Trump, Pence visit Arlington National Cemetery for ceremonial wreath-laying
Inauguration weekend kicked off Thursday afternoon with the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. As their families looked on, President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a monument dedicated to American service members who have died without being officially identified.
The ceremony, which was slated to last roughly 20 minutes, instead wrapped up in just a few minutes as Trump and Pence placed the wreath. Hours earlier, Trump and his family arrived in Washington, D.C., from New York City.
Trump's first order of business in the nation's capital was a luncheon meeting at his D.C. hotel, which was attended by transition officials and incoming White House staff. Later Thursday, Trump will stop by a celebratory concert at the Lincoln Memorial and attend a reception and dinner at Union Station.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump's official inaugural ceremony begins Friday at 11:30 a.m. ET.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Pentagon unable to name boat strike casualtiesSpeed Read The Pentagon has so far acknowledged 14 strikes
-
41 political cartoons for October 2025Cartoons Editorial cartoonists take on Donald Trump, ICE, Stephen Miller, the government shutdown, a peace plan in the Middle East, Jeffrey Epstein, and more.
-
King Charles strips Andrew of ‘prince’ titleSpeed Read He will now be known only as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations