People have been wondering if Donald Trump’s decision not to put his hand on the Bible while being sworn in has had any impact on his oath of office.

Yesterday (January 20) marked a historical day for the White House as Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, becoming the 47th President of the United States.

The inauguration ceremony in Washington has already caused a stir on social media, as eagle-eyed viewers didn’t skip a beat spotting some seemingly strange moments.

From First Lady Melania Trump‘s excessively large hat which allowed her to ‘dodge’ a kiss from the president to Elon Musk’s thumbs up next to Barron Trump before later being accused of making a ‘Nazi salute’ – something he has denied.

Now, another snippet from the ceremony has gone viral where Trump is being sworn in during his oath of office.

Donald Trump didn’t put hand on Bible during oath

The tradition of swearing on a Bible dates back to George Washington, who actually kissed the scriptures after taking his oath, but as Trump raised his right hand to ‘solemnly swear’ to commit to the position and ‘serve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States’, his left hand strayed away from hovering over the two Bibles his wife held in front of him.

He had a family Bible, given to Trump by his mother, and a Bible used by the 16th President Abraham Lincoln used in his own inauguration in 1861. But apparently, Trump didn’t touch either of them, despite doing so in his first inauguration in 2017.

Many have since been left wondering if Trump’s choice not to touch the holy texts has had any impact on his oath and how the Bible actually factors into the whole affair.

Donald Trump didn’t touch the Bibles next to him while making his oath (MORRY GASH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Taking to Twitter, an apparent Trump supporter wrote: “Great. Just great. No hand on the Bible.

“Melania tried to get it close to him but Roberts and Trump didn’t notice.

“Now we get four more years of people saying he’s not president, and four more years of people saying he’s the AntiChrist.”

It’s not clear why Trump decided not to put his hand on the Bible.

Does Trump not putting his hand on the Bible have an impact on oath?

Physically touching a Bible is not actually mandatory or a legal requirement – the Constitution simply requires the president take the oath before assuming office, religious text or not.

Speaking to Reuters, Jeremi Suri, a University of Texas history professor and presidential scholar, revealed there is no practical impact if a president declines to swear on a Bible or historical document.

Suri said: “There’s nothing in the Constitution that says the president has to connect this to God in any way. The oath is to the Constitution.

“I don’t think it has any bearing on him taking the oath.”

Trump and his wife, Melania, during his swearing in in the US Capitol on Monday (Julia Demaree Nikhinson – Pool/Getty Images)

The academic also added that the Constitution allows any incoming president to either swear or attest, meaning it is ‘open to someone who is an atheist’.

Long-standing tradition

But that hasn’t stopped Trump’s predecessors from following the tradition to a tee, including Joe Biden, who used a Bible that had been in his family since 1893.

In some instances where the Bible was not used, US presidents used other texts: John Quincy Adams, the sixth president, placed his hand on a book of law, while Lyndon B. Johnson used a Catholic prayer missal that was found on the plane that transported John F. Kennedy’s casket after his assassination, reports The New York Times.

Trump has also referenced God during his inaugural address, commenting that he was ‘saved by God’ to ‘make American great again‘.

UNILAD has contacted the White House press secretary for comment.

All the executive orders Donald Trump has signed so far

Policy recognising only ‘two genders’

The president signed an order which will make it an official policy that there are only ‘two genders’.

The policy reads: “Agencies will cease pretending that men can be women and women can be men when enforcing laws that protect against sex discrimination.

“These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.”

The order will also bring to an end ‘wasteful’ government programmes which promote diversity and inclusivity, as well as ‘defending women from gender ideology extremism’.

Free speech

The president accused the previous administration of ‘trampling free speech rights by censoring Americans’ speech’ and vowed to restore freedom of speech.

The order states it will ‘ensure that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen’ and will ‘end censorship of protected speech’.

Leaving the World Health Organisation

The president accused the organization of fumbling the COVID-19 pandemic and said the US would no longer be ‘ripped off’ by it.

While signing a document to have the US leave the health agency, Trump said: “World Health ripped us off, everybody rips off the United States. It’s not going to happen anymore.”

TikTok ban

As expected, Trump signed an executive order which hits pause on the US’ ban of the popular app, allowing time for an ‘appropriate course forward’.

“I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok that I didn’t have originally,” he said.

January 6 pardons

Trump’s loss in the 2020 election led to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in turn resulting in the arrests of a number of Trump supporters.

And as anticipated, the president has wasted no time in issuing pardons for offenders. Trump said he’s pardoned around 1,500 people and issued six commutations.

Immigration

Trump has issued a slew of immigration-related policies during his first day back in the White House as he declared illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border a national emergency.

