Hours after signing pardons intended to shield some of Donald Trump’s political enemies from prosecution, Joe Biden greeted the incoming president at the White House with a warm “Welcome home!”
The moment captured by reporters is emblematic of the strange pomp of Inauguration Day 2025, with a former president returning to the White House after four years away for the first time since the 19th century. And Trump is coming back to a Washington full of glee and anxiety, unsure of what exactly the next days and months will have in store from a president who has promised radical change.
“I feel like a kid on Christmas morning, and we’re about to see some really great changes for all Americans and for the world,” said Kari Lake, the Arizona Republican who Trump picked to head Voice of America.
Certain scenes from inauguration morning were stark reminders of the tumult and tension that marked Trump’s first presidency. Former Vice President Mike Pence, for instance, walked into the Capitol rotunda alone ahead of the ceremony, just steps away from where pro-Trump rioters called for him to be hung during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
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But much of the morning, and the days preceding it, were a nod to tradition — even as Trump broke tradition as the third president in history to take the oath of office indoors, leaving rows of outdoor chairs empty.
Trump and his family, along with several tech CEOs and world leaders, attended a church service at St. John’s Episcopal Church on Monday morning, just as almost every former president has. On his trip from Florida to Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Trump ditched his private plane for a U.S. military plane supplied by Biden. (Trump did not offer a government plane to Biden in 2021, a break from tradition.)
While several Democratic lawmakers signaled prior to Monday that they wouldn’t be attending the inauguration, there were occasional nods to bipartisanship.
“It’s historic, and I feel like it’s my duty to also signal that I’m here to do my job, to work with this administration where we can,” Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean said.
Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz were also among the Democratic lawmakers in attendance, each seated among their Republican colleagues.
There was also some palpable partisan tension, however, including a lack of applause from Biden and other Democrats as Trump discussed the election outcome and the executive orders he plans to sign on Monday.
In an opening speech, Sen. Amy Klobuchar repeatedly underscored themes of democracy and the peaceful transfer of power, urging attendees to prioritize those over the “hot mess of division.”
“We will witness the peaceful transfer of power at the heart of our democracy,” Klobuchar said. “The presence of so many presidents and vice presidents here today is truly a testament to that endurance.”
Klobuchar also gave shout-outs to teachers, health care workers and the firefighters who fought wildfires in Los Angeles last week — all groups that have faced criticism from Trump or his allies, who have vowed to crack down on reproductive health care, vaccine mandates, DEI in the classroom and more.
Inauguration Days often come with disconnect, with politicians who openly detest one another embracing in a show of bipartisanship. Former President George W. Bush summed it up after listening to Trump’s inaugural address in 2017: “That was some weird shit,” he reportedly said, loud enough for multiple people to overhear.
Bush was back at the swearing-in on Monday alongside former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
But there were also some guests unique to a Trump inauguration — namely the corporate figures who’ve backed him since his first administration, like Elon Musk, TikTok CEO Shou Chew, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
There were also some of the larger-than-life scenes that have characterized Trump’s place in the limelight over the last decade. At an inauguration watch party at nearby Capital One Arena, supporters who otherwise would have gathered on the national mall donned Make America Great Again hats and American flag gear as they cheered and high-fived each other.
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Shifra Dayak is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow. Katherine Swartz contributed reporting.
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