Donald Trump has left St John’s Episcopal Church in Washington DC after attending a prayer service ahead of his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States.
The 78-year-old’s arrival at the historic church, located across from the White House, was his first public appearance on Monday as he prepared to return to the White House.
He is set for a momentous day as millions of people around the world watch on.
Mr Trump arrived at the prayer service, a tradition for president-elects on inauguration day, with his wife Melania at around 8.45am local time (1.45pm UK time).
They sat in the front row with their son Barron, 18, to their left, and incoming vice president JD Vance and his wife Usha to their right.
Former British prime minister Boris Johnson, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon boss Jeff Bezos were also spotted sitting in the same row as each other in the church.
Image: President-elect Donald Trump, Melania Trump and their son Barron walk to their seats. Pic: AP
Image: President-elect Donald Trump talks with Vice President-elect JD Vance and Usha Vance before the service. Pic: AP
The service lasted around 30 minutes.
Afterwards, Mr Trump returned to Blair House, often referred to as the “President’s Guest House”, where he stayed on Saturday and Sunday.
The Republican is hours away from being sworn in as president for a second time after he defeated Democratic candidate and vice president Kamala Harris in the US presidential election in November.
Before the ceremony inside the Capitol Rotunda, he will meet with outgoing president Joe Biden and his wife Jill for tea at the White House at around 9.45am local time (2.45pm UK time).
Mr Trump will be joined by incoming first lady Melania for the tea, which is traditionally held on inauguration day to welcome the new president.
The meeting offers a stark contrast to four years ago, when Mr Trump refused to acknowledge Mr Biden’s election victory or attend his inauguration.
This time around, the incoming and outgoing presidents will travel in the same car as they join a motorcade to depart for the Capitol at around 10.25am local time (3.25pm UK time).
Image: Donald Trump, left, and Joe Biden at the White House in November last year. Pic: Reuters
Mr Trump, who will become only the second president to serve two non-consecutive terms, is expected to arrive at the Capitol around five minutes later.
Mr Vance is expected to be sworn in at 11.25am local time (4.25pm UK time).
The 40-year-old will take the oath read by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on a bible given to him by his great-grandmother.
Mr Trump is expected to take the oath at around 11.40am local time (4.40pm UK time).
Image: The US Capitol building ahead of the inauguration. Pic: Reuters
He will use both a family Bible and the one used by President Abraham Lincoln at his 1861 inauguration as chief justice John Roberts administers his oath.
Mr Trump will then deliver his inaugural address, which is expected to last just over 30 minutes and will likely be watched by millions of people across the world.
The ceremony will take place inside the Capitol Rotunda after it was moved indoors because of what is forecast to be the coldest inauguration day in 40 years.
It is not clear how the ceremony will be adapted to the setting, but only a fraction of the originally expected crowd will be allowed in.
Former presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will be in attendance, in keeping with former incumbents of the White House attending inauguration day.
Neither gave an explanation as to why they were skipping the ceremony.
Image: Organisers prepare the Capitol Rotunda for the swearing-in ceremony. Pic: AP
A cadre of billionaires and tech titans who have sought to curry favour with Mr Trump and have donated handsomely to his inaugural festivities, including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, will also be in attendance.
Following Mr Trump’s inaugural address, there will be a ceremonial farewell to Mr Biden and Ms Harris at 12.40pm local time (5.40pm UK time).
Mr Trump and Mr Vance will head to the President’s Room just off the Senate Chamber in the US Capitol for a signing ceremony watched by members of Congress at around 12.50pm local time (5.50pm UK time).
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1:10
Trump shows off his dance moves
An hour later the new president and vice president will attend a luncheon at Statuary Hall in the US Capitol hosted by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.
Mr Obama, Mr Clinton and Mr Bush will not attend the luncheon despite receiving invites, Sky News’ US partner network NBC News has reported.
At around 3.50pm local time (8.50pm UK time), Mr Trump and the new first lady will travel to the Capitol One Arena for the parade celebrations to start.
Image: JD Vance is preparing to be sworn in as vice president. Pic: AP
The original plan for a traditional parade down Pennsylvania Avenue has been turned into an indoor event because of the cold.
