Monday's ceremony follows the usual pattern for presidents beginning a second term. Donald Trump ‘s second inauguration as president wasn’t as widely viewed as his first, keeping with a historical pattern for second-term presidents.

A peak of 34.4 million people tuned in live to watch the president’s lunchtime swearing-in on the major TV networks, according to Nielsen.

President Donald Trump’s early inauguration ratings are in, and it appears a sophomore slump has hit viewership of his second term. Nielsen found that ratings across ABC, CBS and NBC’s coverage of Trump’s swearing in as 47th president on Monday hovered around 26.

That’s a lower total than what was achieved by both of the two most recent inauguration broadcasts: 27% below the 33.8 million viewers who tuned into Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in 2021, and 21% below the 31 million who watched Trump’s first inauguration in 2017.

Donald Trump drew fewer viewers across six major cable and broadcast networks for his inauguration swearing in and address, according to Nielsen. Across the six major cable and broadcast networks, the inauguration drew about 27.

President Trump's second inauguration drew more than 10 million fewer viewers than Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021.