The second tenure of Donald Trump as the president of the United States is set to begin on January 20, 2025, when he is to be inaugurated as the 47th president. Trump, who previously served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021, is scheduled to take office following his victory over Democratic incumbent vice president Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Upon taking office, he will become the second president in U.S. history to serve non-consecutive terms after Grover Cleveland in 1893, the oldest individual to assume the presidency, the first to take office after having been impeached, and the first convicted felon to take office.

Donald Trump officially announced his candidacy for the nomination of the Republican Party in the 2024 presidential election on November 15, 2022, at his Mar-a-Lago residence in a roughly hour-long speech. In March 2024, Trump clinched the nomination by winning a majority of the delegates to become the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party following the party's presidential primaries. Trump selected Senator JD Vance of Ohio, a former critic of his, as his running mate, and the two were officially nominated as the Republican ticket at the 2024 Republican National Convention.

Incumbent president Joe Biden initially ran for re-election for the Democratic nomination, becoming the party's presumptive nominee in March 2024 after comfortably winning the primaries with little opposition. However, following a widely panned debate performance and amid increasing concerns about his age and health, Biden officially withdrew from the race in July 2024. Biden endorsed Kamala Harris, his 2020 running mate and vice president of the United States, as his successor, who announced her campaign on July 21. The following day, Harris received enough non-binding delegates to become the party's new presumptive nominee; at the Democratic National Convention in August 2024, she formally accepted the party's nomination with Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota as her running mate.

Early on November 6, 2024, the day after the election, Trump was projected to have won Wisconsin (a flip from the previous presidential election), thereby receiving enough electoral votes to secure the presidency, becoming the president-elect of the United States. Trump won the presidential election with 312 projected electoral votes compared to Harris' projected 226. The electoral votes will be certified on January 6, 2025. Trump, upon taking office, will be the second president in U.S. history to serve non-consecutive terms after Grover Cleveland in 1893, the oldest individual to assume the presidency, and the first convicted felon to serve the presidency following his conviction in May 2024. Vance, as the third-youngest vice president in U.S. history, will be the first Millennial vice president; additionally, he will be the first vice president to have served in the Marine Corps. In the concurrent congressional elections, Republicans retained a narrow majority in the House of Representatives and took control of the Senate.

The presidential transition period began following Trump's victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, though Trump had chosen Linda McMahon and Howard Lutnick to begin planning for the transition in August 2024. According to The New York Times, Trump is "superstitious" and prefers to avoid discussing the presidential transition process until after Election Day. His transition team is expected to rely on the work of the America First Policy Institute, rather than The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that garnered controversy during the election for Project 2025, a set of initiatives that would reshape the federal government. By October, he had not participated in the federal presidential transition process, and he has not signed a required ethics pledge, as of November. During the transition period, Trump announced nominations for his cabinet and administration.

Trump is expected to be inaugurated at the United States Capitol on January 20, 2025, succeeding Joe Biden as president. He is expected to be sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts.

In July 2024, Trump selected Ohio senator JD Vance as his running mate at that year's Republican National Convention. Vance was supported by Donald Trump Jr., Elon Musk, and Tucker Carlson and bolstered by a series of media events, including a contentious primary debate with Josh Mandel and Mike Gibbons, an affirmation of his support for Trump in The Wall Street Journal as Ron DeSantis advanced in conservative media, and a cooperative visit to East Palestine, Ohio, following a train derailment in February 2023.

