8 awkward moments from Donald Trump’s inauguration

A romantic moment between Trump and his wife Melania didn’t go as planned. After he walked on stage at the start of the ceremony, the new President reached for his wife and leaned in for a kiss, only to be met by air and the side of her rather large, wide-brimmed hat.

Priority seating was given to some of the biggest tech companies’ CEOs. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook, and Tesla’s Elon Musk were seated on the inaugural platform in front of most of Trump’s expected Cabinet officials.

It wasn’t just them who enjoyed a prime view of the ceremony as their spouses were in attendance too – a privilege not offered to most members of Congress due to space constraints inside the Capitol Rotunda.

Barack Obama wasn’t met with the warmest response when he arrived without his wife Michelle Obama. 

The former POTUS stepped out to boos from the crowds as he arrived to watch Trump become the 47th President of the United States. 

He wasn’t the only one who received a negative response from onlookers either, as Hillary and Bill Clinton were also met with boos.

In true Trump fashion, he used his inauguration speech to make a dig at Joe Biden – who was sitting with him and Kamala Harris in the front row – saying that he couldn’t “manage even a simple crisis at home”.

The remark didn’t appear to sit well with either as both Biden and Harris were spotted not clapping at one point during Trump’s speech, as he spoke about the recent shooting incident, where he was targeted during a rally in Pennsylvania back in June. 

Trump’s remarks on being saved to “make America great again,” was met with a round of applause and many standing ovations, while Biden and Harris remained quietly seated. 

Former First Lady Hillary Clinton became a viral sensation after she was spotted giggling during Trump’s speech.

When he announced his plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and Alaska’s Mount Denali to Mount McKinley, Clinton couldn’t contain her laughter and had to bow her head as she received a smirk from her husband.

Country music superstar Carrie Underwood suffered an awkward moment when a technical glitch meant she was forced to sing “America the Beautiful” acapella.

The American Idol judge was left standing in silence for a few moments after the audio of the band suddenly cut out. However, ever the professional, she decided to sing the song acapella, telling the audience: “If you know the words, help me out here.”

Senator of Pennsylvania, John Fetterman didn’t follow the obvious dress code and instead of business attire, he opted for casual comfort, wearing a pair of shorts, an oversized sweater, and a pair of sneakers.

The national anthem was performed very differently at Trump’s inauguration compared to previous ceremonies.

While Biden had Lady Gaga and Obama had Beyonce, Trump chose opera tenor Christopher Macchio to perform the anthem during his inauguration.

While Macchio is relatively unknown compared to his predecessors, he and Trump are close as he performed at several rallies during the 2024 election campaign.