Donald Trump has been welcomed into the White House alongside his wife Melania by the Bidens.

Today (January 20) marks Trump‘s inauguration ceremony, but before he’s sworn into office for a second time, he and Melania were invited to the White House by President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill.

It’s an age-old tradition that the president and first lady invite their successors for tea before the new president-elect’s inauguration.

Following their meet-up, the foursome will travel to Trump’s inauguration ceremony in the same car. It’s thought they usually travel in two separate vehicles.

With Biden being a Democrat, and Trump a Republican, it’s safe to say that the pair haven’t always seen eye-to-eye when it comes to politics, but they seemingly put any bad blood aside at today’s meet.

When the Trumps arrived at the White House, Biden said, as per PEOPLE: “Welcome home!”

Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Melania Trump seen at the White House (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

While Biden has hosted a tea ceremony for Trump and his wife, the Republican didn’t do the same for him when Biden won the 2020 election.

In fact, Trump didn’t attend his then-successor’s inauguration altogether.

Trump and his family quickly jetted back to his home in Florida instead.

Ahead of today’s swearing-in ceremony, Trump has made a series of promises about what will happen when he returns to office.

One of the most notable plans of his is to delay the TikTok ban, which briefly came into force over the weekend before the app reemerged on people’s devices.

Joe Biden’s successor Donald Trump is being sworn into office today (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

When the video sharing platform went dark for a brief period, users were met with the following message: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.

“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”

And it wasn’t long until the app was working again, sparking people to suggest that the whole thing was simply a PR stunt.

One person said on social media: “This was such an obvious PR stunt to try to garner favor with Trump. They never had to take TikTok offline, and if they were legally required to, then nothing Trump said to them could have allowed them to restore service.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre echoed similar sentiments in the run up to TikTok’s deadline yesterday (January 19).

Everything Trump has pledged to do as 47th US President

Immigration

In a statement during a rally at Madison Square Garden during his presidential race he said: “On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out.

“I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail, then kick them the hell out of our country as fast as possible.”

Planning over 100 executive orders

It’s been reported by AP that Trump plans on preparing over 100 executive orders on his first day in the White House. Trump’s allies have reportedly spent time preparing documents that Trump can sign quickly, on issues such as deportation, school gender policies and vaccine mandates, without input from congress.

“There will be a substantial number,” said Senator John Hoeven, R-N.D.

Donald Trump will sign over 100 executive orders on his first day in office (JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Making hidden government files public

Including the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King Jr., Trump promised at his recent rally in Washington D.C that, in a bid to increase government transparency, he will be making these disclosures in ‘the coming days’.

“And in the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”

‘Make Greenland Great Again Act’

In a bid that has not gone down well with Greenlanders, taking to his social media platform Truth Social Trump said: “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.

“Greenland is an incredible place. The people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation. We will protect it, cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”

January 6 pardons

Trump’s loss in the 2020 election led to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in turn resulting in the arrests of a number of Trump supporters.

In an interview with TIME, Trump said that looking into the cases of the rioters’ will take place in ‘the first nine minutes’ of his time in office.

In a post shared on his social media channel, Trump said: “I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can’t say for every single one, because a couple of them, probably they got out of control.”

Getting rid of birthright citizenship

Exactly as it sounds, Trump once declared he wanted to get rid of birthright citizenship, which immediately gives citizenship to anyone born in US. Noting that this may not be possible as it’s written into the constitution, he said he wants to achieve this by executive order – bypassing congress again – ‘if we can’.

Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 47th president (Morry Gash – Pool/Getty Images)

Cut federal funding for schools educating on ‘inappropriate’ topics

Speaking early last year, Trump addressed a crowd in Iowa and made plans to ‘save [the] country from destruction’.

“On day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity,” he said, per NPR.

Trump also said he would target schools pushing ‘any other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content on our children’.

Making the US the ‘crypto capital’

Back in 2021, Trump called crypto a ‘scam against the dollar.’ But four years on, he’s pulled a u-turn as he vowed to make the US the ‘crypto capital of the planet’.

On social media, Trump claimed crypto would be ‘mined, minted and made in the US’.

Both he and wife Melania released their own memecoins ahead of the inauguration, while experts previously predicted Bitcoin could reach up to $250,000 this year.

Be a ‘dictator’

In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity last year, he referred to himself as a ‘dictator’ when asked if he was promising to ‘never abuse power as retribution against anybody’.

In response, Trump said: “Except for Day 1.