On November 11, 2024, The New York Times reported that U.S. senator Marco Rubio of Florida was expected to be Trump's secretary of state; he was officially named on November 13. It had been reported on November 8 that representative Mike Rogers was being considered for Secretary of Defense, but on November 12 Trump announced that military veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth would be his nominee for the position. That same day, CNN reported that South Dakota governor Kristi Noem would be named as Secretary of Homeland Security, which Trump later confirmed. On November 13, Trump selected Representative Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, but Gaetz withdrew from consideration on November 21. On November 14, environmental lawyer and activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was selected as the secretary of health and human services. On November 15, North Dakota governor Doug Burgum was the selected nominee for Secretary of the Interior. Former representative and Air Force reservist Doug Collins was selected for Secretary of Veterans Affairs that same day. On November 16, Trump selected energy company CEO Chris Wright as his nominee for Secretary of Energy. On November 18, Trump nominated former representative Sean Duffy for Secretary of Transportation. On November 19, it was reported that Trump was expected to nominate his transition team co-chair and investment banker Howard Lutnick for Secretary of Commerce. That same day, Trump nominated businesswoman and first-term Small Business Administration head Linda McMahon for Secretary of Education. On November 21, after Gaetz withdrew from consideration, Trump selected Pam Bondi for Attorney General. The next day, Trump nominated hedge fund executive Scott Bessent for Secretary of the Treasury, Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Secretary of Labor, and former state representative Scott Turner for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. It was also reported that day that Trump was expected to nominate former U.S. senator Kelly Loefler for Secretary of Agriculture, but on November 23 he instead chose former Domestic Policy Council director Brooke Rollins.

On November 7, Trump selected Susie Wiles, a co-chair of his presidential campaign, as his chief of staff. She will be the first woman to hold the position. Three days later, CNN reported that Trump had offered representative Elise Stefanik the position of ambassador to the United Nations. The following day, The Wall Street Journal reported that representative Michael Waltz will serve as his national security advisor, former representative Lee Zeldin was announced as Trump's nominee for Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and former representative Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence. On November 26, Trump picked Jamieson Greer for United States trade representative.

Several individuals have declined to serve in Trump's administration or have been excluded from serving. On October 29, U.S. senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming declined to be considered for Secretary of the Interior. On November 7, U.S. senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas declined to serve in an administration role. On November 9, Trump said that he would not re-invite Nikki Haley or Mike Pompeo, his former ambassador to the United Nations and secretary of state, respectively, from his first administration. On November 11, U.S. senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri declined to be considered for Attorney General. The next day, John Paulson declined to be considered for Secretary of the Treasury. On November 12, it was announced that Donald Trump Jr. would not be joining the administration, in keeping with Trump's past statements that he did not want his family involved in his second term. Jared Kushner has also stated he will not join the administration. On November 15, it was reported that former representative Mike Rogers was being considered for Director of the FBI, but on November 22 those reports were disproven. On November 21, it was reported that Roger Severino had been turned down as a candidate for Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

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On November 10, Trump announced that former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Tom Homan will serve as "border czar". The following day, CNN reported that Stephen Miller will serve as Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy. The day after, Trump announced former Cabinet secretary Bill McGinley would serve as his next White House counsel; real estate investor Steve Witkoff would serve as the president's special envoy to the Middle East. The Wall Street Journal reported on November 13 that Trump wanted first-term trade representative Robert Lighthizer to serve as his "trade czar". On November 20, it was reported that Trump was considering Russell Vought for Director of the Office of Management and Budget, which was confirmed two days later. On November 22, Trump announced Alex Wong and Sebastian Gorka as his picks for Principal Deputy National Security Advisor and Senior Director for Counter-terrorism, respectively.

On November 12, Trump announced that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would advise a new Department of Government Efficiency.

