Trump inauguration attracts nearly 31 million viewers in US

NEW YORK — Nielsen estimates 31 million viewers watched TV coverage of President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday.

That audience total, measuring continuous coverage by 12 broadcast and cable networks, soundly beat the 20.6 million who viewed President Barack Obama’s second inauguration in 2013. But a president’s second swearing-in typically logs a drop-off in viewership. Obama’s first inauguration in 2009 was seen by 37.8 million people.

Fox News Channel was by far the most-watched network of all, cable or broadcast, with 8.43 million viewers. Cable rivals CNN had 2.46 million and MSNBC had 1.35 million.

NBC was the most-watched broadcast network with 5.8 million viewers, followed by ABC (4.9 million) and CBS (4.6 million).

The most-watched inauguration since 1969 was President Ronald Reagan’s first oath-taking in 1981, which was seen by 41.8 million people.

The debates between Trump and Hillary Clinton were watched by record numbers of viewers, with 84 million people tuning in to the highest-rated first debate in September 2016. However, daytime television has far fewer viewers than prime time.

In other President Trump news:

White House edits Melania Trump’s official bio

The White House has edited first lady Melania Trump’s official bio to remove a reference to the QVC shopping network.

When posted Friday, the White House website said the former model had launched her jewelry collection — Melania Timepieces & Jewelry — on the online and TV retailer in 2010.

A spokesperson for the first lady says the website was updated later Friday out of “an abundance of caution” to remove the name of her jewelry line.

The White House says the jewelry line is currently not available for sale.

Battle over inauguration attendance

Trump’s press secretary is declaring that Trump’s inauguration had the largest audience in history “both in person and around the globe.”

Sean Spicer insists that, “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period.”

Spicer offers no evidence to support the claim. It is not known how many people watched the ceremony on television around the globe. In the U.S., Nielsen estimates 31 million viewers watched TV coverage, but that’s less than Barack Obama’s and Ronald Reagan’s first inaugurations.

On the ground in Washington, crowds on Friday were noticeably smaller than those of some pervious inaugurations.

Spicer convened reporters at the White House during Trump’s first full day in office to accuse them of engaging in “deliberately false reporting.” He’s claiming that photographs of the inauguration were intentionally framed in a way to minimize the crowd.

Photos of the National Mall make clear that the crowd did not extend to the Washington Monument, as it did for the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama.

Trump to meet with British leader

President Donald Trump will meet with his first foreign leader as president on Friday: British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer says Trump has also scheduled a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto later this month.

The two are scheduled to meet on Jan. 31 to discuss trade, immigration and security.

Trump has proposed building a wall along the southern border and insists that Mexico will pay for it.

Trump and Peña Nieto met in Mexico City during Trump’s campaign.

Spicer also says Trump spoke on Saturday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and plans to set up meetings in the coming days.