Politics & Government
5 Things To Know About Donald Trump's Inauguration
Here's what you should know as the 45th president takes office.
In Washington, D.C., change comes at you fast. Just after noon on Friday, Donald Trump was sworn in and replaced Barack Obama as president of the United States. The transition that the executive branch has been planning for months is finally here.
Here are five things to know about the inauguration:
1. Trump is oldest president ever inaugurated
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The fact has largely been ignored, both before the election and after, but Trump has assumed the title from Ronald Reagan of oldest person to begin serving as president. Reagan was 69 when he took the oath of office, just a few weeks before his 70th birthday. Trump turned 70 in June.
2. Obama's inaugurations in 2009 and 2013 drew larger crowds.
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All initial reports suggest that the crowds at Trump's inauguration were significantly smaller than those at Obama's 2009 and 2013 ceremonies. Here's just one tweet showing the difference:
#Inauguration crowd size? The difference in pictures. pic.twitter.com/SulfzccOyc
— Dan Gross (@DanJGross) January 20, 2017
Estimates suggest that in 2009, around 1.8 million people made their way to the national mall. In 2013, around 1 million people came. There are no official numbers for 2017 yet, but Metro ridership numbers suggest there were likely many fewer people in attendance than there were in recent years.
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3. WhiteHouse.gov has already changed over
The official website of the president's administration quickly switched from detailing President Obama's staff and programs to hosting President Trump's content. Many people on Twitter pointed out that the page discussing climate change policies has been completely removed, replaced by a page about "An America First Energy Plan."
4. Trump has already signed legislation
Beware of whiplash: Trump has already signed a law, little more than an hours into his first term. According to Press Secretary Sean Spicer, his first official acts include signing a waiver that with allow Gen. James Mattis to serve as secretary of defense, despite having recently left the military.
Getting ready for first official act of @POTUS pic.twitter.com/nEfM7VMpF9
— Sean Spicer (@PressSec) January 20, 2017
Trump also formalized two more nominations for his Cabinet appointees, and he signed a proclamation recognizing a national day of patriotism.
5. Trump's use of the word "carnage" caused the word to spike in dictionary look-ups.
In a colorful post-inauguration speech, Trump described the country as deeply suffering and exceptionally immiserated. "This American carnage stops right here and stops right now," he said.
This caused a huge spike in searches for the word "carnage" in online dictionaries, according to Merriam-Webster.
In case you're wondering, the dictionary defines carnage as meaning: "great and usually bloody slaughter or injury, as in battle."
Photo credit: Press Secretary Sean Spicer via Twitter
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