On November 12, Trump announced that he would nominate former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as Ambassador to Israel. Trump was reported to be seriously considering nominating personal lawyer Todd Blanche as United States deputy attorney general, which he went through with two days later, along with nominating personal lawyers Emil Bove as associate deputy attorney general and D. John Sauer as Solicitor General. That same day, Trump announced that Steven Cheung, Sergio Gor and Karoline Leavitt would serve as White House communications director, personnel director and press secretary, respectively. The next day, Trump announced he would appoint personal lawyer Will Scharf as White House staff secretary. On November 17, Trump announced he would nominate Brendan Carr as chair of the Federal Communications Commission. On November 19, Trump announced he had chosen Mehmet Oz to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. On November 20, Trump nominated Matthew Whitaker for Ambassador to NATO and Pete Hoekstra for Ambassador to Canada, and CNN reported that Robert Engel and Dan Bongino, current and former secret service agents, respectively, were being considered for Director of the United States Secret Service. On November 22, Trump nominated Johns Hopkins University surgeon Martin Makary for Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Fox News contributor and doctor Janette Nesheiwat for Surgeon General, and physician and former congressman Dave Weldon for Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On November 26, Trump nominated economist Kevin Hassett to be director of the National Economic Council, and former White House economic advisor Vince Haley to be chief of the Domestic Policy Council. On November 27, Trump nominated Stanford University professor and physician Jay Bhattacharya for Director of the National Institutes of Health and businessman John Phelan for Secretary of the Navy, and picked retired Army general Keith Kellogg to be the United States special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. On November 30, Trump nominated former DOJ prosecutor and DoD staffer Kash Patel for Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On December 1, Trump designated businessman and Tiffany Trump's father-in-law Massad Boulos Senior Advisor to the President on Arab and Middle Eastern Affairs. On December 4, he nominated tech entrepreneur and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman for NASA administrator, former commissioner and cryptocurrency backer Paul S. Atkins for chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and David Warrington to replace McGinley as his White House counsel nominee while McGinley would instead work with DOGE; former Missouri representative Billy Long for IRS commissioner; former Georgia senator Kelly Loeffler for Administrator of the Small Business Administration; Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano for Commissioner of the Social Security Administration; Iraq veteran and 2020 North Carolina congressional candidate Daniel P. Driscoll for Secretary of the Army; former CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and current CEO of Rubicon Founders Adam Boehler for Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs; University of Maryland professor Michael Faulkender for Deputy Treasury Secretary; former treasury assistant secretary for public affairs Monica Crowley for Chief of Protocol; and JD Vance's policy advisor Gail Slater for Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division. On the 5th, Trump nominated venture capitalist David O. Sacks to be his 'artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar', former Georgia senator David Perdue to be his ambassador to China, weapons inspector Caleb Vitello to be his head of ICE, first-term United States Border Patrol chief Rodney Scott to be his commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol agent union head Brandon Judd to be his ambassador to Chile, and ICE investigator Tony Salisbury to be his deputy homeland security advisor. On December 8, Trump announced lawyer Alina Habba as Counselor to the President and former United States Ambassador to Mexico, Christopher Landau as the United States Deputy Secretary of State. On the 12th, Trump nominated Kari Lake to lead Voice of America, Leandro Rizzuto Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle and Ronald D. Johnson were among Trump's ambassador nominees (Rizzuto to the Organization of American States, Guilfoyle to Greece and Johnson to Mexico), while Jacob Helberg would be the State Department's top economic adviser and Andrew N. Ferguson would serve as Federal Trade Commission chair.

On the 21st, Trump announced his nominations of television producer Mark Burnett for Special Presidential Envoy to the United Kingdom, former top Department of Homeland Security attorney Chad Mizelle for Chief of Staff at the Department of Justice (Mizelle being the husband of Trump-appointed Florida federal judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle), Texas Senator Ted Cruz's Chief of Staff Aaron Reitz as head of DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel, and former Pan Am Railways President David Fink for Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration.

Trump declared that abortion should be delegated to states in April 2024. To that extent, he stated that in a Time interview he would allow states to monitor pregnancies and criminally charge abortion patients. Trump criticized the Arizona Supreme Court's ruling in Planned Parenthood Arizona v. Mayes (2024), in which the court upheld an 1864 law criminalizing abortions except to save the life of the mother, stating that he would not sign a federal abortion ban and reaffirmed his position in October.

After the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine (2024) that frozen embryos are living beings, Trump positioned himself in favor of in vitro fertilisation.

Trump's transition team for climate and the environment is led by David Bernhardt, a former oil lobbyist who served as interior secretary, and Andrew R. Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist who led the Environmental Protection Agency under Trump. The team is preparing to withdraw from the Paris Agreement for a second time, expand drilling and mining on public land, and dismantle offices working to end pollution, while other officials have discussed moving the Environmental Protection Agency from Washington, D.C. Trump will redraw the boundaries of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monuments as he did in his first presidency, end a pause on new natural gas export terminals that began under President Joe Biden, and prevent states from setting their own pollution standards.

At a private dinner at Mar-a-Lago in April 2024, Trump promised fossil fuel companies that he would roll back environmental regulations if they donated to his campaign.

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Trump has promised to impose higher tariffs on imports from all countries, particularly China. On November 25, 2024, Trump said he would sign an executive order placing 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and impose an additional 10% tariff to China. On November 30, 2024, Trump threatened to impose a 100% tariff to BRICS nations if they tried to create a new BRICS currency or promote another currency to replace the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency.

