Musicians, politicians, Big Tech: Who’s on the guest list for the Trump inauguration, from Mark Zuckerberg to Carrie Underwood

Donald Trump is making his historic return to the White House today. And unlike in 2017, when he struggled to draw a crowd, President-elect Trump is touting a large mix of big performers and even bigger corporate CEOs, particularly from Big Tech, for his second inauguration.

However, the forecast of intensely cold weather conditions has necessitated moving the inauguration ceremony indoors, to the Capitol Rotunda, scuttling plans for the extensive outdoor event. The Rotunda, which is prepared as an alternative for every inauguration, was last used in 1985 for President Ronald Reagan’s second-term swearing-in for similarly frigid temperatures.

Unfortunately for the hundreds of thousands of people with tickets to view the inauguration in person, not to mention President Trump’s fascination with inauguration crowd size, the Capitol Rotunda can only accommodate some 600 people. President Joe Biden, members of Congress, other notable guests, and family will be among those at the Rotunda ceremony. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies “strongly suggests” that people in town for the inauguration find other indoor venues to watch the ceremony. (Every major cable news station and broadcast TV network will be covering the day’s events beginning at 10 a.m. ET.) One alternate indoor location: Capital One Arena, with a capacity of 20,000. This is also now the site for a modified Presidential Parade following the 60th Inaugural Ceremony.

Despite the venue change, Trump’s swearing-in ceremony is still set to begin at 12 p.m. ET. As he has done four times prior, Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath of office to Trump, while Justice Brett Kavanaugh will administer the oath of office to Vice President-elect JD Vance, who will be sworn in first.

Performers on deck

Shortly before Trump is sworn in, country musician Carrie Underwood is expected to perform “America the Beautiful,” accompanied by the Armed Forces Chorus and the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club. “I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking to the future,” Underwood said in a statement to CNN.

Country music singer and saxophonist Lee Greenwood, who performed at Trump’s first inauguration, is slated to sing his “God Bless the USA.” Opera singer Christopher Macchio will sing the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” at the end of the inauguration.

Outside of the official ceremony, several musicians are slated to perform at various inaugural events. According to the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee, Gavin DeGraw, Kid Rock, Jason Aldean, and Rascal Flatts are on deck to perform at Monday’s Liberty Inaugural Ball.

The Village People, the disco band behind the ’70s hit and Trump favorite “Y.M.C.A.,” are expected to play at a few inaugural events including the Liberty Ball. “Y.M.C.A.,” which as the Associated Press points out, is widely considered a gay anthem, with progressive political overtones, was often played at Trump’s election rallies. Whether Trump or his conservative followers understand the irony remains unclear, though it does seem the band is not tone-deaf.

“We know this won’t make some of you happy to hear, however we believe that music is to be performed without regard to politics,” the band posted on Facebook. “Our song ‘Y.M.C.A.’ is a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign where our preferred candidate lost. Therefore, we believe it’s now time to bring the country together with music which is why VILLAGE PEOPLE will be performing at various events as part of the 2025 Inauguration of Donald J. Trump.”

Big Tech goes to Washington

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk were expected to sit with Trump’s Cabinet picks and elected officials at the ceremony, NBC News reported; now that the swearing-in ceremony has moved indoors, it’s not known who, if any, will be in attendance in the Rotunda. Musk reportedly spent a quarter-billion dollars getting Trump reelected, while Zuckerberg’s Meta and Bezos’s Amazon donated $1 million each to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fund, along with other Big Tech companies and CEOs. TikTok CEO Shou Chew, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Apple CEO Tim Cook are also expected to attend some of the festivities, including the Inaugural Luncheon.

However, one tech sector CEO’s name that is not on the RSVP list: Nvidia’s Jensen Huang. Though Huang has professed optimism for Trump’s presidency, he is traveling to East Asia for the Lunar New Year celebrations next week.

Interestingly, Meta, Apple, Amazon, and Google parent Alphabet are all facing antitrust lawsuits from the federal government, while Trump just promised to overturn the TikTok U.S. ban even though it was unanimously upheld by the Supreme Court. That is to say, all these Big Tech billionaires have a vested interest in currying favor with the new administration—and by the very unsubtle look of things, they are doing just that.

U.S. and global politician RSVPs

As is customary for former presidents, Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Barack Obama will attend Trump’s swearing-in ceremony. However, they all intend to copy Trump’s signature move at Biden’s inauguration and be no-shows for the Inaugural Luncheon.

And in a first in U.S. history for a presidential inauguration, the president-elect has extended invitations to foreign leaders, among them Chinese President Xi Jinping and conservative heads of state Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and Argentine President Javier Milei. Orbán will not be attending, and China’s Vice President Han Zheng will be attending in President Xi’s stead.

Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, will be attending. Two notable public servants who are forgoing the festivities: former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former First Lady Michelle Obama. No public explanations were given. In Obama’s case, however, her speech at the Democratic convention branding Trump a misogynistic racist may hold some clues. Or, per the headline of a recent op-ed in the Boston Globe: Michelle Obama is Done Pretending.