From a Cryptoball with A-Listers and Billionaires, to a Victory Rally full of MAGA supporters– we have the details of the kickoff events that encompassed Donald J. Trump’s second nonconsecutive Presidency.
TOPSHOT – Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump holds the Bible during the 60th Presidential Inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Photo by Morry Gash / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MORRY GASH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Maliyah Simone, CRDN
January 22, 2025
On January 20th, 2025, half of the nation celebrated the reelection of Donald J. Trump while the other half of America had been dreading his inauguration into office since the night of the election when it was confirmed Donald J. Trump would become the 47th President of the United States.
The weeks leading up to the inauguration have been full of highs and lows for both Democrats and Republicans alike. January 6th, 2025 brought the certification of Trump’s reelection from the US Congress– a high for the Republicans. January 10th brought his sentencing of federal crimes, effectively making him the first President to hold office as a felon– an obvious high for the Democrats.
Inauguration Weekend: Cryptoball & Victory Rally
As the Trump Administration prepared to take office, events were planned in celebration of Trump’s victory. Most notably the Cryptoball, which took place on Friday night. In attendance were countless billionaires, Trump’s political allies, as well as some notable performers including SnoopDogg, Rick Ross, Nelly, and Soulja Boy.
SnoopDogg received quite a bit of backlash for his participation in the event as fans recalled the rapper’s previous opinions about Trump. In a video SnoopDogg released in 2017 to the remix of the song Lavender, Snoop holds a toy gun pointed at a character with a stark likeness to Trump; when he pulls the trigger a banner pops out from the barrel with the word: ‘BANG’. At the time fans of the rapper showed their support for the fake assassination; however, after his performance at the Cryptoball Snoop’s fans have been left reeling, unsure of what has changed for the rapper. Some have even called for the ‘cancelling’ of SnoopDogg and his music.
Despite the criticism from former fans, Snoop seemed unfazed by the negative comments. He later reposted a clip from the evening on Instagram from fellow performer Rick Ross with the caption: “Got a real Crip up in the Cryptoball, bang bang.”
On Sunday January 19th, the ‘Victory Rally’ was scheduled to be held in DC– the day before the inauguration– at the CapitalOne Arena. Crowds began arriving in the US capital days before the eventful weekend. However, many supporters had part of their dreams quashed when Trump announced that the initial plan to conduct the inauguration outside the Capitoll Building had to be changed on account of inclement weather; instead, the proceedings took place in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building where the general public was not permitted to enter.
Fortunately for the MAGA crowds, the Victory Rally venue allowed for thousands to go in and party with the man himself. Speakers included JD Vance, Elon Musk, and Megyn Kelly while performers like The Village People, Kid Rock, and Billy Ray Cyrus took to the stage to pay tribute to the 47th President.
Donald Trump took the opportunity to drive-home his day one policies in his rally address on immigration, auto manufacturer’s, and energy. Throughout his speech Trump managed to take credit for the Hamas/Israel ceasefire deal, claim credit for the return of social media app TikTok, and hinted at plans to pardon all J6 criminals.
Inauguration Day Holds to Traditions
Inauguration Day 2025 stuck to a majority of its previous traditions. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden hosted the incumbent and his wife at the White House for a formal afternoon tea before both Trump and Biden rode in the same town car to the Capitol Building for the inauguration. Despite the freezing temperatures forcing the inauguration to be held indoors, the Rotunda was filled with politicians, foreign dignitaries and guests from across the globe. Most notably not in attendance were Former First Lady Michelle Obama, Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Former Second Lady Karen Pence.
Timothy Cardinal Dolan and the Rev. Franklin Graham delivered an invocation to open the event after former Presidents Joe Biden, Barrack Obama, George Bush, and Bill Clinton filed onto the stage; opera singer Christopher D. Macchio sang the National Anthem. The swearing in of JD Vance by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh preceded Carrie Underwood’s performance of America the Beautiful in concert with the Armed Forces Chorus and the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club.
President Donald J. Trump then took the presidential oath administered by Chief Justice John Roberts.
The inaugural address of his second presidency is not one that many will forget– Trump supporter or no. In his thirty minute monologue Donald Trump announced a multitude of executive orders he would be signing following the inauguration events.
“First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border,” Trump began as the crowd began to stand in applause. “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 from which they came.”
Perhaps the most controversial and egregious statements of the speech took aim at diversity and inclusion initiatives set in the Obama and Biden eras: “We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female.”
Among the most ludicrous of the orders was Trump’s plan to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of American. A plan that, in all context, has been given no real direction or purpose. In the live feed of the speech Former First Lady Hillary Clinton is seen openly laughing at the sentiment.
Trump ended his speech with the traditional statement: “God Bless America.”
Following his speech the new President did exactly as he promised, attending the signing ceremony as soon as the honorary departure of the outgoing President and Vice President had concluded. Donald Trump signed nearly 100 executive orders including one that would effectively end birthright citizenship. However, just because a President signs an executive order, it does not mean it becomes law. These orders will undergo countless checks and balances by various governing bodies; ultimately, the Constitution will be the deciding factor of what holds up and what does not.
The President concluded his day at the CapitalOne Arena for the Presidential parade which had to be moved indoors due to inclement weather.
How We Got Here: Election Night 2024
The Presidential race was called early Wednesday morning November 6th, 2024 after Trump managed to win over Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes. This win came alongside triumph in battleground states Georgia and North Carolina. Furthermore, the former president managed to obtain the popular vote across the nation.
This election was unprecedented for many reasons, but by far the most appalling has to be the reelection of a former president who has thirty-four felony convictions including fraud, sexual assault, libel, and election subversion.
The US Supreme Court ruled on July 1, 2024 that a sitting president shall be granted absolute immunity against any and all charges brought against them. The ruling came before the judge in Trump’s lawsuit– Judge Merchan– was set to proceed with sentencing on November 26th, 2024. However, the sentencing was postponed to January 10th, 2025 at which time Donald Trump received an unconditional discharge sentence. Trump’s legal team does plan to appeal Judge Merchan’s ruling, even threatening to go as high as the Supreme Court for dismissal of the charges.
Trump follows in the footsteps of Grover Cleveland, the only other president to win a non-consecutive reelection bid for office.
On the night of the election, analysts watched as the Harris campaign lost race after race, underperforming in key states which Joe Biden had previously led back in 2020.
Before the race was called, Harris Campaign Co-Chair Cedric Richmond took to the stage at Howard University where thousands of supporters had gathered in support of the Vice President.
“You won’t hear from the Vice President tonight, but you will hear from her tomorrow,” Richmond told the crowd.
Harris HQ’s message was clear— every vote must be counted and every voice heard.
It’s now clear that the only path to victory for the Harris campaign would have been what’s known as the “Blue Wall” effect. A section of states across the Northern portion of the country including Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. However, as those three swing states began trending red, Donald Trump himself took to the stage at his campaign event in West Palm Beach, Florida on the night of the election.
“I would like to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president, and your 45th president,” Trump declared to a cheering crowd of supporters. “This will truly be the Golden Age of America.”
Many Americans are celebrating victory as countless others mourn what could have been. Social media is a mixture of both sorrow and triumph as US citizens look ahead towards the future. Democrats in red states and blue post across the nation about their disbelief in this unprecedented upset, as Republicans proclaim victory.
It is still unclear what the next four years hold for America. The unease surrounding this win has left many confused, angry, and hopeless. If Sunday afternoon’s rally and Monday morning’s inauguration speech are any indication, we are in for a whirlwind over the next four years.