On January 20th, 2025, Donald John Trump was inaugurated as President of the United States.

The second inauguration cements a stunning political comeback, making Trump only the second president in U.S. history (after Grover Cleveland) to serve non-consecutive terms.
My family and a friend and I traveled to Washington D.C. to witness the inauguration. It gave us an opportunity to do some sightseeing in our nation’s capital, always an exciting city to visit.

Because of the cold, the ceremony was not held outside the capitol as usual, but inside the capitol, in the rotunda. Thus only a relatively small amount of people could see it live.
So we watched the ceremony with 20,000 others on a jumbotron screen in D.C.’s Capital One arena. Later in the day, President Trump and his retinue arrived to the arena for another program so we did see Trump in the flesh that day.
This was the 60th presidential inauguration. I had some time to tally them up, and yes, sure enough, it’s true, if you go back to the first inauguration in 1789, the 2025 one is the 60th.
One of the opening prayers was offered by Franklin Graham, son of the late evangelist Billy Graham.

Before praying, Franklin Graham spoke to Trump: “Mr. President, the last four years there were times I’m sure you thought it was pretty dark, but look what God has done. We praise him and give him glory.”
I thought Graham’s prayer was so impressive I copy it here in its entirety:
“Our Father and our God, thou has said blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. As the prophet Daniel prayed, blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his. He changes the times and the seasons, he removes kings, he raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.
“Our Father, today as President Donald J. Trump takes the oath of office once again, we come to say thank you, O Lord our God.
“Father, when Donald Trump’s enemies thought he was down and out, you and you alone saved his life and raised him up with strength and power by your mighty hand. We pray for President Trump, that you watch over, protect, guide, direct him, give him your wisdom from your throne on high. We ask that you bless him and that our nation also be blessed through him. We also ask that you bless and protect Melania, his first lady. We thank you for the beauty, the warmth and grace that she shows not only to this nation, but to the whole world.
“We thank you for Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife, Usha, and their young family. May he be a strength to President Trump to stand beside him to hold up his arms, like Aaron held up the arms of Moses in the midst of battle. The prophet Samuel reminded the people it was you who brought them up from the land of Egypt and he said now, ‘Stand still, so that I may reason with you before the Lord.’ So Father, we take this moment to stand still to remember the great things that you have done for this nation.
“Father, thank you for the protection, the bounty, the freedoms that we so enjoy. We remember to keep our eyes fixed on you and may our hearts be included to your voice. We know that America can never be great again if we turn our backs on you. We ask for your help.
“We pray all of this in the name of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, your Son, my Savior and our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.”
Amen!
After that came the oaths. Customarily, the Vice-President is sworn in before the president. So J.D. Vance took the vice-presidential oath, which is longer than the presidential oath.
Then, Donald J. Trump took the oath of office and became president of the United States, again.
Trump’s inaugural address was not a typical one, sounding more like a campaign speech, setting forth specific things he planned to do.
Country music superstar Carrie Underwood, of Checotah, Oklahoma, sang “America the Beautiful”. For some reason I didn’t catch this until reading about it afterward, but she did it a capella because of a sound problem, but it was a great rendition anyway. A great singer isn’t limited by technology and kudos to Carrie for carrying on.

Carrie Underwood sings. Source: Pool
https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/president-trumps-inauguration-carrie-underwood-masterclass-handling-awkward-moments/91109786
After the inaugural ceremony was over, we stayed in the Capital One arena, waiting for the later program.
In the interim were some speeches by various speakers, including Peter Navarro, Charlie Kirk, Kash Patel and Elon Musk.
Eventually, President Donald Trump, his family, J.D. Vance and family, the entire retinue, arrived and were seated at the end of the arena, in order to watch the parade. It was something like a royal court.
Barron Trump, the son of Donald and Melania, was a big hit, and the crowd several times chanted “Barron! Barron!” Trump’s youngest son is very tall (6 foot seven) and princely, and was seated next to his maternal grandfather, Viktor Knavs, father of Melania.
Barron, by the way, is a native speaker of both English and Slovenian, his mother’s native language, so can converse with his grandfather in that Slavic tongue.

Barron and his grandfather. Source: Getty
https://www.soapcentral.com/humor/he-s-missing-dinosaur-fans-react-hilariously-viral-ai-generated-video-barron-donald-trump-s-remarkable-height-difference
The parade was held in the arena. Participants included first responders from Butler, Pennsylvania, where Trump was shot and survived last summer; a couple of groups of bagpipers; a high school marching band from J.D. Vance’s hometown of Middletown, Ohio; and the marching band of Mississippi Valley State University, an HBCU which put on quite a show.
Afterwards, President Trump delivered a speech and signed some of his now-famous executive orders.
Finally, it was over so we started on our journey home.
Donald Trump is back in the presidency, and we had the privilege of being there in D.C. when it started.
Pray for President Trump.
Tags: Aaron, Barron Trump, Carrie Underwood, Charlie Kirk, Daniel, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Franklin Graham, God, J.D. Vance, Jesus Christ, Kash Patel, Melania Trump, MIddletown in Ohio, Mississippi Valley State University, Moses, Ohio, Peter Navarro, Presidential Inauguration, Samuel, Slovenian, The Bible, Usha Vance, Viktor Knavs, Washington D.C.