“I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling,” he continued.

“After that, I’m not a dictator.”

End Green Deals

Trump has spoken previously about his plan to ‘terminate the Green New Deal’, which he dubbed the ‘Green New Scam’.

The Green New Deal was pitched by Democrats Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey, but it was never signed into law.

Addressing the policies in a speech in September, Trump said: “To further defeat inflation, my plan will terminate the Green New Deal, which I call the Green New Scam. Greatest scam in history, probably.

“We [will] rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.”

“I’m going to write it out in an executive order. It’s going to end on Day 1.”

Arrange green cards for college graduates

Despite making his stance on migration clear, Trump has advocated for non-US citizens to receive green cards to stay in the country if they graduate from college.

During an episode of the ‘All In’ podcast recorded this year, Trump said: “Anybody graduates from a college, you go in there for two years or four years, if you graduate, or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country […]

“Somebody graduates at the top of the class, they can’t even make a deal with the company because they don’t think they’re going to be able to stay in the country. That is going to end on Day 1.”

Scrap ‘electric vehicle mandates’

Trump plans to scrap Biden administration’s so-called electric vehicle mandate, referring to new pollution standards that incentivize auto manufacturers to increase production of electric and lower-emission vehicles.

Despite vowing to get rid of the policy on his first day, Trump told podcaster Joe Rogan the move could take ‘maybe two days, because it’s a little bit busy’.

Fire the man who indicted him

Trump faced two federal cases in relation to the 2020 election result from special counsel Jack Smith, and the future POTUS has no plans to work with him again.

Speaking on October 24, Trump told the Hugh Hewitt show he would fire Smith ‘within two seconds’.

“He’ll be one of the first things addressed,” he said.

Donald Trump has been welcomed into the White House alongside his wife Melania by the Bidens.

Today (January 20) marks Trump‘s inauguration ceremony, but before he’s sworn into office for a second time, he and Melania were invited to the White House by President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill.

It’s an age-old tradition that the president and first lady invite their successors for tea before the new president-elect’s inauguration.

Following their meet-up, the foursome will travel to Trump’s inauguration ceremony in the same car. It’s thought they usually travel in two separate vehicles.

With Biden being a Democrat, and Trump a Republican, it’s safe to say that the pair haven’t always seen eye-to-eye when it comes to politics, but they seemingly put any bad blood aside at today’s meet.

When the Trumps arrived at the White House, Biden said, as per PEOPLE: “Welcome home!”

Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Melania Trump seen at the White House (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

While Biden has hosted a tea ceremony for Trump and his wife, the Republican didn’t do the same for him when Biden won the 2020 election.

In fact, Trump didn’t attend his then-successor’s inauguration altogether.

Trump and his family quickly jetted back to his home in Florida instead.

Ahead of today’s swearing-in ceremony, Trump has made a series of promises about what will happen when he returns to office.

One of the most notable plans of his is to delay the TikTok ban, which briefly came into force over the weekend before the app reemerged on people’s devices.

Joe Biden’s successor Donald Trump is being sworn into office today (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

When the video sharing platform went dark for a brief period, users were met with the following message: “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now.

“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”

And it wasn’t long until the app was working again, sparking people to suggest that the whole thing was simply a PR stunt.

One person said on social media: “This was such an obvious PR stunt to try to garner favor with Trump. They never had to take TikTok offline, and if they were legally required to, then nothing Trump said to them could have allowed them to restore service.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre echoed similar sentiments in the run up to TikTok’s deadline yesterday (January 19).

Everything Trump has pledged to do as 47th US President

Immigration

In a statement during a rally at Madison Square Garden during his presidential race he said: “On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out.

“I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail, then kick them the hell out of our country as fast as possible.”

Planning over 100 executive orders

It’s been reported by AP that Trump plans on preparing over 100 executive orders on his first day in the White House. Trump’s allies have reportedly spent time preparing documents that Trump can sign quickly, on issues such as deportation, school gender policies and vaccine mandates, without input from congress.

“There will be a substantial number,” said Senator John Hoeven, R-N.D.

Donald Trump will sign over 100 executive orders on his first day in office (JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Making hidden government files public

Including the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King Jr., Trump promised at his recent rally in Washington D.C that, in a bid to increase government transparency, he will be making these disclosures in ‘the coming days’.

“And in the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”

‘Make Greenland Great Again Act’

In a bid that has not gone down well with Greenlanders, taking to his social media platform Truth Social Trump said: “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.

