When Will Trump Take Office? On MLK Day, Unfortunately.

President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on January 21, 2019. Photo: Getty Images

If you’re not a big fan of Donald Trump, you’ve probably gotten used to hearing a lot of stupid and/or depressing political news in recent months. I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but as the Biden administration comes to a close, there’s another unpleasant fact that may not have dawned on you: The second Trump inauguration will take place on January 20, 2025, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

I’m sure you’ll have some questions as you process this information. I’ll answer them to the best of my ability, below.

MLK Day? Is this some kind of joke?

Unfortunately, no.

Did Trump pick January 20 to “own the libs”?

That does sound like something he’d do, but Trump had no say on the timing.

So why is the presidential inauguration on January 20?

It’s in the Constitution. The 20th Amendment states:

The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

How long has this been going on?

For nearly 88 years. Presidential inaugurations used to take place on March 4 (or March 5 if the 4th fell on a Sunday), but the 20th Amendment shortened the lame-duck period by moving the date up to January 20. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the first president sworn in on the new date; his second inauguration took place on January 20, 1937.

Is the presidential inauguration always on MLK Day?

Sometimes, but not always. The federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. takes place on the third Monday of January each year. That day was chosen because it’s close to King’s actual birthday, January 15.

The federal holiday was first observed on January 20, 1986. There have been nine presidential inaugurations since then. Two have fallen on MLK Day: Bill Clinton’s second inauguration in 1997 and Barack Obama’s second inauguration in 2013 (which took place on January 21 because the 20th was a Sunday).

So, if Kamala Harris had become the first Black woman elected president …

Yup.

But instead …

Yes, we’ll be swearing in the guy who spent the first MLK Day of his presidency golfing, and who recently bragged that his pre-insurrection speech on January 6, 2021, drew a bigger crowd than King’s “I Have a Dream” speech (which isn’t true).

Ugh.

Indeed.

Don’t you have any good Trump inauguration news?

Well, Dr. Bernice King, the civil rights leader’s youngest daughter, recently told The Independent that she’s glad Inauguration Day 2025 happens to fall on MLK Day. She said she’d hoped Harris would win instead of “someone who’s spewing hateful rhetoric, who’s not been very kind-hearted and whose policies are not humane in their approach.” However:

“I’m glad that if it was going to happen, it happened on the King holiday, because Dr. King is still speaking to us,” she told The Independent. She sees the January 20 event as a wake-up call for the country and an opportunity to stand up to the incoming administration’s charged agenda items. “We cannot retreat or recoil,” King said. “We have to commit ourselves to continuing the mission of protecting freedom, justice and democracy in the spirit of my father.”

Does that actually make you feel better?

Not really, but it’s all I’ve got.