The packed dais in the Capitol Rotunda on Inauguration Day featured four of the five richest men in the world, five U.S. presidents, technology and business magnates, and two foreign leaders in prime locations.
Donald Trump’s inauguration was attended by traditional, unprecedented and unorthodox guests, from Supreme Court judges to the vice president of China and the director of TikTok, an application that the United States authorities have identified as a risk to national security, along with the person Trump has chosen to lead the intelligence community.
There were also members of the president’s family and other familiar faces in Trump’s circle. Lawmakers mostly sat across from Trump, watching the new president take the oath of office.
Here are who was on the stand and who they sat next to.
1. Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok, was sitting next to Tulsi Gabbard, whom Trump has nominated to be director of national intelligence. Trump intervened this weekend in an attempt to stop a ban on TikTok, which is seen as a potential national security threat. The president has credited the social network with helping him win last year’s election, but the platform faces a ban if the China-based parent company does not find a buyer approved by Washington.
2. Joe Rogan, one of the world’s most popular podcasters, sat down for a three-hour interview with Trump in the final stretch of the campaign and ultimately endorsed him a day before the election. Trump has expressed his gratitude to him.
3. A group of billionaires and tech tycoons sat in the same row. They included Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg; the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos; to the CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai and the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world. They were seated behind Trump’s wife, Melania, and their children, but in front of several of his Cabinet nominees. Musk, who has grown closer to Trump since the election, sat closest to Trump. Bernard Arnault, CEO of French magnate LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods seller whose brands include Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, was on the opposite side of the stand.
4. Barron Trump is Trump’s youngest son. The president has acknowledged his contribution to the online campaign, saying it introduced him to internet personalities he had never met before. Barron Trump is now 18 and a freshman business student at New York University, but he will have a room in the White House.
5. Kai Trump, one of Trump’s granddaughters, is a social media influencer and avid golfer. Kai Trump is only 17 years old but has grown in popularity over the past year, taking the stage at the Republican National Convention and speaking briefly at a rally over the weekend. She is the daughter of Donald Trump Jr., who has helped her father with some of his elections and is seen as an enforcer of loyalty in his circle.
6. Miriam Adelson and John Paulson were among the Trump campaign’s biggest donors and got prime seats at the ceremony alongside the next White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles. Paulson, a billionaire investor, hosted a fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida, that set a record for a single event, adding $50.5 million to the campaign last April. Adelson is co-owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and the widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. She is a major Trump supporter and, along with Zuckerberg, hosted another inaugural event on Monday.
7. Former Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and outgoing President Joe Biden also received prime seats. All of his wives, except former first lady Michelle Obama, were also sitting there. Michelle Obama had previously announced that she would skip the swearing-in ceremony. He didn’t give a reason.
8. In an unprecedented move, Trump invited foreign leaders to the inauguration, and they, too, got coveted seats at the ceremony. The president of Argentina, Javier Milei, was sitting next to the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. There was also China’s vice president, Han Zheng, whom President Xi Jinping sent to represent him. China’s ambassador to the United States, Xie Feng, was also nearby.