It wasn’t the return to power Donald Trump initially planned, but it was a memorable inauguration nonetheless, unfolding across multiple locations after being moved inside due to frigid temperatures.
The day began with Trump attending a service at St. John’s Church, an inauguration tradition. The 47th president then moved to the Capitol Rotunda for his swearing-in ceremony and inaugural address. He continued with speeches in Emancipation Hall and the Capitol One Arena, where a parade was held, before heading to the Oval Office for an executive order signing blitz that morphed into a freewheeling press conference.
Trump’s first day back in office was full of the pageantry that accompanies the United States’ transfer of power from one leader to the next, but with a MAGA twist. Vendors hawked Trump gear on the streets, and the arena became MAGA central. There were familiar scenes, as past presidents and dignitaries gathered together for the swearing-in, and new events such as the indoor inaugural parade.
USA TODAY reporters covered the historic proceedings. They were inside the Capitol, walking the cold streets, stationed at the White House and immersed in the arena crowd. They continued to follow Trump as the first few days of his administration unfolded and his team settled into the White House.
Here are some of their observations from Inauguration Day and Trump’s first week back in power.
The first thing I noticed was the sun, the way the rays of light streaked down from the morning sky and bathed the White House in a brilliant, yellowish glow.
I paused briefly in the bitter cold and fished my phone out of my coat pocket to take a photo – a ritual I’d done many times before after I passed through the security checkpoint and headed toward the presidential mansion. But through the eye of the camera lens, the sunbeams seemed to multiply, all but obscuring the stately, two-century-old building.
On this historic morning, there would be no new photo added to my collection.
It was 8:30 a.m., Monday. Inauguration Day.
My assignment that morning was to document Trump’s return to the White House, four years after voters had sent him into exile – and just two months after they’d decided he deserved a second chance. Waiting for Trump at the presidential mansion would be Joe Biden, who had replaced him four years earlier and was now in the awkward position of welcoming him back.
As the time for Trump’s arrival approached, reporters and photographers spilled out onto the White House driveway to watch history unfold. Only a handful would get a close-up view. They were the “press pool,” a rotating group of journalists who would be stationed just outside the North Portico to capture the arrival ceremony for posterity. The rest of us would have to witness history from a distance.
At 9:54 a.m., the iron gates of the White House opened. A black SUV with Trump seated in the back rolled slowly toward the columned mansion and parked beneath the covered entrance. From the driveway, reporters strained for any glimpse of what was happening. But it was no use. History was unfolding right in front of us – but was too far away to see.
Frustrated, I dashed back to the White House briefing room, where I knew I’d have the same view as other Americans. Once inside, I was able to watch the rest of the ceremony. On TV.
– Michael Collins
As one of the reporters assigned to cover the inauguration in person, I was planning for a long, cold day. Instead, I watched history unfold inside the Capital One Arena, where many people who planned to attend the inauguration were relocated for a viewing party and indoor parade.
Vendors bundled up against the cold were lined up in the streets selling Trump inaugural gear. Inside, I chatted with Trump fans from across the country. Supporters wore fur coats, an American flag patterned suit and a jean jacket covered with pro-Trump buttons.
The second person I met was Michelle Ma, 45, a Chinese immigrant who lives in Palo Alto, California, and works for a start-up. She wore a red, white, and blue headband and said Trump’s return to the White House filled her with happiness.
The massive arena was packed when Trump’s inaugural ceremony began. The crowd watched on the jumbotron, cheering Trump and jeering Democrats.
They lined up to buy nachos, hot dogs and french fries from the arena vendors and pressed against windows overlooking 6th Street to catch a glimpse of Trump’s family arriving in the presidential motorcade. They watched marching bands parade on the arena floor past Trump and his family, who sat in a parade viewing stand on stage. They roared for Trump’s arena speech.
When it ended, close to 7 p.m., they poured onto the cold streets, many still exuberant on the first day of the new Trump era.
– Zac Anderson
When Trump’s inauguration moved indoors, organizers had to pare back the guest list significantly to squeeze into the Capitol Rotunda. I was one of only around 15 reporters permitted in the room for the ceremony.
I worked my way through two layers of 8-foot-tall metal fencing, which has become a fixture of major events held at the Capitol after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, before being led to the Rotunda.
Around 600 folding chairs marked with name cards like Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and Jared Kushner filled the room underneath the cavernous dome painted with Constantino Brumidi’s famous “Apotheosis of Washington.”
In the hours before the ceremony, House members popped in to see who got the best seats while Trump senior advisor Jason Miller surveyed the scene. The sounds of the ceremony’s musical preludes reverberated through the space.
Lawmakers jockeyed for the best seats they could get, some pushed up against the back of the room, as some of the world’s richest people – Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sundar Pichai – settled into their front-row seats. Republicans were quick to jump out of their chairs to applaud while Democrats sat somber, arms crossed.
When the ceremony was over, the attendees scattered through the Capitol’s halls, trying to find their way out. Former Trump lawyer and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani waited patiently for an elevator. Former Vice President Mike Pence strode confidently through a hall that contained protestors calling for his death just over four years ago, on his way to the winter air.
Around another corner came a group of VIPs: Musk, Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk, FBI Director nominee Kash Patel, Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley and White House crypto czar David Sacks, among others. Some smiled and waved as they walked out the door, taking their place atop the new Washington.
