Newsers React to Donald Trump’s Inauguration
Donald Trump was sworn in as America’s 47th president on a chilly Monday in Washington, D.C. President Trump took the oath of office a little after Noon/ET inside the U.S. Capitol rotunda.
“From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world,” Trump said in his 30-minute inaugural address. “We will be the envy of every nation. And we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer.”
Trump is the first president since Grover Cleveland to serve two nonconsecutive terms in the Oval Office. Outgoing President Joe Biden was in attendance for the swearing-in ceremony, and departed for California shortly after a peaceful transfer of power.
All of the major news networks were in attendance for Inauguration Day, providing dawn-to-dusk coverage, the tenor of which occasionally varied depending on the network. Teeing up MSNBC’s coverage, for example, Rachel Maddow—who is returning to the anchor’s chair five nights a week for Trump’s first 100 days—drew stark comparisons to how Biden approached his role in this American tradition versus Trump’s approach four years ago.
“You may recall that Donald Trump participated in none of these events with Joe Biden four years ago when it was Biden coming in as the new president to succeed Trump,” Maddow noted. “That was the first time since the 1860s that the sitting American president didn’t attend the inauguration of his successor.”
On Fox News, meanwhile, the observations were more laudatory, while still laced with mild critique in some cases. The Five co-host Harold Ford Jr. called Trump’s speech “sweepingly ambitious,” while also adding: “He should understand now and all of his supporters should understand, he’s now the president and looking back doesn’t serve him well. He’s got to look forward and begin to tackle the enormous agenda he’s put forward.”
“It felt as we were watching it, more State of the Union than inauguration,” noted Ford’s fellow co-host on The Five, Jessica Tarlov. “Some was muted, some was more rally like.”
Meanwhile, journalists who attended various inauguration events—and Trump’s first hours back in the Oval Office—were sharing what they were seeing, hearing, and thinking on X, formerly Twitter, throughout the day. Here’s a sampling of what Inauguration Day 2025 looked like through their eyes and ears.
In his second inaugural address, Trump is ripping into Biden’s presidency while he sits a few feet away. “We now have a government that cannot manage a single crisis at home,” Trump says. “All of this will change starting today, and it will change very quickly.”
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 20, 2025
Will schools now teach that the Gulf of Mexico is the Gulf of America?
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) January 20, 2025
Not even 20 minutes after Trump finished his remarks, members of the senate printing and graphics office had already printed and framed photos of Trump’s swearing in taken by official senate photog to present to Trump at the lunch. Notice: they are carrying with white gloves on pic.twitter.com/65FZIdI25r
— Lauren Fox (@FoxReports) January 20, 2025
The split screen —
Trump riffing to supporters in the Capitol, bashing Biden’s last minute pardons for Jan 6 committee members, etc
As Biden departs Washington with his family, pic.twitter.com/QRKBvtjYes
— Jay O’Brien (@jayobtv) January 20, 2025
As President Biden finishes a farewell message to staff and friends, chants of “Thank you, Joe!” break out.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 20, 2025
Stacking EOs on the red desk at the Capital Arena. Also laying out the pens. President Trump is here and crowd is ready for him to come out pic.twitter.com/7z51OmxzFf
— Erin Burnett (@ErinBurnett) January 20, 2025
President Trump enters the exclusive Inauguration luncheon and shakes hands with Pete Hegseth and Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, Ginni. pic.twitter.com/4gCjNNeu5s
— Bo Erickson Reuters (@BoKnowsNews) January 20, 2025
Remember when Steve Bannon claimed he would “have Elon Musk run out of here by Inauguration Day.”
How did that work out?
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) January 20, 2025
I just want to note for everyone that the Nazi’s saw the Musk gesture and thought it was one of their salutes, but everyone from Tesla investors, to elected officials and the ADL suggest we give him grace because it was likely just an awkward gesture.
Y’all do with that what…
— Symone D. Sanders Townsend (@SymoneDSanders) January 20, 2025
Pres. Trump entered Capital One Arena. He walked down a long stretch of stairs, shaking hands with supporters alongside first lady Melania Trump
— Norah O’Donnell 🇺🇸 (@NorahODonnell) January 20, 2025
it turns out the inaugural events running several hours behind is not helping with the all-consuming bitterness i’ve felt about the scheduled inaugural events that prevented me from attending this game. https://t.co/0Bc1xk4wjP
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) January 21, 2025
Thanks for watching. I took the first three executive order signings full sound completely. I got commentary from @brithume & Mark Penn and then went back and heard the last EO signing in full. We missed three in the middle. More EOs will be signed in the Oval tonight. https://t.co/2HWrE1Fynd
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) January 21, 2025
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