This was CNBC's coverage of President Donald J. Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, and his first day in office.
President Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. He is only the second ever to be elected to serve two non-consecutive terms.
Supreme Court Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to Trump, after Vice President JD Vance was sworn in by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Following his official inauguration in the Capitol, Trump went downtown and signed some of his first executive orders before an audience of 20,000 supporters at the Capital One Arena in Washington.
He then moved to Oval Office, where he issued "full pardons" to approximately 1,500 people who were charged in relation to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
He also signed a closely watched executive order which effectively halted, for at least 75 days, the enforcement of a law that would ban TikTok in the United States.
This was just one of more than 40 orders Trump signed during his first day in office. He also revoked 78 executive orders that were issued by former President Joe Biden.
Moments before Trump was sworn in, Biden issued final clemencies of his own: A blanket pardon for his brother, James Biden; James' wife, Sara Jones Biden; his younger sister, Valerie Biden Owens; Owens' husband, John Owens; and his other brother, Francis Biden.
More than a dozen CNBC reporters covered Trump's second Inauguration Day both on air and online, reporting from Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Trump said he is signing pardons for approximately 1,500 people charged with crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot by his supporters, and also commuted the sentences of about a dozen defendants in such cases.
"These are the hostages," Trump said in the Oval Office.
More than 140 police officers were injured in the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, who followed his call to march on the complex that day to protest the certification of Biden's Electoral College victory.
"This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation," Trump's order on the pardons and commutations says.
"Acting pursuant to the grant of authority in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution of the United States, I do hereby:
(a) commute the sentences of the following individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, to time served as of January 20, 2025:
• Stewart Rhodes
• Kelly Meggs
• Kenneth Harrelson
• Thomas Caldwell
• Jessica Watkins
• Roberto Minuta
• Edward Vallejo
• David Moerschel
• Joseph Hackett
• Ethan Nordean
• Joseph Biggs
• Zachary Rehl
• Dominic Pezzola
• Jeremy Bertino"
- Dan Mangan
Vice President JD Vance last week said that U.S. Capitol riot defendants who committed violence "obviously" should not be pardoned by Trump.
Vance's comments on Fox News came eight days before Trump issued a mass of pardons to defendants in Jan. 6, 2021, riot cases, many of whom violently attacked Capitol police.
Vance had said people who "protest peacefully" on Jan. 6 should receive pardons.
But "if you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned," he said.
More than 600 defendants were charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement agents or officers or obstructing those officers during a civil disorder. Those include nearly 175 people charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer;
— Dan Mangan
House speaker emerita Rep. Nancy Pelosi blasted Trump for pardoning about 1,500 defendants in cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot.
"The President's actions are an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution," Pelosi, D-California, said in a statement.
"It is shameful that the President has decided to make one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers who put their lives on the line to stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power," Pelosi said.
"Despite the President's decision, we must always remember the extraordinary courage and valor of the law enforcement heroes who stood in the breach and ensured that democracy survived on that dark day."
— Dan Mangan
Trump could be unlocking a payday for private prisons by revoking an executive order signed by Biden exactly four years ago.
From the Capital One Arena, the president revoked Executive Order 14006, which had barred the Department of Justice from renewing contracts with privately-operated detention facilities.
Trump's actions could reopen the door for private prisons to secure lucrative contracts with the Justice Department. It also marks a significant departure from the previous administration's policies on incarceration.
Private prisons have long faced criticism for putting profits ahead of inmate welfare, with concerns centering around poor living conditions, inadequate rehabilitation efforts, and cost-cutting measures that compromise safety. Critics also argue that the profit-driven model incentivizes higher incarceration rates rather than meaningful reform.
— MacKenzie Sigalos
Trump signed an executive order creating the Department of Government Efficiency, the Elon Musk-led advisory group tasked with slashing government waste.
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who was tapped to co-lead DOGE with Musk, confirmed earlier Monday that he would be leaving the group.
— Kevin Breuninger
Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys leader whom a jury convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. Capitol riot, is being processed for release from federal prison, his attorney told NBC News.