Trump has already gotten started on reversing several Biden-era immigration orders and has plans to send US troops to help immigration agents and restrict refugees.

The president has also got the wheels in motion to prevent children of immigrants in the US illegally from having citizenship.

Speaking at his inauguration, he said: “All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”

Restoring the death penalty

Calling capital punishment an ‘essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes’, Trump signed an order which will ensure states have enough lethal injection drugs for executions.

“The Attorney General shall pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use,” the order says.

Renaming the Gulf of Mexico

Following through on his promise during a press conference earlier this month, Trump has now ordered the Gulf of Mexico to be called the Gulf of America.

“President Trump is bringing common sense to government and renewing the pillars of American Civilization,” the executive order said.

Despite the order, it won’t change how it is named globally.

Energy policy

Trump has vowed to ‘unleash American energy’, promising to export US energy globally as he signed the order amid what he describes as a ‘national energy emergency’.

“America is blessed with an abundance of energy and natural resources that have historically powered our Nation’s economic prosperity. In recent years, burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations have impeded the development of these resources, limited the generation of reliable and affordable electricity, reduced job creation, and inflicted high energy costs upon our citizens,” the order states.

The order will also reverse Biden’s ban on drilling in Alaska as Trump declared America ‘will be a rich nation again’.

Cost of living

In the order, Trump vowed to issue ’emergency price relief’ to Americans aimed at lowering housing prices and availability and creating ’employment opportunities for American workers’.

Trump will also ‘eliminate harmful, coercive “climate” policies that increase the costs of food and fuel’.

Drug cartels

Trump has said drug cartels will now be classified as terrorist organisations.

“International cartels constitute a national-security threat beyond that posed by traditional organised crime,” the orders says.

Federal workers

Federal employees have now been classified as political hires – a move which in theory would make them easier to fire.

Trump also declared a federal hiring freeze which will reduce the size of federal government.

Donald Trump has said the ‘golden age of America begins now’ as he’s sworn in as the 47th president.

The President is speaking inside the US Capitol building in Washington for his inauguration.

Trump arrived with his wife and incoming First Lady, Melania Trump, to St John’s Church, known as the ‘Church of the Presidents’, today (January 20) as he prepares to take on the role for the second time.

The President with wife, Melania, during his second inauguration (YouTube/ABC)

He has dubbed the day’s events as ‘liberation day’ for America, adding: “It is my hope that our recent presidential election will be remembered as the greatest and most consequential election in the history of our country.”

In his speech, Trump also listed off figures including Vice President JD Vance and Justices of the US Supreme Court, as well as former presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama and now Joe Biden, and announced that ‘the golden age of America begins right now’.

Trump continued that he is ‘confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success’.

“Sunlight is pouring over the entire world and America has the chance to seize this opportunity like never before,” he added.

During his inaugural address, the President said he will ‘rebalance’ the ‘scales of justice’ during his term.

“The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and government will end,” CNN reports.

He also slammed his predecessor, Joe Biden, for his policies at home and abroad.

Former President Biden during the inauguration (ABC/YouTube)

Trump said: “We now have a government that cannot manage a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumble into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad.

“We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders but refuses to defend American borders or, more importantly, its own people.”

Trump also highlighted some of the executive orders he will sign and take on as president, including an end to the ‘Green New Deal’ and the ‘electric vehicle mandate’ while tackling inflation.

He claimed in his speech that the US is in a ‘national energy emergency’, promising to ‘drill, baby, drill’ as well as bring down rocketing costs and provide ‘tax cuts for American workers’.

The 78-year-old is the oldest person to be elected to the presidency and will be the oldest president in US history by the end of his term.

Touching his assassination attempt during the campaign trial, Trump claims his life was ‘saved by God’ to ‘make America great again’.

His speech comes as part of the age-old tradition, during which the president-elect recites an oath while the vice-president will also be sworn in by repeating the same oath of office that has been in use since 1884.

Donald Trump has wasted no time in making some drastic changes to the way America will be run following his inauguration.

President Trump returned to office for a second time on Monday (January 20) and took back the White House from Joe Biden — whom the businessman lost to in 2020.

While Trump declined to attend Biden’s inauguration and host him at the White House ahead of the ceremony, Biden welcomed his successor with open arms, declaring ‘Welcome Home!’ when he and Melania Trump arrived in Washington DC earlier this week.

But fast forward to November 2024 and Trump was once more voted to be president, with Republicans across the US working hard to get him there.

It’s been a mere few days since he took his seat in the oval office once more, but President Trump’s already signed numerous orders that will make drastic changes to the US.

Here’s some of the other things he’s done since becoming president.

