Influencers, tech bros, MMA fighters: Trump’s inauguration guests
A host of less familiar faces mingled with former presidents, family members and US officials at Donald Trump’s inauguration.
From tech billionaires to social media influencers, here’s your guide to the star-studded guest list.
Tech billionaires
Trump’s close and controversial friendship with X owner Elon Musk is well known but Musk wasn’t the only tech chief at Monday’s inauguration.
Mark Zuckerberg, who earlier this month announced Meta was to get rid of factcheckers and “dramatically reduce the amount of censorship” on its platforms, was also there.
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Getty Images
ReutersTikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew also made an appearance.
It comes as TikTok is resuming service in the US after Trump said he would issue an executive order to give the app a reprieve.
Trump previously backed a ban on the platform but on Sunday promised to delay its implementation and allow more time for a deal to be reached with the app.
Reuters
Reuters
EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockInfluencers and celebrities
Another tech billionaire in the audience was Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who was pictured posing for a group selfie with boxer and influencer Jake Paul, and Paul’s brother, wrestler and influencer Logan.
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Getty ImagesLogan and Jake Paul also shared a selfie of them travelling to the inauguration with controversial Irish MMA fighter Conor McGregor.
Last year McGregor lost a civil case where he was accused of raping Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel in December 2018.
The Paul brothers have also had their own controversies. In 2021, Jake Paul denied sexually assaulting TikTok star Justine Paradise, after she accused him online.
At the end of last year, Logan Paul faced fresh questions over his cryptocurrency dealings amid ongoing concerns he may have profited from misleading fans. Paul denied any wrongdoing.
ReutersMedia names
EPA-EFE/REX/ShutterstockControversial podcaster Joe Rogan was also seen in the inauguration crowd.
In 2020, Rogan endorsed Democrat candidate Bernie Sanders but shortly before the 2024 election, he endorsed Trump.
At times, Rogan’s editorial approach has landed him in hot water – for example, during the Covid pandemic, when he was accused of spreading vaccine misinformation.
In 2022, Rogan apologised after footage emerged of him repeatedly using the n-word in early episodes of his show.
Getty ImagesRupert Murdoch, chairman emeritus of News Corporation, which owns Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the Sun and the Times, was pictured with his fifth wife Elena Zhukova.
Mr Murdoch, 93, married the retired Russian biologist last year in a ceremony at his Californian vineyard.
Former presidents
All four of the living former presidents attended, as is customary.
Much has been made in the media of Michelle Obama not accompanying her husband, Barack, who cut a solitary figure as he walked into the Rotunda.
Obama lined up at the front of the stage alongside George W Bush and Bill Clinton.
Getty ImagesForeign dignitaries
World leaders and politicians made the ceremony too. One familiar face was former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
When Johnson came to power in 2019, Trump called him “a good man”, adding: “They call him Britain’s Trump.”
Getty ImagesOthers included Italy’s far-right prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, Argentina’s maverick libertarian president, Javier Milei, and China’s vice president, Han Zheng.
Javier Milei has been described by both supporters and detractors as “crazy” and during his presidential campaign in 2023, he brandished a chainsaw to symbolise his determination to substantially cut public spending.
He appeared to be a popular figure at the inauguration, posing for selfies with several US representatives.
Reuters
ReutersThe Trump family
Trump’s family packed on to the stage to gather around him as he was sworn in.
Lined up behind Trump and his wife Melania were Barron, 18, Donald Junior, 47, Ivanka, 43 and Tiffany, 31, who was side on to the camera. Eric, 41, can be seen behind Ivanka.
Getty ImagesOutgoing President Joe Biden watched Trump speak from the sidelines.
In the background were Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (mostly hidden by JD Vance), Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk.
ReutersHere’s a reminder of who’s who in the Trump family:
Notable absences
Some notable figures decided to give the inauguration a miss. Barack Obama attended without his wife Michelle, who announced last week that she would not be there, despite attending Trump’s first swearing-in in 2017. Her office did not provide an explanation.
Also missing was Karen Pence, the wife of former Vice President Mike Pence, with whom Trump had a falling out over Pence’s refusal to overturn the 2020 election results.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a long-time Democratic leader and Trump adversary, also did not attend, having recently undergone hip replacement surgery.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a leading figure in the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, announced she would skip the inauguration in a widely-shared video on Instagram on Sunday.
Who sat where?
Sitting closest to Trump were former President Joe Biden and entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Last year, Trump said he would create an advisory agency called the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), to be headed by Ramaswamy and Elon Musk.
To Trump’s left, close family members rubbed shoulders with Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.
To Trump’s right, media mogul Rupert Murdoch sat alongside world leaders including the Italian prime minister and the president of Argentina.
The prominence of the world’s most powerful businessmen may be setting the tone for Trump’s second term.
Last week, Democrat Senators Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bennett, shared a letter addressed to the tech executives, accusing them of trying to “cozy up” to Trump “to avoid scrutiny, limit regulation and buy favor”.
But for now, Trump appears to be enjoying being surrounded by the rich and the powerful.
As he wrote on social media last month: “Everybody wants to be my friend!!!”