Tarrio, who is serving a 22-year prison sentence in Louisiana — the longest term of anyone convicted in relation to the riot — is expecting to soon get a grant of clemency from Trump, attorney Nayib Hassan told NBC.
"He is being processed out," Hassan said. "We do not know what type of clemency he is receiving."
Tarrio's mother, Zuny Tarrio, earlier wrote on X, "My son has is being released!!!! Omg! Lord thank you!!! TARRIO IS FREE!!!"
— Kevin Breuninger
Trump loosened what had been enhanced ethics rules for executive branch appointees by revoking an executive order signed by Biden exactly four years ago.
Executive Order 13989, as it was known, had required appointees to sign and agree to an additional ethics promise to "decision-making on the merits and exclusively in the public interest, without regard to private gain or personal benefit."
The order required appointees to commit to conduct that upheld" the independence of law enforcement and precludes improper interference with investigative or prosecutorial decisions of the Department of Justice."
It also required them to "commit to ethical choices of post-Government employment that do not raise the appearance that I have used my Government service for private gain, including by using confidential information acquired and relationships established for the benefit of future clients."
- Dan Mangan
The Senate confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of State, making him the first member of Trump's Cabinet to be appointed.
Rubio, who resigned as a U.S. senator from Florida to seek the post, breezed through on a 99-0 vote.
— Kevin Breuninger
Trump signed an executive order to begin withdrawing the United States from the landmark Paris climate agreement, as he moves to implement a sweeping energy agenda focus on increasing fossil fuel production.
The Paris agreement is an international voluntary accord that seeks to limit rising global temperatures.
— Spencer Kimball
Trump's first executive order revoked 78 orders signed by his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.
It was not immediately clear which of Biden's orders were being revoked.
Trump then signed orders intended to enact a "regulatory freeze" and a pause on federal hiring.
The announcements, from Trump's aide shortly before the orders were signed, drew loud cheers from the Capital One Arena.
— Kevin Breuninger
Trump said he will be signing "a lot" of pardons for his supporters who have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
"I'm gonna be signing, on the J6 hostages, pardons, to get them out," Trump said at the Capital One Arena.
"And as soon as I leave I'm going to be going to the Oval Office and we'll be signing pardons for a lot of people, a lot of people," he said.
— Kevin Breuninger
The head of the Transportation Security Administration, David Pekoske, said he was ousted from office by Trump's transition team before the new president's inauguration.
Pekoske said in a note to employees that Trump's transition team informed him this morning that "my time as your administrator will end at noon ET today." CNBC reviewed a copy of the memo, which was reported earlier by CNN.
A spokesman for the administration didn't immediately comment on Pekoske's departure or potential replacement.
Trump named Pekoske, a former U.S. Coast Guard Commandant, to the lead the TSA in 2017 during his first term as president. Pekoske was reconfirmed for a second five-year term in 2022, under former President Joe Biden. The agency has about 60,000 employees and screens passengers at more than 400 U.S. airports.
In December, Mike Whitaker, Federal Aviation Administration administrator, announced he would step down on Jan. 20 before Trump took office.
--Leslie Josephs
While Trump's inauguration pageantry was in full swing downtown, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted along party lines to advance Pete Hegseth's nomination for secretary of defense.
All 14 of the panel's Republicans voted in Hegseth's favor, and all 13 of its Democrats voted against him, NBC News reported. The nomination now heads to the full Senate for a final vote.
Hegseth's nomination was initially bogged down by allegations of sexual assault, drunkenness and mismanagement of veterans' nonprofits — all of which he has denied.
But after a contentious confirmation hearing last week, Hegseth's chances seemed to improve, with at least one Republican holdout coming out in favor of putting the combat veteran and former Fox News host in charge of the Pentagon.
— Kevin Breuninger
Lorenzo Sewell, the pastor who delivered a blessing at Trump's swearing in ceremony, announced a new meme coin named for him just hours after he prayed in the Capitol Rotunda.
