WASHINGTON — Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president on Monday inside the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol after frigid weather moved the pageantry indoors.
Trump became president moments after noon, taking the oath read by Chief Justice John Roberts. Trump was joined by his wife Melania Trump who was holding both a family bible and the one used by President Abraham Lincoln at his 1861 inauguration.
Did Trump place his hand on the Bible?
During his oath, Trump did not place his hand atop the Bible, a moment that quickly took over on social media as people watching at home took notice.
#BREAKING: Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. pic.twitter.com/VywxkH9E4D
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 20, 2025
“Why isn’t Trump’s hand on the Bible??” one user noted on X, formerly known as Twitter. Another user noted that Chief Justice Roberts appeared to begin the oath before Melania was next to Trump with the Bibles.
“Great. Just great. No hand on the Bible. Melania tried to get it close to him but Roberts and Trump didn’t notice,” the user wrote on X.
During his 2017 inauguration, Trump placed his hand on a family Bible stacked atop Lincoln’s while taking the oath.
While reciting the presidential oath of office is mandated by the Constitution, using a Bible isn’t.
Trump is certainly not the first president to not use a Bible during the swearing-in ceremony.
Theodore Roosevelt didn’t use one when he was sworn in following the assassination of William McKinley in 1901. John Quincy Adams used a law text for his 1825 inauguration. Lyndon B. Johnson used a Catholic missal as he was sworn in aboard Air Force One after John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963.
Who holds the Bible during the inaugural ceremony isn’t exactly spelled out either. Lady Bird Johnson set a tradition that has continued until today when she became the first incoming-first lady to hold the Bible for her husband Lyndon’s second inauguration in January 1965.
Prior to that, the Bibles were often held by an unknown official — people not easily identified in historical photographs.
