When will Donald Trump take office as US president?
- Published
Republican Donald Trump will be the next US president, after he defeated Democrat Kamala Harris in November's election.
Trump previously served as US president between 2017 and 2021.
Is Donald Trump president yet?
No. Trump is the president-elect and his running mate, JD Vance, is the vice-president- elect.
Trump will take office at the presidential inauguration on Monday, 20 January 2025.
At that point he will legally assume the role of president.
What have Trump and Vance done since winning the election?
Trump met outgoing president, Joe Biden, at the White House - to symbolise the peaceful transfer of power.
He has spoken to world leaders including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ahead of the inauguration, the president-elect and his team have received classified national security briefings covering current threats and ongoing military operations.
Trump has also nominated more than two dozen people to fill key roles, some of whom are controversial.
These include Fox News presenter and military veteran Pete Hesgeth as defence secretary. Since his nomination, Hesgeth has faced questions about his qualifications - and a past sexual assault allegation has surfaced. He denies any wrongdoing.
Trump's pick for health secretary is Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has repeatedly stated widely debunked claims about vaccine harm.
Trump nominated his long time ally Pam Bondi to be attorney general. His first choice, former Congressman Matt Gaetz, withdrew after facing intense scrutiny over allegations - which he denies - of wrongdoing, related to drugs, bribes and sex.
Trump's picks for cabinet roles must be approved by the US Senate.
Elon Musk has regularly been pictured with Donald Trump since the election.
Billionaire businessman Elon Musk will head up the newly-announced Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, with a brief to cut spending and eliminate waste.
Doge will be an advisory body rather than an official government department, and Musk and Ramaswamy have said they will "serve as outside volunteers".
Trump has nominated two relatives: his daughter Tiffany's father-in-law, Massad Boulos, as an adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs; and his other daughter Ivanka’s father-in-law Charles Kushner, to serve as ambassador to France.
He has nominated businessman Warren Stephens to be ambassador to the UK.
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What happens between election day and the inauguration?
Once every valid vote has been counted, a process known as the electoral college formally determines the election result.
In each state, a varying number of electoral college votes are up for grabs. It is securing the majority of these – and not the backing of voters themselves – that ultimately wins the presidency.
Generally, electoral college votes are given to whoever won the popular vote in each state.
This was the case when state electors met across the country on 17 December, with the final tally showing that Trump won 312 votes against Harris' 226, well above the 270 threshold.
The new US Congress will meet on 6 January to ratify the electoral college votes and confirm the new president. As outgoing vice-president, Kamala Harris will preside over this process.
It was this meeting of Congress that Trump supporters tried to stop in 2021, when they marched on the US Capitol after Trump refused to concede to Biden.
Trump will be sworn in as president during the inauguration ceremony at the Capitol on 20 January. He will take the oath of office and then deliver his first speech as president, known as the inaugural address.
Trump did not go to Biden's inauguration in 2021. However, the White House has confirmed that Biden will attend Trump's swearing-in.
Can Donald Trump serve a third term as president?
The 22nd Amendment of the US Constitution prohibits anyone from holding presidential office three times.
This applies even if - as is the case with Trump - the two terms were not consecutive.
Theoretically the amendment wouldn't stop a former president from becoming vice-president in a future administration, but constitutional experts say this is extremely unlikely to happen.
North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of US politics in his twice-weekly US Election Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.