Donald Trump, the president-elect of the United States, visited a church near the White House in Washington, D.C., as his first schedule on the inauguration day, the 20th (local time). Attending worship on inauguration day is a tradition that began with President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933.
Trump and his wife Melania got into a waiting vehicle at around 8:40 a.m. after leaving Blair House, the official guesthouse of the White House where they had spent the previous night.
The president-elect wore a black coat with a purple tie, while Melania wore a black coat with a wide-brimmed black hat decorated with a white trim.
The vehicle carrying the Trumps moved to St. John's Episcopal Church, located a block away, two minutes later. The couple exited the vehicle holding hands and entered the church with the guidance of church officials at the front door.
The president-elect sat in the front row of the church during the worship service. In the same row were Melania, their youngest son Barron, and the couple of Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Before the Trumps, JD Vance and his wife, the vice president-elect couple, also entered the church.
This church, located across Lafayette Square to the north of the White House, has been visited by nearly all U.S. presidents since the fourth president, James Madison, and is also known as 'the church of presidents.' President Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, is known to have held evening prayers at this church throughout the Civil War.
The president-elect had also visited this church on the inauguration day of his first term in 2017. However, President Joe Biden, a Roman Catholic, attended a Mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral on his inauguration day in 2021.
After the worship service, the president-elect moved to the White House to have tea and chat with President Joe Biden and his wife. Subsequently, he will proceed to the Capitol, where he will officially be inaugurated as the 47th president through the swearing-in ceremony scheduled for noon.