With the move, Sewell joined Trump and his wife, Melania, in promoting digital currency coins in recent days, as the nation's eyes have been focused on the festivities in Washington.
So-called meme coins are a form of cryptocurrency that centers around public figures and online communities.
"The crypto community was kind enough to send me $Lorenzo, so I have permanently locked my tokens into a Liquidity Pool, so that I will never sell on the community but rather just earn fees as our token continues to flourish," Sewell wrote in an X post.
He added: "Amazing day, all the Glory to God!"
Sewell is senior pastor at 180 Church in Detroit. He did not respond immediately to CNBC's request for comment.
— Alex Harring
Trump has arrived at the Capital One Arena in downtown Washington to rally with supporters, many of whom have been here since very early in the day.
Trump is expected to sign several executive orders in front of the audience.
— Christina Wilkie
Mark Uyeda has been named acting chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission under Trump.
Uyeda is a Republican and a current commissioner of the SEC. The commission is expected to see a pullback in its work on regulation under Trump.
Trump has picked former commissioner Paul Atkins to lead the SEC full-time. But the position requires Senate confirmation, which will take some time. Atkins is known, in part, for his crypto-friendly positions.
— Alex Harring
Biden and Jill Biden have departed from Joint Base Andrews en route to Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Ynez, California, for what appears to be a post-presidency vacation.
"We're leaving office. We're not leaving the fight," Biden told a group of his former administration officials and staff who came to see him off at Andrews.
The last time the Bidens landed at the Santa Ynez airport was in August, when they spent a week on vacation at the ranch of friend and political donor Joe Kiani.
At the time, Joe Biden was president, and the couple traveled in a massive 30-vehicle motorcade that included a Secret Service counter assault team, an ambulance, a communications team and a bomb squad. Nearly everywhere Biden went, he was accompanied by a "protective pool" of reporters who chronicled his every move.
This time, however, the Bidens' plans after they land in California have not been provided to the White House press corps. And there won't be any reporters pre-positioned at the airport to accompany them on the next leg of their trip.
Instead, for the first time in four years, the Bidens will be something akin to private citizens. And their airport arrival will be closed to the press.
- Dan Mangan
Trump has signed several proclamations and designations for dozens of executive appointees, including 22 Cabinet-level positions and 93 other roles.
Trump also signed a proclamation ordering flags to fly at full staff for all future inauguration days, including this one. Flags had been flying at half staff in honor of President Jimmy Carter, who died Dec. 29.
The new president is expected to start signing his promised executive orders during an indoor rally event at D.C.'s Capital One Arena later Monday.
Those executive actions could include declaring a national emergency at the U.S. southern border and other measures aimed to crack down on illegal immigration. He is also poised to declare a "national energy emergency" and take other steps aimed at boosting U.S. energy production.
— Kevin Breuninger
Robert Salesses, deputy director of the Washington Headquarters Service at the Pentagon, will be acting secretary of defense while Trump's pick for the role awaits Senate confirmation, two officials told the Associated Press.
Salesses, a retired Marine, served in the Gulf War and has a Bronze Star, according to the AP. CNBC has not independently confirmed the appointment.
Trump needed to tap a senior executive at the Pentagon who had already received Senate approval. Salesses will lead the Defense Department until a secretary is confirmed. Trump has nominated former Fox News host Pete Hegseth for the post.
— Alex Harring, with AP reporting by Tara Copp and Lolita Baldor
The CBP One app is no longer allowing undocumented immigrants to submit information and schedule appointments at U.S. ports of entry, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.
"Existing appointments have been cancelled," the agency said.
Trump is poised to sign a slew of executive orders aiming to quash illegal immigration. One of them will invoke the Alien Enemies Act — which then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt used to enact a policy of Japanese internment during World War II — to try to clamp down on and remove criminal gang members from the country.
The crackdown comes as illegal entries have declined sharply during Biden's final year in office. Weeks earlier, the CBP said that encounters between ports of entry along the southwest border in November were down 76% from a year earlier.
— Kevin Breuninger