Mr Trump will speak to his gathered supporters at the arena, where many of the people who had planned to watch the swearing-in ceremony outside will have watched a live broadcast of the inauguration instead.
The event is expected to feature remarks from Mr Trump and marching bands.
The new president will then head to the White House for an Oval Office signing ceremony at 5pm local time (10pm UK time).
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During Mr Trump’s speech on Sunday, he promised to sign close to 100 executive orders on his first day in office, including repealing “every radical and foolish executive order of the Biden administration”.
Country music band Rascal Flatts and country singer Parker McCollum will perform at the Commander in Chief Inaugural Ball, which is geared toward military service members.
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1:10
Trump shows off his dance moves
Meanwhile, the US rapper Nelly and disco band The Village People are scheduled to appear at the Liberty Inaugural Ball which is geared towards Mr Trump’s supporters.
Singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw will perform at the Starlight Ball, at which guests are expected to be big donors of the incoming president.
Mr Trump’s return to the White House marks a stunning comeback after he overcame criminal indictments and two assassination attempts to regain the presidency.
It also comes after he lost the 2020 election, before denying his defeat and attempting to cling on to power.
He directed his supporters to march on the Capitol while legislators were certifying the election results, sparking a riot that interrupted the country’s traditional peaceful transfer of power.
Donald Trump has confirmed he will meet Sir Keir Starmer “very soon” after the prime minister “asked to come” to the US.
Mr Trump discussed details of his phone call with Sir Keir while taking questions from the media in the White House’s Oval Office on Friday.
“He asked for a meeting, and I agreed to the meeting,” the US president told reporters.
“We’re going to have a friendly meeting – very good.”
Image: Donald Trump and Keir Starmer will meet ‘very soon’, the president indicated. Pic: Reuters
He added: “We have a lot of good things going on. But he asked to come and see me and I just accepted his asking.”
The date for their meeting is unknown. When pressed, Mr Trump said it will happen “very soon”.
“I think he wants to come next week… or the week after,” he added.
When asked by a reporter what they will discuss, Mr Trump said: “I don’t know. It was his request, not mine.”
“I met him twice already, we get along very well, he’s a very nice guy,” the president said of Sir Keir.
Image: Sir Keir Starmer meets with the US Special Envoy to the UK, Mark Burnett and others. Pic: Instagram/USA in UK
The call between the president and prime minister is understood to have happened on Thursday during Sir Keir’s meeting with Mark Burnett, Washington’s special envoy to the UK.
The prime minister and Mr Burnett discussed the UK-US ‘special relationship’, and potential “further collaboration” on trade, technology, and culture.
An Instagram story for the US Embassy in London said that, during the dinner, President Trump called Mr Burnett, who “passed the phone to the PM”.
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A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “The prime minister was pleased to host President Trump’s special envoy to the United Kingdom, Mark Burnett, at Downing Street last night, during which he took a call from President Trump and discussed his forthcoming visit to the US.”
She added: “Mr Burnett and the prime minister agreed on the unique and special nature of the UK-US relationship, the strength of our alliance, and the warmth of the connection between the two countries.”
Sir Keir’s upcoming trip comes as the United Kingdom faces the potential threat of trade tariffs set by the US.
Mr Trump announced plans to impose “reciprocal tariffs”on all countries that impose extra costs on goods from the US, including countries which charge VAT on goods, like the UK.
The US president has promised to target countries which charge tax on US imports by matching them with a reciprocal tariff.
Donald Trump has ordered his team to start calculating duties by early April – increasing fears of a global trade war that could also accelerate US inflation.
“On trade, I have decided for purposes of fairness, that I will charge a reciprocal tariff, meaning whatever countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them. No more, no less,” he posted on Truth Social.
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2:45
What is America’s trade position?
It is set to spark negotiations with dozens of countries aimed at lowering their tariffs and trade barriers. The US wants to shrink its goods trade deficit which topped $1.2trn (£954bn) last year.
A White House official said that countries with large US trade surpluses could be targeted first. The top five are China, Mexico, Vietnam, Ireland and Germany, according to the US Census Bureau.
Taken at face value Donald Trump’s embrace of reciprocal tariffs is a declaration of total trade war.
It would amount to perhaps the single biggest peacetime shock to global commerce.