Donald Trump is planning on sending more military personnel to the US-Mexico border (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

Immigration

Trump has clamped down on immigration once more, regarding the US-Mexico border in particular.

It was announced yesterday (January 22) that The Pentagon is deploying as many as 1,500 active duty troops to help secure the US-Mexico border in the coming days, officials said (via Associated Press).

The active duty forces would join the roughly 2,500 US National Guard and Reserve forces already there.

He’s further insulted Mexicans by suggesting that the Gulf of Mexico should be renamed the Gulf of America.

Away from the US-Mexico border, Trump has ordered the suspension of refugee admissions into the US and all refugee travel was canceled just a day after he became president.

Donald Trump returned to office on January 20, 2050 (CHIP SOMODEVILLA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Employment

Trump also wasted no time in sharing his intentions of scrapping the country’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) schemes.

All DEI workers were put on paid leave from 5pm EST yesterday (January 22), ahead of their offices being shut down.

While many have felt that the DEI scheme has helped the LGBTQ+ community in particular, Trump’s new order will remove aims to stop companies hiring candidates on the basis of race and sex.

Elsewhere, the new president has ordered for federal workers to return to the office full time and for agencies to stop giving remote working options to employees.

Trump has also frozen almost all federal agencies from hiring, apart from military, immigration enforcement, national security and public safety jobs, Reuters reported.

Environment and climate change

Trump has ordered for the US to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement; a legally binding international treaty on climate change.

The agreement came into force in 2016 and was agreed to by nearly 200 countries, the US included.

This marks the second time Trump has ordered for America to withdraw from the agreement in 2020, but Biden reversed his predecessor’s decision when he became president in 2021.

While most countries are trying to move away from oil and gas as sources of energy with climate change in mind, Trump has signed orders aiming to promote the the two things in Alaska.

Trump wants to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

“We will drill, baby,” Trump said in his inaugural address on Monday.

“We have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have – the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we are going to use it. We’re going to use it.”

Oval office changes

Of course, Trump has made himself at home since returning to the White House and has already made some tweaks to the Oval Office.

He’s already reinstated his infamous Coca-Cola button, and – obviously — swapped out any Biden portraits from his time in office.

Meanwhile Trump’s added his own personal photographs, as well as swapping out Biden’s darker rug for a neutral-colored one.

As Donald Trump prepares to be inaugurated to the White House a second time, we take a look at all changes he’s vowed to usher in.

The Republican Party leader is set to officially become the 47th US President, as he’s sworn into office in Washington DC later from 11.30am Eastern Time today (20 January).

From cryptocurrency to education and everything in between, here’s everything Donald Trump has promised to do as he returns to office…

Be a ‘dictator’

Donald Trump is the 47th President of the United States (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Trump admitted that one of his plans for his first day back in the Oval Office would be to be a ‘dictator’ when discussing the possibility of his win in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity last year.

He referred to himself as a ‘dictator’ during the interview, when asked by Hannity if he was promising to ‘never abuse power as retribution against anybody’.

In response, Trump said: “Except for Day 1.

“I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling,” he continued.

“After that, I’m not a dictator.”

Delay the TikTok ban

The TikTok ban has been delayed (TikTok/ Twitter/ @amyewong)

TikTok went dark yesterday (January 19), but it was bought back after mere hours with a message reading: “Welcome back! Thank you for your patience and support. As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the US!

“You can continue to create, share and discover all the things you love on TikTok.”

Trump will reportedly sign an executive order to delay the ban saying he wants to ‘make a deal to protect our national security.’

Scrap ‘electric vehicle mandates’

Trump has vowed to scrap EV mandates (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Trump plans to scrap Biden administration’s so-called electric vehicle mandate, referring to new pollution standards that incentivize auto manufacturers to increase production of electric and lower-emission vehicles.

Despite vowing to get rid of the policy on his first day, Trump told podcaster Joe Rogan the move could take ‘maybe two days, because it’s a little bit busy’.

Make US ‘crypto capital

Back in 2021, Trump called crypto a ‘scam against the dollar.’ But four years on, he’s pulled a u-turn as he vowed to make the US the ‘crypto capital of the planet’.

On social media, Trump claimed crypto would be ‘mined, minted and made in the US’.

Both he and wife Melania released their own memecoins ahead of the inauguration, while experts previously predicted Bitcoin could reach up to $250,000 this year.

Trump also said he would ‘fire’ Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler ‘on day one’ – referencing the Joe Biden-appointed SEC chairman who has taken an aggressive approach to crypto regulation.

Free some of the January 6 rioters

Trump supporters clashed with police and security forces as they stormed the US Capitol in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021 (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

It was Trump’s loss in the 2020 election that led to the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, resulting in the arrests of a number of Trump supporters.

