Donald Trump Jr. went through the widest possible range of emotions Monday as his father was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.
He first smiled when Donald Trump completed the oath of office.
Then, when ‘Hail to the Boss’ played in the Capitol Rotunda and Joe Biden stepped forward to shake his father’s hand, his eyes misted and glistened with tears.
His smile seemed to harden as if he were fighting a wave of emotion like the proud son of a new president.
His face reflected what many in Trump’s inner circle felt on Monday: vindication in victory after four difficult years in the wilderness, surviving election defeat and then fighting a series of criminal prosecutions.
‘Have you ever been more excited for a Monday? “American strength is back,” he posted on X before the ceremony.
It is not the first time that Don Jr. shows his emotion as a crucial moment. His eyes looked moist when his father made his triumphant arrival at the party convention in July, he says after surviving an assassin’s bullet.
Donald Trump Jr. went through a range of emotions as his father was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. He smiled with delight

And then his eyes glistened with moisture as he looked at his father with pride.
She sat alongside her proud siblings during the ceremony, with her sister Ivanka, her husband Jared Kushner and her brother Eric to her right.
He shared a joke with the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, who was sitting on his left shoulder.
And when his father stepped forward to take the oath, he moved to a prime spot to see him up close.
“I solemnly swear that I will faithfully serve as President of the United States and, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,” Trump said.
It marked an extraordinary return to power for a president impeached twice during his first term, convicted of corporate fraud during his term and who narrowly survived an assassination during last year’s campaign.
A group of billionaires, including Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Tim Cook, held prominent positions in the audience, reflecting how Trump has won over skeptics.
It means that Don Jr and his brothers have gone from being marginalized after the 2020 electoral defeat to being at the center of political, business and social life in the country’s capital.
“America’s golden age begins right now,” Trump said in his inaugural address.

From left to right, Eric Trump, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. applaud during the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 20. 2025

About 600 dignitaries gathered in the Capitol Rotunda for the inauguration ceremony
‘FFrom today, our country will flourish and be respected again around the world.”
After his speech, he stopped by the Capitol visitor center where he gave a longer, more informal speech.
He returned to some of his favorite campaign topics, such as expressing suspicions about the electoral process and criticizing President Joe Biden’s last-minute pardons.
“I think this was a better speech than the one I gave above,” Trump said.
He is expected to later sign dozens of executive orders signaling he wants to get to work repealing Biden-era regulations on green energy, diversity, equity and inclusion, and foreign aid.