Donald and Melania Trump arrived at St. John’s church, a few feet from the White House, on Monday morning to kick start inauguration ceremonies.
The president-elect, wearing a dark suit and dark red tie, gave a thumb’s up to photographers. He was joined by Melania in a navy blue suit and matching hat with white trim. Their son Barron walked with them.
The Trump family joined them inside the Episcopal Church – Ivanka and Jared Kushner and their kids; Don Jr., his ex-wife Vanessa and their kids; and Eric and Lara Trump and their two children.
Incoming Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife Usha sat in the front pew with Donald, Melania and Barron.
Also in the church: Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard and Argentinian President Javier Milei.
Melania Trump and President-elect Donald Trump are greeted by Rev. Robert W. Fisher as they arrive for service at St. John’s Church
After the church ceremony, Donald and Melania will make the short trip to the White House to have tea with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden.
The two couples will then ride together to Capitol Hill for Trump’s swearing-in as president.
The ceremony has been moved inside the Capitol rotunda due to the below freezing weather and cold winds in Washington D.C. Much of the ground is frozen and icy from Sunday’s rain and snow fall.
Biden and Trump haven’t spoken since shortly after the election, when Biden welcomed the president-elect to the Oval Office.
Trump, in the interim, has blasted the out-going president for being ‘sneaky’ during the transition process by setting up a series of roadblocks designed to hinder his first days in office.
Biden, for his part, started off the morning with a series of presumptive pardons for those who might face Trump retribution: General Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Rep. Liz Cheney.
He got a final security briefing as commander in chief. After Trump is sworn in, the Bidens will board Marine One at the Capitol and head to Joint Base Andrews, where Biden will give farewell remarks. The couple then heads to California for some time with family.
Trump has been in Washington D.C. since Saturday, celebrating his second term in office. He and his supporters celebrated with fireworks at his Trump Golf Club in Sterling, Va.
On Sunday, he addressed supporters at a rally at the Capitol One Arena. And then he joined supporters at a candlelight dinner.
When Trump returns to the White House on Monday afternoon, it will be as president of the United States.
He plans an immediate blitz of executive orders, designed to overturn many Biden initiatives. He’ll have a crackdown on illegal immigration, put tariffs on trading partners and pardon supporters who were prosecuted for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
