This longstanding custom sees the outgoing president and first lady inviting their successors over for tea before the latter is officially inaugurated.
After their meeting, both couples will travel together in the same vehicle to Trump’s inauguration. Traditionally, they travel in two separate cars.
Despite their political differences—Biden being a Democrat and Trump a Republican—the two seemed to put aside any previous disputes for this occasion.
Upon the Trumps’ arrival at the White House, Biden reportedly greeted them with, “Welcome home!”, as noted by PEOPLE.
While Biden extended this courtesy to Trump, the latter did not do the same when Biden won the presidency in 2020. Trump chose not to attend Biden’s inauguration.
Instead, Trump and his family returned to their home in Florida.
Before today’s ceremony, Trump has outlined several promises he intends to fulfill upon returning to office.
One of his main agendas includes delaying the TikTok ban, which had been briefly enforced over the weekend before the app was restored.
During the brief shutdown of TikTok, users received a message stating: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.”
The message continued by indicating that Trump had expressed willingness to work on reinstating TikTok once in office.
This abrupt return of the app led some to believe it was merely a public relations move.
One social media user commented, “This was such an obvious PR stunt to try to garner favor with Trump. They never had to take TikTok offline, and if they were legally required to, then nothing Trump said to them could have allowed them to restore service.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre shared similar thoughts leading up to TikTok’s deadline on January 19.
In a rally at Madison Square Garden during his campaign, Trump stated his plans: “On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out.”
He added, “I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail, then kick them the hell out of our country as fast as possible.”
According to AP reports, Trump is expected to prepare over 100 executive orders for his first day in office. His team has been working on documents targeting issues such as deportation, school gender policies, and vaccine mandates, circumventing Congress.
Senator John Hoeven, R-N.D., remarked: “There will be a substantial number.”
In a bid for transparency, Trump promised to disclose remaining records related to the assassinations of JFK, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. in the near future.
He stated, “And in the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
Trump’s comments on social media about Greenland sparked controversy, where he suggested U.S. ownership of Greenland was necessary for national security.
He posted, “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”
“Greenland is an incredible place. The people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation. We will protect it, cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”
The aftermath of Trump’s 2020 election loss resulted in the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, leading to arrests of several Trump supporters.
Trump, in a TIME interview, mentioned plans to review these cases within the first nine minutes of his presidency.
In a social media post, he stated, “I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can’t say for every single one, because a couple of them, probably they got out of control.”
Trump previously announced his intent to end birthright citizenship, which grants automatic citizenship to anyone born in the U.S., trying to achieve this via executive order.
Last year, Trump addressed a gathering in Iowa, outlining his plans to ‘save [the] country from destruction.’
He announced, “On day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity,” reported by NPR.
He also targeted schools promoting ‘any other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content on our children.’
In 2021, Trump criticized cryptocurrency as a ‘scam against the dollar.’ However, he has now shifted his stance, aspiring to make the U.S. the ‘crypto capital of the planet.’
Trump and Melania released their own memecoins leading up to the inauguration, while experts predict Bitcoin could hit $250,000 this year.
In a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity, Trump responded to accusations of potentially abusing power: “Except for Day 1.”
He elaborated, “I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling.”
He added, “After that, I’m not a dictator.”
Trump has also expressed intentions to abolish the Green New Deal, which he calls the ‘Green New Scam,’ proposed by Democrats Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey.
In a September speech, Trump remarked, “To further defeat inflation, my plan will terminate the Green New Deal, which I call the Green New Scam. Greatest scam in history, probably.”
He vowed to rescind all unspent funds under the Inflation Reduction Act, writing it out in an executive order on Day 1.
Despite his firm stance on immigration, Trump has shown support for granting green cards to non-US citizens graduating from college.
On the ‘All In’ podcast, Trump stated, “Anybody graduates from a college, you go in there for two years or four years, if you graduate, or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country […]”
He continued, “Somebody graduates at the top of the class, they can’t even make a deal with the company because they don’t think they’re going to be able to stay in the country. That is going to end on Day 1.”
Trump is also targeting Biden’s electric vehicle mandate, promising to repeal it on his first day, though admitting to Joe Rogan that it might take ‘maybe two days, because it’s a little bit busy.’
Having faced two federal cases regarding the 2020 election results by special counsel Jack Smith, Trump has no intention of collaborating with him further.
On October 24, during the Hugh Hewitt show, Trump mentioned he would dismiss Smith ‘within two seconds.’
He concluded, “He’ll be one of the first things addressed.”