NEW DELHI: On January 20, a little before noon, seventy eight years old Democrat, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States of America, as the Chief Justice of the country John Roberts administered the oath of office at 11:47 a.m (US Time), with 13 minutes remaining in outgoing President Donald Trump’s term. 

Just minutes prior to Biden, 56 years old Kamala Harris was sworn in as the 49th Vice President of the United States, and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor administered the oath of office to her.

The inaugural ceremony took place on the West Front of the Capitol in Washington, DC in a much muted function as compared to the usual grand ceremony where tens of thousands of people flock to see the ceremony live.  This was due to extraordinary prevailing conditions both political, public health scare as well as a major security crisis which had arisen following the attack on the US Capitol two weeks earlier by pro-Trump supporters.

Only a limited amount of people were allowed to attend the program, which included Trump's second-in-command, outgoing Vice President Mike Pence, former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

Trump however chose not to attend the inauguration. Early in the morning he along with his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, departed for his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach in Florida from Joint Base Andrews (JBA), Maryland.

On arrival at the JBA, Trump walked the red carpet as the President for the last time and was given a 21-gun salute, as the military band performed the official presidential anthem, ‘Hail to the Chief’, after which he addressed hundreds of supporters, staff and family members who had gathered to cheer and wish him goodbye. 

In his brief last speech before departing Trump said that, 'it has been an incredible four year' and he will be 'back in some form.' "We've accomplished so much together, I will always fight for you. We will be back in some form,” he said. 

A visible sulking Trump wished the new administration a great luck and a great success; however he totally skipped addressing Biden by his name. As Air Force One lifted off with Trump and his wife, a song by Frank Sinatra's "My Way" was played, it was the same song on which Trump and Melania had danced to during his inaugural ball four years prior.