When did Donald Trump's presidency end?
Executive summary
Donald Trump’s first presidency ended on January 20, 2021, when Joe Biden was inaugurated as president [1] [2]. Trump’s second, non‑consecutive presidency began on January 20, 2025, and—based on constitutional terms and multiple contemporary references—its scheduled end is January 20, 2029 at noon Eastern Time [3] [4] [5] [6].
1. The clear historical end date of Trump’s first term: January 20, 2021
The historical record is straightforward for Donald Trump’s first term: inaugurated January 20, 2017, he served as the 45th president until the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20, 2021—an endpoint recorded in multiple timelines and academic treatments of the presidency [1] [2] [7]. Those sources treat January 20, 2021 as the constitutional and ceremonial transfer of executive power that concluded Trump’s first administration [1] [2].
2. The second term and its constitutional expiration: January 20, 2029 (scheduled)
After winning the 2024 election and being inaugurated on January 20, 2025, Donald Trump assumed the office again as the 47th president; the conventional constitutional schedule places the end of that four‑year term at noon on January 20, 2029, which is confirmed by multiple contemporary sources and public countdowns that cite that date and the Constitution’s noon‑on‑Jan‑20 rule [3] [4] [6] [5]. Commentary and civic sites reiterate that the presidency has a fixed term and that, barring extraordinary constitutional processes, the sitting president’s term expires on January 20 at noon [5].
3. Why both dates matter: non‑consecutive presidencies and numbering
Donald Trump is treated in sources as having served two non‑consecutive presidencies—first as the 45th president (2017–2021) and later as the 47th president beginning in 2025—so “when did his presidency end?” can legitimately point to two different endpoints depending on which term is in focus: January 20, 2021 for the first term and January 20, 2029 for the second term’s scheduled constitutional conclusion [7] [8] [3]. Sources explicitly document both the 2021 transition and the 2025 inauguration and thereafter refer to the 2029 end date in timelines and countdowns [1] [9] [4].
4. Timing specifics and legal mechanics: “noon on January 20” and potential contingencies
Authoritative legal explanation emphasizes that a president’s term ends at noon on January 20, a precise moment enshrined by the Twentieth Amendment and restated in public legal commentary; that phrasing is used to explain how a term concludes even if political controversy surrounds results or succession logistics [5]. Contemporary civic sites and advocacy groups likewise use January 20, 2029—often specifying 12:00 PM Eastern—as the scheduled termination of Trump’s second term, reflecting the same constitutional principle [4] [6] [10] [11]. If extraordinary, constitutionally provided contingencies occurred (for example, unresolved electoral questions), separate succession rules would apply, but those hypotheticals are not addressed in the provided sources [5].
5. A note on sources and framing
The reporting and reference material consulted include timeline entries, academic center summaries, and public countdowns; Wikipedia timelines and civic countdown pages emphasize both the 2021 historical ending of the first presidency and the 2029 slated endpoint for the second term, while legal commentary stresses the constitutional certainty of the Jan. 20, noon cutoff [1] [2] [7] [5] [4]. Some countdown and advocacy pages adopt rhetorical framing—urging action or celebrating the end date—but they nonetheless converge on the same calendar endpoints [6] [10]. Where the sources diverge, it is mainly in tone and emphasis rather than the factual day the terms end.