Trump set to take oath as 47th US president

Donald Trump is set to be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday (today) while outgoing president Joe Biden will attend the ceremony along with other former US presidents.

Every four years America's president is sworn in on Inauguration Day, whether newly elected or returning to office, in a long-established ceremony held amid pageantry shaped by the incoming leader's personal flourishes.

The US Constitution mandates that each new president's term begin at noon on January 20 (or the day after if it falls on a Sunday), and that the president take the oath of office.

The oath is most often administered by the Supreme Court chief justice, and Monday would mark John Roberts's second time officiating for Trump.

The new president also delivers an inaugural address, laying out his plans for the next four years. The Republican rang in his first term in 2017 with a particularly dark speech evoking "American carnage."

Incoming vice president JD Vance will also be sworn in.

Outgoing president Joe Biden will attend the ceremony -- despite Trump's refusal to appear at Biden's swearing-in when he beat Trump in 2020.

All living former presidents -- Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama -- will attend, as will their wives, except for Michelle Obama.

Trump said he is preparing to sign multiple executive orders as early as his first day in office, aimed at undoing many of the Biden administration's policies.

Among other promises, he has pledged to launch a mass deportation program and increase oil drilling. He has also said he might immediately begin pardoning January 6 rioters, his followers who ransacked the Capitol in 2021.

Immediately after the inauguration a meeting is planned between US officials and foreign ministers from Japan, India and Australia, the so-called "Quad" which the Biden administration saw as a counterweight to an assertive China.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump landed in Washington on Saturday ahead of his inauguration, with the billionaire Republican set to attend a series of events and celebrations before reclaiming the presidency.

Trump, who arrived with his wife Melania and other family members at Dulles International Airport, headed to a private event, including a fireworks show, at his golf club in Virginia outside Washington.