– Riley Beggin
As frigid temperatures forced Trump’s Inauguration Day ceremonies indoors, it was clear that thousands of people who traveled from all over the country would be shut out of the in-person festivities. I was assigned to capture the mood of the people who had gathered outside the U.S. Capitol and make my way to the Capital One Arena, where Trump had planned to address supporters later in the day.
The arena could only accommodate 20,000 people. But that didn’t seem to deter thousands of people who took their chances and stood in line for hours as bitterly cold wind gusts blew through the city for a chance to see the president. Around 1 p.m., those waiting in line were told the arena was at capacity.
I heard one person in the crowd telling a friend, “I don’t care if it’s only a 10% chance. Maybe we can see the motorcade.” I spoke to people from all walks of life and across the country. None of them seemed bitter at not having witnessed the proceedings in person.
It was almost as if saying anything negative would have been a betrayal of the spirit of the day.
One great reporting tip I picked up from a former colleague also came in handy. On a day this cold, well-sharpened pencils are your friend. The ink in pens tends to freeze up and doesn’t always work when you are taking notes.
Once my assignment was done, I told my editor I needed to “thaw” myself. As I walked a few blocks past the security perimeter to call an Uber, I noticed that most businesses were either closed or had signs allowing only patrons with prior appointments to enter. Those looking for a brief respite from the cold or needing the restroom were out of luck.
That’s when I saw my lighthouse: Bobby Van’s Steakhouse. And it was open for business.
Although I don’t eat red meat, I ventured in to warm myself with a cup of hot tea. The place was swarming with a jubilant crowd of Trump supporters in bright red MAGA hats, watching reruns of the Trumps bidding farewell to the Bidens on giant television screens. One chant drowned out all the clatter and chatter at the crowded restaurant: “Daddy’s home!”
I took a chance and asked the waiter for an off-menu item: A vegetarian pasta dish.
Despite the frantic day, the chef whipped up a plate of the best-tasting pasta primavera in a marinara sauce I’d ever had.
As I ate a few forkfuls of the pipping hot pasta, I could feel my body slowly returning to room temperature.
– Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
In spite of the low temps that forced his inauguration activities indoors, the line to get into Trump’s rally the afternoon before he returned to the White House was long. Supporters of the president who’d flown in to see him take the Oath of Office wrapped around the multipurpose sports and entertainment complex.
It was 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. At least they’d still get to see Trump.
Indoors, there were more lines, as Trump fans waited to purchase concession stand snacks, and women staked out the restroom.
There was a feeling of jubilee among Trump supporters – some of whom said they were attending their first rally. They’d flown in from states that were not competitive in the presidential race. One said she’d arrived at 5:45 a.m. to find other Trump supporters camped out.
The rally was a true Trump spectacle. Kid Rock performed his 2022 single “We the People,” that includes the lyrics, “Let’s go Brandon,” a euphemism for Joe Biden. Actor Jon Voight also addressed the crowd.
In the hallway, I met French art collector and overseas celebrity Pierre-Jean Chalençon, who said he was there at the invitation of Trump adviser Jason Miller.
Also in town: Argentine President Javier Milei, former British prime minister Liz Truss and former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Over at the White House the next day, as power officially changed hands, the property was full of frenetic energy. Reporters without permanent workspaces who were there on assignment packed an overcrowded briefing room.
It was 4 p.m., and junior members of Trump’s new staff did not have working emails yet, or White House-assigned cell phones.
Contact information for one of Trump’s new press staffers was written on a piece of notebook paper and taped to a computer monitor in an area frequented by the press. Everything was a work in progress.
But there was one last thing on Trump’s list before he slow-danced his way through a handful of inaugural balls: an executive order extravaganza in the Oval Office. He took countless questions from reporters as he did.
The Trump Show was officially back.
– Francesca Chambers
On Trump’s first full day back in office, I stopped by the White House bright and early at 7:30 a.m. to appear on C-SPAN from the North Lawn.
Standing in the frigid cold, I reflected on a whirlwind day that saw Trump return for a second term and begin to carry out his agenda with breakneck speed.
The pace of transformation was just as swift in the West Wing. Photos of Biden capturing some of his proudest moments – which hung on the walls just 24 hours earlier – were already taken down and replaced with photos of Trump.
Trump’s press aides had quickly assembled in the same cramped offices where I used to chase down comments from Biden officials.
None of Trump’s Day 1 executive actions were surprises. He said for months he would eliminate the Biden administration’s climate policies, send the military to the southern border, gut federal regulations on energy, remove “diversity, equity and inclusion” jobs from the federal government, and more.
Yet the sheer breadth of Trump’s flurry of executive actions was extraordinary. And it became very clear Trump intends to use his second White House stint to test the limits of his presidential power and the appetite of Americans for his brand of change.
Trump’s action to end birthright citizenship in the United States faces constitutional questions under the 14th Amendment – but he signed the order nevertheless, inviting immediate lawsuits. ( A federal judge in Seattle later blocked the action, but the decision will likely be appealed.)
And even though Vice President JD Vance assured Trump would “obviously” not pardon Jan. 6 rioters who committed violent acts at the Capitol, the president nonetheless pardoned virtually all those involved in the attack and commuted the sentences of 14 defendants involved with the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys far-right groups.
Trump has touted an “election mandate,” and he begins is second term more popular than he’s ever been, polling suggests. Over the next four years, we’ll find out whether Trump’s aggressive dismantling of the government is what his new supporters have in mind.
– Joey Garrison
