While we're not generally in the habit of linking to TMZ, the entertainment and scandal site has a light look at the hometown in Slovenia of the incoming first lady, Melania Trump. She will become only the second foreign-born presidential wife in U.S. history, after sixth U.S. President John Quincy Adams' wife, London-born Louisa Catherine.
A record number of prayers will be offered by clergy at the swearing-in ceremony later today, according to a number of sources.
Here's The New York Times:
He will have six clergy members offering prayers and reading Scripture at the ceremony — more than any previous president. The former record-holder, Richard Nixon, had five in 1969. Most presidents invited one or two.
The six are intended to present a diverse tableau, the Inaugural committee’s president said in announcing the lineup. The group includes:
■ A Catholic, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, the archbishop of New York.
■ A Hispanic evangelical, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.
■ A woman, Pastor Paula White, of New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Fla.
■ A Jew, Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, in Los Angeles, which teaches about the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and prejudice.
■ A white evangelical, the Rev. Franklin Graham, son and successor of the evangelist Billy Graham.
■ An African-American, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson of Great Faith Ministries, in Detroit.
But religious observers noted that Mr. Trump’s version of religious diversity extends only so far: The group includes no mainline Protestants (such as Presbyterians, the denomination Mr. Trump claims as his own) and no Muslims.
Ms. White will be the first woman clergy member ever to participate in an inauguration.
BBC has tweeted a poll by the Pew Research Center, saying that 86 percent of Americans describe the United States as more politically divided today than ever before.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia's Vesti On Saturday program in a fragment that was released early today, seemingly to underscore a perception of parity between Russia and the United States:
"It cannot be without differences and disagreements. [Russia and the United States] are indeed the two largest countries in the world and we can't coexist without tensions, without conflicts. And the success of bilateral relations will depend on how much is based on dialogue and not on open confrontation, as it was for the last few years. We will be able to move toward resolving those differences."
U.S. Vice President-elect Mike Pence's first tweet of the day also quotes Trump's earlier tweet.
Reuters on the historical effects of U.S. inaugurations on financial markets and the dollar:
For financial markets, the Trump era begins on Monday, and if history is any guide the following month should be a rocky one for Wall Street but positive for the dollar.
The S&P 500 has fallen a median 2.7 percent in the month after each new president has taken the keys to the White House since Herbert Hoover did so in January 1929, according to Reuters analysis.
Only four presidents have seen Wall Street rise in their first month in power: Hoover (+3.8 percent), John F. Kennedy in 1961 (+6 pct), George H. W. Bush in 1989 (+5.3 pct) and Bill Clinton in 1993 (0.8 pct).
The market has fallen in the first month under every other incoming president since Hoover. Even Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama, who ultimately presided over 120 percent and 165 percent rallies on Wall Street during their two terms, respectively, saw initial slides of 4.8 percent and 15 percent.
The dollar tends to fare better. Analysis going back to the early 1970s when the currency was taken off the gold standard shows it has risen an average 2.2 percent in the first month of a first-time president.
Here is one of outgoing president Barack Obama's goodbye tweets.
President-elect Trump and his wife are reportedly preparing to leave St. John's church following the prayer service.
They will be driven the short distance to the White House, where outgoing President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, await them.