Donald Trump’s unprecedented presidency, from inauguration to insurrection

Donald Trump’s inauguration on a wintry 20 January 2017 kicked off his extraordinary reign, completing his rise from New York luxury property tycoon to reality TV star to unlikely president. His administration started out as it intended to go on: by sparring with the press and disputing factual reality, initially over the size of the crowd who witnessed his swearing-in.

The president’s so-called Muslim travel ban was his first major policy controvesy and was followed by his first firing. Trump reluctantly removed national security adviser Michael Flynn from office after just 24 days for lying to the vice president and FBI over meetings with Russia’s ambassador to the US. His dismissal would intensify the bureau’s interest in examining the campaign’s ties to Moscow influencers and led to attorney general Jeff Sessions recusing himself from the process and an angry president firing director James Comey, leaving their replacements with little choice but to appoint Robert Mueller as special counsel to get to the bottom of it all.