Despite the convention-shattering nature of President-elect Trump’s path to victory, his inauguration this week promises to be a relatively traditional affair.
Trump’s team has embraced many of the customs that presidents before him have long shared at their own ceremonies while designing a series of events suited to Trump’s workhorse nature.
And although revelers can expect to experience the hallmarks of historic inaugurations, from the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to the lavish inaugural balls, they can also look forward to surprises from a Presidential Inaugural Committee that has kept quiet about many of its plans in the days before events begin.
Here are four ways Trump will observe traditions, and four ways he will break them.
Keeping traditions
1. Wreath-laying at Arlington Cemetery
Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence will begin the three days of official celebrations by laying wreaths on veterans’ graves at Arlington Cemetery. While Trump’s predecessors have also participated in the tribute, his inauguration planners say the event will hold a special significance for Trump.
“That’s something that’s such an important tradition,” Boris Epshteyn, director of communications for the Presidential Inaugural Committee and former senior adviser to the Trump campaign, told the Washington Examiner of the wreath-laying ceremony.
2. Overnight stay at the Blair House
Trump is set to spend the evening before he takes the oath of office in the Blair House, the storied guest house of the president. Operated by the State Department, the Blair House has served as lodging for every incoming president since Jimmy Carter, who started the tradition by staying there before his inauguration in 1977.
3. Church service at St. John’s
In keeping with a tradition observed intermittently by presidents as far back as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Trump will attend service at St. John’s Episcopal Church the morning of Jan. 20 with President Obama and the first lady.
4. Coffee or tea at the White House
Obama invited Trump and his wife to the White House for coffee shortly before they all ride together to the U.S. Capitol, where the swearing-in ceremony will take place on Jan. 20. The visit and motorcade drive are expected to be amicable, but it hasn’t always been that way.
“When FDR and Hoover rode to the inauguration together, the ride was virtually completely silent, and when Truman and Eisenhower rode to the White House together, it was total silence,” said Douglas Young, professor of political science and history at the University of North Georgia. “In fact, when the Eisenhowers went to the Truman White House, they stayed in the car, they did not even go inside for coffee or tea.
“Sometimes there’s real tension,” Young added, noting that Trump and Obama have given few signs that their upcoming engagement could be so acrimonious.
The private White House visit has been a longstanding way for the incoming and outgoing presidents to enjoy a quiet moment before the transition of power occurs. Young predicted Trump might put his own spin on the custom.
“Traditionally, it would just be the president-elect and the [incoming] first lady who would arrive at the White House and meet the president and the first lady,” Young said. “My guess is that perhaps the Trump children, or at least the adult children and perhaps their spouses, maybe they might go as well, but the two couples, they would meet in the White House for tea or coffee.”
Breaking traditions
1. Fewer inaugural balls
President Bill Clinton attended 14 official inaugural balls after taking the oath of office. Obama attended 10. But on the evening of Jan. 20, Trump will attend just three official inaugural balls in what is perhaps the most visible departure from the more elaborate ceremonies of his predecessors.
“Some of the differences [between Trump’s inauguration and previous inaugurations] are the fact that there’ll be three inaugural balls instead of 10 inaugural balls, and one of those inaugural balls is a salute to the armed services,” Epshteyn said.
The Salute to Our Armed Services Ball, set to be held at the National Building Museum, will also honor first responders such as firefighters and police officers. Epshteyn noted the addition of first responders to the list of honorees is another new element of Trump’s celebration.
David Clinton, an expert on presidential transitions at Baylor University, said Trump’s participation in at least some of the balls was expected.
“It’s customary for the new president and first lady to go to several of these balls just to make an appearance and spend a little time there,” Clinton said.
2. Shorter parade
Trump’s inaugural parade will be roughly an hour and a half shorter than previous parades, an indication of the president-elect’s eagerness to start governing, Epshteyn said.
“The parade will be shorter than it’s been in the past, because this inauguration is about getting to work,” Epshteyn explained.
Trump and the new first lady will watch the 8,000 parade participants march down Pennsylvania Avenue from a reviewing stand constructed across from the White House’s North Lawn.
“The incoming president is expected to spend some time on the reviewing stand in front of the White House watching the parade go by,” Clinton said. “And no doubt President Trump will do the same thing. I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t continue those traditions.”
3. New inauguration announcer
Trump’s inauguration planners made waves when they decided to tap Steve Ray, a Washington, D.C.-based freelance announcer, to announce the names of inaugural parade participants. That’s because Charles Brotman, longtime former inauguration announcer, has performed that duty for 11 presidents dating back to Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Brotman will instead serve as “Announcer Chairman Emeritus” for the ceremonies.
4. No D.C. public school marching bands
For the past five inaugurations, a local marching band from a Washington, D.C., public school has participated in the inaugural parade. This year, however, none applied to join the festivities.
The parade will feature a wide variety of other groups, including participants from the home states of Pence and Trump. Epshteyn described the parade roster as “a cross section of all corners of this country.”
