Live updates: Follow the latest on Donald Trump’s inauguration
Donald Trump will be sworn in as US President on Monday, capping a remarkable political comeback and starting a second term in office that will see swift changes in foreign policy, including in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Tall metal fencing has sprung up around Washington, checkpoints have been prepared and thousands of police officers are being sent across the US capital to oversee the inauguration, a ceremonial day filled with pomp and circumstance, not to mention politicians and celebrities.
On Friday, officials announced that the swearing-in and other inaugural events will be held indoors in the US Capitol rotunda, while the inaugural parade will take place in the Capitol One Arena in Washington, due to temperatures forecast as low as minus 6°C for the event at noon as an Arctic weather front grips the northern US.
About 250,000 people have tickets to the day's events, which normally sees thousands of spectators lining the capital's streets and watch musical performances, parades and fireworks.
At his first inauguration in 2017, Mr Trump drew ridicule after he claimed “a million and a half people” had come to watch his event, when in reality there were far fewer than at Barack Obama's first inauguration in 2009. No doubt, Monday's crowd size will be closely monitored as the president-elect remains fixated on supporter numbers.
From the steps of the Capitol Building, President Joe Biden will ceremoniously end his four-year term, and hand over the reins to Mr Trump, who will then take the oath of office. It will be a historic moment in US politics, as it was only four years ago that Mr Trump finished his first term under a cloud, having refused to concede defeat.
Members of Congress, relatives and former and current officials will be in attendance. The ceremony will stand in sharp contrast to Mr Biden's inauguration in 2021, when Mr Trump broke with decades of tradition and refused to attend amid his false claims that the 2020 election had been rigged.
Then, the nation was in the grips of the Covid-19 pandemic that killed more than one million Americans, and voters were ready to move on from Mr Trump's chaotic handling of the crisis. Four years later, after a lengthy round of high inflation, they decided they wanted him back – or at least they did not think Mr Biden, 82, was up to the rigours of a second term.
Mr Trump, 78, survived two attempted assassinations last year before winning the election with 49.9 per cent of the vote, compared to 48.4 for his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
He says he will bring back his “America First” approach to foreign policy. He vowed to increase tariffs on goods coming from China and elsewhere and claimed he would bring an immediate end to Russia's war in Ukraine, although already his team has suggested it will take more than the 24 hours Mr Trump said he would need to solve Europe's biggest conflict since the Second World War.
In the Middle East, Mr Trump had said he wanted a ceasefire and hostage release deal to be reached before his inauguration. He got his wish on Wednesday and has moved to take credit for the agreement, which takes effect on Sunday.
Mr Biden said he had directed his administration to co-ordinate closely with the Trump team to “make sure we're all speaking with the same voice, because that's what American presidents do".
Trump inauguration 2025
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But when a reporter at the White House asked him if Mr Trump deserved credit, the departing President said: “Is that a joke?”
In his farewell foreign policy speech on Monday, Mr Biden said he would be giving the incoming administration a “very strong hand to play", with a robust US economy and improved international alliances.
Khaled Elgindy, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and an expert on US foreign relations in the Middle East, said there are some fears and concerns about Mr Trump's unpredictability as he enters his second term.
“But Joe Biden didn't bring any stability to the Middle East,” Mr Elgindy told The National. “He brought instability with his reflexively supporting anything that Israel did in the region: the war in Lebanon, invasion of Syria, attacks in Yemen, Iran – everything just blew up.”
“And they're going to be looking to Donald Trump to restore some kind of stability, because as unpredictable as he is, he is also known for not being very adventurous militarily.”
Ms Harris is also expected to attend the inauguration, after she had to formally certify Mr Trump's win in Congress last week.
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Company profile
Name: Fruitful Day
Founders: Marie-Christine Luijckx, Lyla Dalal AlRawi, Lindsey Fournie
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2015
Number of employees: 30
Sector: F&B
Funding so far: Dh3 million
Future funding plans: None at present
Future markets: Saudi Arabia, potentially Kuwait and other GCC countries
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
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White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
