.

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WATCH: Highlights from Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th U.S. president

Dignitaries from across Washington and around the world crammed into the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Monday to watch presidential power transfer peacefully from Democrat Joe Biden to his Republican successor, Donald Trump.

Trump rescinds 2021 Title IX order

Trump rescinded a 2021 order signaling the Education Department would use Title IX to protect against discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

The Biden administration later went further to cement that interpretation into federal regulation, but it was overturned after Republican-led states challenged the rule in federal court.

Rescinding the 2021 order won’t have much effect on schools and colleges, but it clears the slate for other action by the Trump administration. Trump also rescinded a COVID-19-era executive order directing federal officials to give schools guidance on reopening during the pandemic.

That order, issued on Biden’s second day in office, also required the Education Department to explore the pandemic’s “disparate impacts” on students of color and students with disabilities.

Before order, Florida governor starts calling it ‘Gulf of America’

Trump has not signed an executive order to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America,” but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has begun calling it just that.

He declared a state of emergency due to winter weather expected along the Gulf Coast.