“Greenland is an incredible place. The people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation. We will protect it, cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”

January 6 pardons

Trump’s loss in the 2020 election led to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in turn resulting in the arrests of a number of Trump supporters.

In an interview with TIME, Trump said that looking into the cases of the rioters’ will take place in ‘the first nine minutes’ of his time in office.

In a post shared on his social media channel, Trump said: “I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can’t say for every single one, because a couple of them, probably they got out of control.”

Getting rid of birthright citizenship

Exactly as it sounds, Trump once declared he wanted to get rid of birthright citizenship, which immediately gives citizenship to anyone born in US. Noting that this may not be possible as it’s written into the constitution, he said he wants to achieve this by executive order – bypassing congress again – ‘if we can’.

Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 47th president (Morry Gash – Pool/Getty Images)

Cut federal funding for schools educating on ‘inappropriate’ topics

Speaking early last year, Trump addressed a crowd in Iowa and made plans to ‘save [the] country from destruction’.

“On day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity,” he said, per NPR.

Trump also said he would target schools pushing ‘any other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content on our children’.

Making the US the ‘crypto capital’

Back in 2021, Trump called crypto a ‘scam against the dollar.’ But four years on, he’s pulled a u-turn as he vowed to make the US the ‘crypto capital of the planet’.

On social media, Trump claimed crypto would be ‘mined, minted and made in the US’.

Both he and wife Melania released their own memecoins ahead of the inauguration, while experts previously predicted Bitcoin could reach up to $250,000 this year.

Be a ‘dictator’

In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity last year, he referred to himself as a ‘dictator’ when asked if he was promising to ‘never abuse power as retribution against anybody’.

In response, Trump said: “Except for Day 1.

“I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling,” he continued.

“After that, I’m not a dictator.”

End Green Deals

Trump has spoken previously about his plan to ‘terminate the Green New Deal’, which he dubbed the ‘Green New Scam’.

The Green New Deal was pitched by Democrats Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey, but it was never signed into law.

Addressing the policies in a speech in September, Trump said: “To further defeat inflation, my plan will terminate the Green New Deal, which I call the Green New Scam. Greatest scam in history, probably.

“We [will] rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.”

“I’m going to write it out in an executive order. It’s going to end on Day 1.”

Arrange green cards for college graduates

Despite making his stance on migration clear, Trump has advocated for non-US citizens to receive green cards to stay in the country if they graduate from college.

During an episode of the ‘All In’ podcast recorded this year, Trump said: “Anybody graduates from a college, you go in there for two years or four years, if you graduate, or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country […]

“Somebody graduates at the top of the class, they can’t even make a deal with the company because they don’t think they’re going to be able to stay in the country. That is going to end on Day 1.”

Scrap ‘electric vehicle mandates’

Trump plans to scrap Biden administration’s so-called electric vehicle mandate, referring to new pollution standards that incentivize auto manufacturers to increase production of electric and lower-emission vehicles.

Despite vowing to get rid of the policy on his first day, Trump told podcaster Joe Rogan the move could take ‘maybe two days, because it’s a little bit busy’.

Fire the man who indicted him

Trump faced two federal cases in relation to the 2020 election result from special counsel Jack Smith, and the future POTUS has no plans to work with him again.

Speaking on October 24, Trump told the Hugh Hewitt show he would fire Smith ‘within two seconds’.

“He’ll be one of the first things addressed,” he said.

TikTok’s fate remains just a little bit more uncertain as President Biden makes his stance on the popular Chinese app clear.

People on social media have been up in arms about the incoming ban of TikTok in the coming days.

In case you missed the details of the long-drawn-out debate surrounding the Chinese video-sharing app, the Supreme Court recently ruled that TikTok will no longer be available for download in the States from Sunday 19 January.

Last year in April 2024, Biden signed a bill that gave ByteDance, the Chinese firm that owns TikTok, a chance to sell the app or have it banned in the US.

There’s since been offers to buy TikTok but the Chinese-owned company is yet to budge.

Joe Biden has said he will not enforce the TikTok ban (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The deadline for ByteDance to sell is January 19, a day before Biden leaves the Oval Office.

However, a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Biden’s administration was ultimately going to leave the decision up to Donald Trump, who is set to enter the White House on January 20.

Trump has expressed a desire to keep the social media app available in the US, however, he and his team have not outlined how they will accomplish that.

Interestingly enough, in his first term of President, 2017 to 2021, he sought the ban out. But during his 2024 presidential campaign, he ended up joining the platform and said he would ‘save it’ and credited it with bringing him more youth votes.