During his first term, Trump cut funding to the Department of Education, while continuing to criticize it. During his 2024 campaign, Trump actively promoted the idea of abolishing the Department of Education and proposed handing over control of education to individual state governments.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the Department of Government Efficiency, a commission that would "provide advice and guidance from outside of government".

On November 14 at a speech at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Trump announced that he would nominate Robert F Kennedy Jr for the position of health secretary. This appointment caused controversy, due to Kennedy's repeated endorsement of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, with the director of the American Public Health Association stating that Kennedy "already caused great damage in health in the country" and that he is also "a person without a health background". In December, Trump revealed he was discussing ending childhood vaccination programs with RFK Jr and promoted the scientifically disproven claim of a link between vaccines and autism.

Trump intends to expand and revive immigration policies he imposed during his first presidency, including his travel ban on Muslims, expel asylum seekers by asserting that they carry infectious diseases, deputize police officers and soldiers to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement in mass deportations, and establish sprawling detention camps, according to The New York Times. After his win, Trump said "there is no price tag" to carry out these deportations.

Trump announced on November 10, 2024, that Tom Homan will be joining the incoming administration as the "border czar", writing that "Homan will be in charge of all deportation of illegal aliens back to their country of origin."

In his second campaign, Donald Trump has detailed a range of proposals aimed at reversing recent LGBT-related policies and reshaping federal guidelines on gender identity and transgender rights. Trump has stated that on "day one," he would reverse the Biden administration's Title IX expansion, which protects transgender students' rights to use bathrooms, locker rooms, and pronouns that align with their gender identity. Trump also pledged to cut federal funding to schools promoting "critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content."

His proposed policies would significantly limit gender-affirming care, including calling for a federal ban on such care for minors and blocking Medicare and Medicaid funding for doctors providing gender-affirming services. Trump has also proposed forbidding federal agencies from "promoting" gender transition and plans to task the Justice Department with investigating potential long-term effects of gender-affirming treatments.

In November 2024, NBC News reported that the Trump administration was compiling a list of military officials who were involved in the 2020–2021 U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in preparation for potential courts-martial.

In a September 2024 Truth Social post, Trump stated that "... those people that cheated will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law ..." in reference to the 2024 election. In his 2024 book Save America, Trump threatened life imprisonment for Meta Platforms chief executive Mark Zuckerberg if he does anything illegal.

Trump is expected to end the Department of Justice's prosecutions against him in Washington, D.C., and Florida. Special Counsel Jack Smith is considering ending his prosecutions early and submitting a final report to Attorney General Merrick Garland before Trump is inaugurated, according to The Washington Post.

Trump has said multiple times that if he were reelected in 2024, he would pardon rioters of the January 6 Capitol attack. As of March 2024, 500 people had been sentenced to prison terms and 1,358 had been criminally charged.

In May 2024, Trump said that he would commute Ross Ulbricht's sentence on his first day in office. Ulbricht is serving a life sentence for creating and operating the darknet market website Silk Road, which operated as a hidden service on the Tor network and facilitated the sale of narcotics and other illegal products and services. Trump has also floated or hinted at issuing potential pardons for Julian Assange, and Peter Navarro; media outlets have also speculated that Trump may issue pardons for Eric Adams and Todd and Julie Chrisley.

During his first term, the Trump administration signed a peace agreement with the Taliban to end the two-decade war in Afghanistan. The withdrawal of U.S. troops began in February 2020 under Trump and continued with the Biden administration, which oversaw the final phases of the withdrawal and the subsequent fall of Kabul in August 2021, leading to a re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. While campaigning, Trump heavily criticized and condemned Biden's handling of the withdrawal, calling it "the most embarrassing day in the history of our country" and stating that there will be consequences for those responsible. He has also expressed support for the Gold Star families of the 13 servicemen killed in a suicide bombing at Kabul International Airport during the final days of the withdrawal, who in turn supported Trump's re-election.

In November 2024, Trump's transition team was reportedly compiling a list of military officials involved in the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and investigating whether they could be court-martialed. They were also considering creating a commission to investigate the withdrawal, including whether some officials could be eligible for treason.

