Dr S Jaishankar Represent India at Donald Trump Swearing in Ceremony

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar represented India at the swearing in ceremony of Donald Trump as the 47th President and JD Vance as the Vice President of the United States of America  on 20 January 2025 at the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC. 

The Republican Party candidate Donald Trump was elected as the 47th President of America by defeating the then Vice -President Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party in the Presidential election held in the country on 5 November 2024.

Donald Trump succeeds Joe Biden as the President of the United States of America. 

Dr S Jaishnakar Special Envoy of the Prime Minister 

Dr S Jaishnakar attended the swearing in ceremony as the special envoy of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. According to the Ministry of External Affairs the Indian Prime Minister normally does not attend the swearing in ceremony of the Head of States of a foreign country and instead sends his special envoy .

Recently Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari attended the Iranian President’s Masoud Pezeshkian inauguration in July 2024. Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita represented India at the inaugurations of the Presidents of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto, and Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum in October 2024.

Apart from Dr Jaishnakar the other notable Indian present at the swearing in ceremony of Donald Trump were Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita Ambani.

The other foreign leaders who attended the ceremony was Argentina’s President Javier Milei, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the 

former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Term of the President of the USA

The term of the USA President  is four years. According to the 22nd constitutional amendment 1951,a person can be the President  of the USA for a two term only. 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the longest serving President of the United States having served four terms from 1933 to 1945.

According to the USA Constitution the term of the President and Vice -President  ends on 20th January noon in the year when their four year terms end.

The President and the Vice President are administered the oath of office by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. 

Presently Justice John Roberts is the Chief Justice  of the United States Supreme Court.

About the American Capital, Capitol Hill and the White House

Under the Residence Act 1790 passed by the United States legislature , Congress, President George Washington selected the area that is now known as the District of Columbia (D C)  along river Potomac, as the new capital of the United States of America.

The City was later named as Washington DC.

The capital city was  designed by the French engineer Pierre Charles L'Enfant. 

Within the new capital city, separate areas were designated for the legislature and the office and residence of the President of the country. 

Capitol Hill 

• Capitol Hill was built on Jenkins Hill, now called National Mall.
• The construction of the Capitol Hill started in 1793 and it housed the United States Congress, Library of Congress (largest library in the world), the Supreme Court of the United States of America and the Botanic Garden.
• Later on a separate building was built for the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court and the Botanic Garden.

White House 

• White House is the symbol of the executive of the United States government.
• It is the office and residence  of the President of the USA.
• The White House is situated at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC.
• The construction started in 1792 and completed in 1800.
• The first President of the USA Geroge Washington never lived in the White House.
• The first US President to occupy the White House was John Adams (2nd President of the USA) in 1800.

Also Read: Presidential Election in the United States of America