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.
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).
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).
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.
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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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.
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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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 said he will declare an emergency at the US-Mexico border as one of a host of executive orders the incoming president will sign on Monday and in the coming days.
Incoming White House officials have said the first wave of executive orders will cover a mix of campaign trail promises, reversals of outgoing President Joe Biden’s policies and restructuring of the federal government workforce.
One of the most high-profile orders will be Mr Trump declaring a national emergency on the US-Mexico border as part of a wider crackdown on immigration and other cross-border crimes.
Sky News’ US partner NBC News has reported Mr Trump is expected to sign more than 50 executive orders on Monday, and possibly more than 100, citing a person in his transition operation.
Border and immigration
On the border, Mr Trump said he would declare a national emergency in his inaugural speech.
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During the inauguration ceremony, Mr Trump said: “All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places they came.
“I will end the practice of catch and release and I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.
“Under the orders I sign today we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organisations.”
However, the border emergency is not the only one Mr Trump intends to declare.
During his speech, the president said he would also declare “a national energy emergency”, adding: “We will drill baby drill.”
He continued: “We will be a rich nation again, and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it.”
NBC News reported this is aimed at expanding the administration’s ability to improve domestic energy production.
Alongside that, he reportedly will: allow more drilling both offshore and on federal lands, end a freeze on liquid natural gas exports and cut off climate-related funding that was approved under the Inflation Reduction Act signed by President Biden.
In another executive order, Mr Trump reportedly will implement Schedule F.
This eliminates job protections for potentially thousands of federal workforce positions, which could make it easier to fire them.
Gender and diversity
Matching talking points from the campaign trail, Mr Trump said it would be government policy, through an executive order, that there would only be two genders recognised by the US government – male and female.
Speaking on Martin Luther King Jr Day he also promised to slash diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, saying: “This week, I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.
“We will forge a society that is colour-blind and merit-based.
“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the US government that there are only two genders, male and female.”
Mr Trump also intends to reverse an order by President Biden that allows transgender people to serve openly in the military in their self-identified gender.
The order also provided greater access to medical care and even support for gender transition.
The Pentagon and military
Alongside that, NBC News said that Mr Trump would reverse two other decisions by the Democrat who beat him in the 2020 election.
One would change the location of the US Space Command headquarters, moving it from Colorado to Alabama.
The other would reverse a 2022 decision that provided paid leave and reimbursed transportation costs for troops and dependents who travelled out of state for abortion and other reproductive care.
TikTok and Hunter Biden
Mr Trump has said he would sign an extension for TikTok to find a buyer, to comply with the law that went into effect on Sunday.
Mr Trump would also reportedly suspend security clearance for 51 national security officials who signed a letter saying that Hunter Biden’s emails and laptop had the hallmarks of a Russian operation.
“Hats off! No bags! No drinks, no food, no water, no nothing. Everything out of your pockets. Come on – let’s go, let’s go let’s go!”
Security’s tough at the front of the line. There is a real sense of urgency.
It is bitterly cold outside Washington’s Capital One Arena and people have been queuing since 3.30am. Everyone’s keen to get in.
The queue snakes all the way around the back of the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Library and down the block.
Inauguration Day happens to coincide with MLK Day (Martin Luther King Jr Day) this year. There was meant to be an outside match to commemorate that too, but it’s been cancelled because of the cold.
It’s now 7am and the queue starts moving. There’s a huge cheer at the front.
Despite the freezing temperatures and wind chill, people are excited. They came here for Trump, and it would have been colder on the National Mall in any case. They’re psyched.
“I spent so much money on my bills – they’re gonna go down, everything’s gonna go down and my pay rate is gonna go up,” says Dan French, who’s dressed as Uncle Sam.
Tabitha agrees. “New York, where I’m from, is a hot mess,” she says. “Everything is expensive, housing, food. Trump is going to come in and clean this up.”
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Donald Trump is now the 47th president of the United States, as well as the 45th president, a businessman – and a man who knows how to put on a show.
A litany of former presidents, Trump family members, tech royalty and world politicians attended the historic event.
As the 78-year-old entered the Rotunda, where the inauguration ceremony was moved to due to freezing temperatures outside, he was met with cheers and applause.
He reached for his wife Melania, who he awkwardly tried to kiss, and greeted his predecessor, Joe Biden, who was standing opposite the Trump family with now-former vice president Kamala Harris beside him.
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Mr Trump and Melania share awkward kiss
Former US presidents in attendance included Bill Clinton with his wife, former presidential candidate and Trump rival Hilary Clinton.
Barack Obama was also there but without his wife Michelle, while George Bush attended with his wife Laura.
The newly-elected president gave his oath with his hands on two bibles, one given to him by his mother and the other being the Lincoln Bible, first used in 1861 to swear in the 16th US president.
The Republican, whose first term in power lasted between 2016 and 2020, then gave a speech in which he announced some sweeping measures on migration, climate change and gender rights.
On the eve of his inauguration, Mr Trump held a final rally in Washington DC, where he hinted at a blizzard of executive orders he would sign once he was back in the Oval Office.
He was joined on stage by Elon Musk, his new government efficiency tsar, and then had a boogie with none other than the Village People, as they sang their hit YMCA.
After a candlelit dinner at the National Building Museum, he headed back to Blair House, known as The President’s Guest House, to prepare for one of the biggest days in the US political calendar.
On Monday morning, the inauguration began. It started at St John’s Church, known as the “Church of the Presidents”.
It is one of the most private events of an inauguration, with no TV cameras allowed inside the small, yellow church.
After the intimate prayer service, incoming vice president JD Vance went to meet outgoing VP Kamala Harris with their respective partners at the White House.
The Trumps headed to tea with the Bidens before the four of them were driven together to the swearing-in ceremony.
When Joe Biden was sworn in four years ago, then president Trump did not afford him the same tradition and instead skipped the whole inauguration.
While the 46th and 47th presidents took tea, the Rotunda filled with guests and musicians.
On the streets of Washington, thousands gathered to watch it live on screens.