Photos show the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term
Jan 20, 2026, 4:22 AM
FILE - President Donald Trump holds a saber after using it to cut a cake at the Commander in Chief inaugural ball in Washington, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
In year one of his second presidency, Donald Trump wielded a wrecking ball — literal and metaphorical — to the ways of Washington and the traditional role of the U.S. in the world. Associated Press photographers documented it all.
Trump moved his inauguration indoors and gave the titans of the tech world prime seats in the Capitol Rotunda, which had been ransacked by his supporters only four years earlier. The Republican president empowered Elon Musk to fire thousands of federal employees — until the two titanic personalities had a falling-out.
An immigration crackdown began with border control and mushroomed into violence in U.S. cities where federal officers were dispatched.
Trump told mourners at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service that he hates his opponents.
The White House dubbed Trump “the president of peace,” and soccer governing body FIFA followed suit. Yet Trump was unable to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his invasion of Ukraine, and Trump upbraided Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.
Trump gilded the West Wing and demolished the East Wing. He fought U.S. media in front of cameras and in court. He repeatedly bent Congress to his will and resisted the full release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files.
As the first year drew to a close, Trump threatened to deploy U.S. military might in Minneapolis at the same time he pressed the case for a U.S. takeover of Greenland.
This is a photo gallery curated by Associated Press photo editors.
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Barrow reported from Atlanta.
