Ukrainian Ambassador Markarova attends Trump's inauguration
Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova is attending the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President J. D. Vance.
"The inauguration of President Trump and Vice President Vance will start in 30 minutes," the ambassador said on Facebook, attaching a photo from the ceremony.
The swearing-in of Donald Trump and Vice President J. D. Vance, as well as the president's inauguration speech, will start at noon in the United States (19:00 Kyiv time).
The guests have already taken their seats before Trump's inauguration ceremony. Among them are businessman and inventor Elon Musk, Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni and Argentine President Javier Milei; Chinese Vice President Han Zheng; former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush Jr. and Barack Obama, entrepreneurs Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos.
After Trump's inauguration speech, outgoing President Joe Biden is expected to leave the ceremony by helicopter, in accordance with tradition.
Trump will then sign a number of key documents in the presidential room in the Capitol building. In particular, Trump announced plans to sign a series of executive orders on his first day in office regulating various areas – from border security to oil and gas production.
After that, the president and his wife will go to a dinner organized by the Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies of the U.S. Congress.
Later, the parade in honor of the presidential inauguration will begin. It was originally planned to go from the Capitol building along Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, but due to bad weather it was moved to the Capital One Arena. The last time this happened was in 1985, when Ronald Reagan took the oath of office in the Capitol Rotunda.
According to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, about 800 people are expected to attend Trump's inauguration in the Capitol Rotunda, another 1,300 in Emancipation Hall, and another 500 in the theater at the Capitol Visitor Center.
About 2,600 people are expected to attend the inauguration in the Capitol building, CNN said.