Earlier this week, incoming White House national security adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News: “We will put measures in place to keep TikTok from going dark.”

He went on to add that new law allows for an extension preventing it from taking effect ‘as long as a viable deal is on the table.’

Donald Trump has previously praised TikTok for bringing him youth votes(Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

With that being said, some experts have already explained what will happen on January 19 for users of the app.

After the 19th, if you do not already have the app downloaded on your phone, you’ll be unlikely to download it as it will be removed from app stores under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.

For those who have the app prior to the ban, it’s expected that it will eventually ‘go dark’.

Timothy Edgar, a professor of cybersecurity at Brown University, told CBS: “They will get a notice that says, ‘This service is not available in your country.’

“That’s most likely what will happen based on what we’ve seen in other countries that have banned certain platforms.”

Back in 2020, Biden ran his campaign on being a ‘transition President’, with many taking that to mean he’d hold office for just one term if elected.

It’s perhaps no surprise his candidacy for 2024 has not been hugely popular with his party; during the primaries there were calls for him to take part in a debate, which would have been the first time a sitting President had done so in decades. Those calls came as questions about Biden’s age — he’ll be 82 at the beginning of a second term — dominated talking points around his re-election bid.

Drew Angerer/ Getty Images

So who do Democrats want to take his place?

California Governor Gavin Newsom has strong progressive credentials. As the Mayor of San Francisco, he famously granted marriage licenses to thousands of gay couples in 2004. He was 36 years old at the time and just weeks into his role as Mayor.

At the time, it was branded ‘political suicide’ but Newsom, who called himself an ‘idealist’, would ultimately prove to be years ahead of his party as the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage legal in 2015 – over a decade later.

Newsom has proven to be an excellent communicator. He regularly appears on conservative-leaning news outlet Fox News, and effortlessly backs up his arguments with facts and stats.

His ability to go into what Democrats would consider enemy territory and not just hold his own but often win these debates was highlighted when he took part in a live Fox News debate with Ron DeSantis, Florida Governor and one-time favorite for the Republican nominee for President.

The debate, moderated by Sean Hannity, one of the network’s most conservative hosts, took place in DeSantis’s home turf of Florida. Both men defended their respective states in an unusual exchange billed as a ‘red state versus blue state’ event.

The event gave Republicans and Democrats a possible peek into their parties’ future leaders.

Randy Shropshire/ Getty Images

Surrogate

Newsom’s political abilities haven’t gone unnoticed, and the media has accused him of running a ‘shadow campaign’ against President Biden, presenting a younger, slicker alternative to the current commander-in-chief. Newsom has repeatedly denied that he was doing that and blamed Fox News’s ‘anger campaign’ for such talk.

When interviewed by the likes of Sean Hannity, a vocal Biden critic, Newsom repeatedly pivoted from thinly veiled questions about him replacing Biden to touting his historic accomplishments as President.

‘A man of decency and character’ is how Newsom referred to President Biden, citing the strong American economy and the lowest unemployment numbers in over half a century.

When pushed about Biden’s mental acuity, Newsom would offer his own positive experiences of speaking with the President and point to the accomplishments of the Biden administration.

This effectively made the argument for a second term for the President on a network that has appeased a huge Republican audience by bashing him.

Eros Hoagland/ Getty Images

Newsom/ Trump links

Gavin Newsom was married to Kimberly Guilfoyle while he was Mayor of San Francisco. She is now engaged to Donald Trump’s eldest son, Don Jnr.

Newsom has spoken of his former relationship as a political positive, insisting that he had a direct line to President Trump during the covid pandemic and that Trump ‘never played politics’ with California as a result.

Guilfoyle was even once friends with current Vice President Kamala Harris when both were lawyers in California but has since become a right-wing influencer.

She has regularly been used as a surrogate for former President Trump in the media, calling California a ‘land of discarded heroin needles in parks, riots in streets, and blackouts in homes’ in what was seen as a direct attack on her former husband who she said is ‘desperate to be President’.

Chip Somodevilla/ Getty Images

Trump, possibly sensing a future political opponent, has started referring to the California governor as ‘new scum’.

Political future

In the highly unlikely event of President Biden deciding not to seek a second term, there are still complications to replacing him with Newsom or having Newsom on the same ticket as Kamala Harris.

Both are from California, so it’s doubtful they’d run together – and presidential nominees typically pick a running mate who would help them with the college electoral vote.