However, the president-elect told reporters on voting day this year that his supporters are ‘not violent people’, and that there would be ‘no violence’ surrounding the most recent election.

This belief echoes Trump’s previous claim that some of the people sentenced for their role in the insurrection were ‘wrongfully imprisoned’, and explains why he has shared plans to free them of their sentences as one of his first acts when he returns as president.

In a post shared on his social media channel, Trump said: “I am inclined to pardon many of them. I can’t say for every single one, because a couple of them, probably they got out of control.”

End Green Deals

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

@RepAOC

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Five years after introducing the Green New Deal, we’ve helped secure the largest US investment to combat the climate crisis, launched the American Climate Corps, and more. And we’re just getting started.

Watch on X

1:11 PM · Feb 12, 2024

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Trump has spoken previously about his plan to ‘terminate the Green New Deal’, which he dubbed the ‘Green New Scam’.

The Green New Deal was pitched by Democrats Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Ed Markey, but it was never signed into law. However, Trump has used the term to refer more generally to Joe Biden’s climate and energy policies.

Addressing the policies in a speech in September, Trump said: “To further defeat inflation, my plan will terminate the Green New Deal, which I call the Green New Scam. Greatest scam in history, probably.

“We [will] rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.

“I’m going to write it out in an executive order. It’s going to end on Day 1.”

Fire the man who indicted him

Trump faced two federal cases due to the insurrection (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

Trump faced two federal cases in relation to the 2020 election result from special counsel Jack Smith, and the future POTUS has no plans to work with him again.

Speaking on October 24, Trump told the Hugh Hewitt show he would fire Smith ‘within two seconds’.

“He’ll be one of the first things addressed,” he said.

Plan over 100 executive orders

Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump

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TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!

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It’s been reported by AP that Trump plans on preparing over 100 executive orders on his first day in the White House.

Trump’s allies have reportedly spent time preparing documents that Trump can sign quickly, on issues such as deportation, school gender policies, and vaccine mandates, without input from congress.

“There will be a substantial number,” said Senator John Hoeven, R-N.D.

Make hidden government files public

Trump has promised to increase government transparency, including information about MLK’s assassination (Alpha Historica / Alamy Stock Photo)

Including the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King Jr., Trump promised at his recent rally in Washington D.C that, in a bid to increase government transparency, he will be making these disclosures in ‘the coming days’.

“And in the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” he said.

Mass deportations

Trump, his wife Melania and their son Barron (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Making it clear this will be a priority from day one, Trump wants to start his second presidential reign by using the military to deport masses of undocumented immigrants.

In November 2024, Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton put these claims to social media, to which Trump simply replied: “TRUE!”

In a lengthier statement during a rally at Madison Square Garden, he said: “On Day 1, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out.

“I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail, then kick them the hell out of our country as fast as possible.”

It’s thought the move will impact an estimated 11 million people.

Getting rid of birthright citizenship

Exactly as it sounds, Trump once declared he wanted to get rid of birthright citizenship, which immediately gives citizenship to anyone born in the US.

Noting that this may not be possible as it’s written into the constitution, he said he wants to achieve this by executive order – bypassing congress again – ‘if we can’.

Arrange green cards for college graduates

Despite making his stance on immigration clear, Trump has advocated for non-US citizens to receive green cards to stay in the country if they graduate from college.

During an episode of the ‘All In’ podcast recorded this year, Trump said: “Anybody graduates from a college, you go in there for two years or four years, if you graduate, or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country […]

“Somebody graduates at the top of the class, they can’t even make a deal with the company because they don’t think they’re going to be able to stay in the country. That is going to end on Day 1.”

The ‘Make Greenland Great Again Act’

Trump has his sights set on Greenland (Juan Maria Coy Vergara/Getty Images)

In a bid that has not gone down well with Greenlanders – shocking – Trump has said he wants to buy Greenland, with Republican lawmakers having drawn up a bill which will allow Trump to start negotiations when he enters the White House January 20.

Taking to his social media platform Truth Social, he said: “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.

“Greenland is an incredible place. The people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation. We will protect it, cherish it, from a very vicious outside World.

“MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!”

Cut federal funding for schools educating on ‘inappropriate’ topics

Speaking early last year, Trump addressed a crowd in Iowa and made plans to ‘save [the] country from destruction’.

As part of this, the president-elect shared his plans to crack down on schools which include certain lessons about race, gender or politics.

“On day one, I will sign a new executive order to cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, transgender insanity,” he said, per NPR.

Trump also said he would target schools pushing ‘any other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content on our children’.