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A month after the election, Trump traveled to Paris to attend the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris on December 7, five years after it was severely damaged by a fire. It was his first foreign trip as president-elect since his second electoral victory. He met with a number of world leaders ahead of the ceremony, including French president Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Prince William of the United Kingdom.

Following his victory, Trump called Russian president Vladimir Putin to warn him not to escalate the Russo-Ukrainian War, expressing an interest in resolving the war at a later date.

On November 29, 2024, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau met with Trump in Florida at Mar-a-Lago.

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On November 14, 2024, Argentine president Javier Milei headed to Florida to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. He was the first foreign head of state to travel to the United States after Trump's victory and to meet the president-elect. A right-wing libertarian economist, Milei had previously shown his fervent support for Donald Trump and his politics, wanting to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties between Argentina and the Western world. In a call following the election results, Trump called Milei his "favorite president" in response according to reports. The president of Argentina gave a speech at a CPAC summit in Miami. Milei also met with Department of Government Efficiency planned-directors Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to advise them on their goal to "dismantle bureaucracy", cut government spending and reorganize the federal personnel.

Elon Musk met with Iran's UN Ambassador, Saeid Iravani, on November 11, 2024.

In his first term, Trump was considered one of the most pro-Israel presidents of the United States. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump urged Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza within two months and opened the door to attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities. Trump warned Hamas that they would have "all hell to pay" if the war did not end before he took office in January. Following the election, Trump spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the first time since 2017. During their phone call, Trump expressed his desire to quickly end the war in Gaza.

Trump's son-in-law and former White House senior advisor Jared Kushner is expected to play a key role in the future United States' Middle East policy as an outside presidential adviser. Being pro-Israel and having ties with several Arab leaders, Kushner previously helped to broker the Abraham Accords during Trump's first presidency. Most of Trump's advisors and appointees are considered staunch supporters of the Jewish state, including Hegseth, Huckabee, Ratcliffe, Rubio, Stefanik, and Waltz. Lebanese-American businessman Massad Boulos, who was appointed as a senior advisor on Arab and Middle Eastern Affairs and has ties with Lebanese politicians, is viewed as an intermediary between Trump and Arab leaders. While Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff is expected to deal with Israel, Boulos will help in negotiations with the Arab world.

In the Syrian civil war, the Syrian opposition launched an offensive against the pro-government Syrian Armed Forces in late November 2024, capturing the large cities of Aleppo and Hama. As opposition forces continued to close in on Damascus, president-elect Trump stated on December 7 that the U.S. should stay out of the conflict, stating "THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT" in a social media post. Rebel groups captured Damascus the next day, December 8, as government forces surrendered and president Bashar al-Assad reportedly fled the country.

Trump has repeatedly stated that he, as the president, would not commit to defending NATO member states that are not spending at least 2% of their GDP on defense. Additionally, Vice President-elect JD Vance has stated that in his view NATO is a "welfare client" and that it should be "a real alliance".

Trump has stated in the lead-up to his second inauguration proposed plans and ideas that would expand the United States' political influence and territory.

Trump has said he will impose a 25% tariff on all goods from Canada in an effort for the Canadian government to stop what in his view is an illegal migration crisis and drug crisis on the Canada-United States border. Canadian officials have responded by threatening the United States with retaliatory tariffs, as well as shutting down the flow of Canadian energy into the Northern United States. This has led to Trump taunting Canadian prime minister Trudeau with joke offers for Canada to join the Union, and Trump has referred to Trudeau as the 'Governor of the Great State of Canada'.

In 2024, Trump stated a further proposal for the United States to purchase Greenland from Denmark, saying a post on Truth Social that “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.” This builds upon a prior offer from Trump to buy Greenland during his first term, which the Danish Realm refused.

In 2024, Trump demanded that Panama return control of the Panama Canal to the United States due to 'excessive rates' being charged for American passage. If the United States were to take control of the Panama Canal, it would mark the first time the United States controlled Panamanian territory since the United States invasion of Panama.

Congressional party leaders

		Senate leaders		House leaders
Congress	Year	Majority	Minority	Speaker	Minority
119th	begins 2025	Thune	Schumer	TBD	Jeffries

Republican seats in Congress

Congress	Senate	House
119th	53	220

Footnotes

Citations