In promising to levy import taxes on any nation that imposes tariffs or VAT on US exports, he is following through on a campaign promise.
The aim is to address a near trillion dollar trade deficit – the difference between the value of America’s exports and its imports – that he believes amounts to a tax on American jobs.
In response, he wants to deploy tariffs to simultaneously ease the US deficit and – in theory – price out imports in favour of domestic production.
His primary targets appear to be the major trading partners with whom the trading deficit is greatest.
It is a blow to the emerging view in Whitehall that Britain might wriggle through the chaos relatively unscathed.
UK government minister Pat McFadden told Sky News’ Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge that Britain will take a “wait and see” approach when it comes to the tariffs. He refused to say if the government would retaliate.
The UK could be hit with tariffs as high as 24% if Mr Trump follows through on his threats to treat VAT as a tariff, according to Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital Economics.
Although some estimates are lower, he thinks Britain would be the fourth hardest hit, following India (29%), Brazil (28%) and the EU (25%).
This is based on VAT rates combined with existing tariffs, but the Trump administration also intends to take into account regulations, government subsidies, digital services taxation policies and exchange rate policies.
“Most people would consider VAT to be a non-discriminatory tax since it is also applied to domestically-produced goods making a level playing field,” said Mr Ashworth.
But the US still argues that VAT is a form of discriminatory tariff because America applies a much lower average sales tax at state level.
Image: Narendra Modi and Donald Trump at the White House. Pic: AP
On Thursday, Mr Trump also held a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, agreeing to join forces on artificial intelligence, semiconductors and strategic minerals.
During a news conference afterwards, Mr Trump said India has been “very strong on tariffs” and “it’s very hard to sell into India”, adding: “They’re going to be purchasing a lot of our oil and gas.”
India’s tariff rates are the highest, according to the World Trade Organisation, with a simple average 17% rate for all products compared to 3.3% for the US.
Taken at face value Donald Trump’s embrace of reciprocal tariffs is a declaration of total trade war, that would amount to perhaps the single biggest peacetime shock to global commerce.
In promising to levy import taxes on any nation that imposes tariffs or VAT on US exports, he is following through on a campaign promise to address a near trillion dollar trade deficit – the difference between the value of America’s exports and its imports – that he believes amounts to a tax on American jobs.
In response, he wants to deploy tariffs as an “external revenue service”, simultaneously easing the US deficit and, so the theory goes, pricing out imports in favour of domestic production.
With a promise to reestablish industries, from chip production lost to Taiwan, and car and pharmaceutical manufacturing to Europe, he is promising a country-by-country tailored assault on the status quo.
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3:52
Donald Trump unveils new tariffs for trading partners
Risk to Britain remains uncertain
His primary targets appear to be the major trading partners with whom the trading deficit is greatest.
Mexico and Canada, the European Union (whose 10% tariff on US cars is a particular irritation), as well as the ‘BRICS’ nations – Brazil, Russia, India (which imposes 9% tariffs on US imports), China and South Africa.
What it means for the UK will not be certain until the details are revealed in April, but it is a blow to the emerging view in Whitehall that Britain might wriggle through the chaos relatively unscathed.
To begin with, the US runs a trade surplus with the UK – in a quirk of statistics, the UK thinks it has a surplus too – and Brexit has placed it outside the EU bloc with the ability at least in theory to be more agile.
The UK also imposes direct tariffs on very few US goods following a deal in 2021, brokered by then trade secretary Liz Truss, that removed tariffs on denim and motorcycles bound for Britain, and cashmere and Scotch whisky heading the other way.
But we do add VAT to imports, and Mr Trump’s threat to treat the sales tax as a tariff by another name will chill British exporters.
Image: Donald Trump accepts his tariffs will be inflationary for the US. Pic: AP
Tariffs set to raise prices in US
Analysts have estimated tariffs could add 21% to the cost of exports, amounting to a £24bn blow to national income.
Pharmaceuticals, cars, chemicals, scientific instruments and the aerospace industry – the main components of our £182bn US export trade – will all be potentially affected.
But the pain will certainly be shared.
Tariffs are paid by the importer, not the exporter, and even Mr Trump accepts they will be inflationary.
Rising prices on Main Street could yet be the biggest brake on the president’s tariff plan.