President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump started Inauguration Day with a long-standing tradition: attending services at St. John's Episcopal Church across from Lafayette Square.
Trump was joined by Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and his wife, Usha, and those in attendance included Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta; Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez; Apple CEO Tim Cook; And Boris Johnson, former British Prime Minister, according to a pooled report.
The temperature in Washington this morning reached 25 degrees, with the temperature dropping, which is why Trump decided to move the swearing-in ceremony indoors. This led to a scramble for seats, as the Capitol Rotunda, where the ceremony will be held, can only accommodate about a thousand people.
Donald Trump arrives at St. John's Church with Melania Trump. Mark Zuckerberg in the background. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
St. John's Church, known as the Church of Presidents, has been important since Trump's first term. It's where Trump held the Bible after walking with members of his administration from the White House. It was amid protests and riots in 2020 after the death of George Floyd, and moments before, Park Police authorities had cleared the area of protesters.
Earlier, Trump's team published some excerpts of what he will say in his inauguration speech to the Wall Street Journal. Trump plans to herald a “new era of national success” and call for a “common sense revolution.”
Trump will say, according to the newspaper: “My message to the Americans today is that the time has come for us to act again with the courage, strength, and vitality of the greatest civilization in history.”
The president is expected to sign dozens of executive orders today — more than 200, according to Fox News, including those dealing with the border, immigration, the federal workforce and oil drilling.
