For many of us, 2025 has been a whirlwind of a year. From changing presidential administrations to worldwide protests, let’s take a look at what the past year had to offer us.
January 20 – To kick off the year, we welcomed Donald Trump back into the White House as the 47th President of the United States. Inaugurated on January 20, Trump is the second president to have served two non-consecutive terms. Throughout his second term, Trump has advocated for and implemented “America First” policies, including immigration crackdowns and the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) campaign, which is intended as a healthcare reform for the United States.
Photo Credit: Morry Gash / Pool / AFP / Getty Images
The following article contains sensitive content, including images of casualties, mass destruction, protests, and discussion of these topics. Viewer discretion is advised.
Photographs and information for this article were pulled from CNN’s 2025: The year in pictures showcase, as well as associated articles. Months are presented with an American event first, then a global event.
January 20 – To kick off the year, we welcomed Donald Trump back into the White House as the 47th President of the United States. Inaugurated on January 20, Trump is the second president to have served two non-consecutive terms. Throughout his second term, Trump has advocated for and implemented “America First” policies, including immigration crackdowns and the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) campaign, which is intended as a healthcare reform for the United States. Photo Credit: Morry Gash / Pool / AFP / Getty Images
February 3 – In the aftermath of the January Palisades wildfire in California, the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles is reduced to rubble. The Palisades wildfire was one of the most destructive wildfires in Southern California history. Photo Credit: Brontë Wittpenn / San Francisco Chronicle / Getty Images
February 4 – The city of Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, suffered up to 2,000 casualties after the city was captured by M23 rebels who were fighting against the Congolese army. Volunteers buried the bodies of those who were killed in a mass grave. Photo Credit: Guerchom Ndebo / The New York Times / Redux
March 15 – In El Salvador, hundreds of Venezuelan deportees arrive from the United States, many of them alleged gang members. Though a court ruling was meant to prevent wartime powers from being used, the Trump administration invoked them anyway to speed up the mass deportations. Photo Credit: Philip Holsinger / Redux
March 14 – Former Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, resigned from office. His successor, Mark Carney, was sworn in on the same day. Trudeau is pictured here while carrying his chair from the House of Commons in Ottawa. Photo Credit: Carlos Osorio / Reuters
April 13 – Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro’s family residence was damaged in an act of arson after a 38-year-old man set it ablaze with a homemade Molotov Cocktail. The man was charged with attempted homicide, aggravated arson, and terrorism among a string of other crimes. In October, he was sentenced to up to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty. Photo Credit: Commonwealth Media Services
May 18 – The central United States was ripped apart by a storm system that led to violent tornadoes, destroying homes and taking lives. In Missouri and southeastern Kentucky, 25 people were killed as a result of the violent weather. Photo Credit: Michael Swensen / Getty Images
May 8 – The Catholic Church successfully elected a new pope following the death of Pope Francis in April. In a secret chamber where all cardinals under 80 cast their ballots, white smoke marked the successful end of a 33-hour conclave – short in comparison to other conclaves in the past. Pope Leo XIV is the first American pope, and the second from the continental Americas. Photo Credit: Alessio Paduano for CNN
June 4 – The war in Ukraine still rages on, four years later. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukrainian forces continue their assault on Russian drones through the use of antiaircraft weapons, such as the one pictured here. The civilian death toll in Ukraine has risen to over 14,900 since Russia launched the war. Photo Credit: Tyler Hicks / The New York Times / Redux
July 5 – One day after the disaster at Camp Mystic, the 25 girls and 2 counselors killed in a flood caused by the Guadalupe River have left behind empty cabins, filled with sediment washed in by the water. The Christian summer camp in Hunt, Texas faced lawsuits regarding negligence and failure to adequately prepare for a major weather event. Photo Credit: Ronaldo Schmeidt / AFP / Getty Images
July 3 – Aboard the International Space Station, Nichole Ayers snapped a photo of a lightning sprite as the ISS was over Mexico and the United States. Ayers, a NASA astronaut, said that lightning sprites are Transient Luminous Events that actually happen above the clouds. Photo Credit: Nichole Ayers / NASA
August 27 – A 2017 graduate of the Annunciation Catholic School opened fire on the establishment, killing two students and injuring eighteen people. The shooting happened during a Mass ceremony that marked the beginning of the new school year. Pictured is a parent running barefoot towards the school to find her child, having been notified of the shooting. Photo Credit: Richard Tsong-Taatarii / The Star Tribune / Getty Images
August 6 – Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, vetoed a bill that would have raised pensions and provided protection for people with disabilities on August 4. Just days later, protesters gathered in Argentina’s capitol, Buenos Aires, in opposition to the president. Photo Credit: Agustin Marcarian / Reuters
September 16 – Luigi Mangione, suspected of killing the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, arrives for a New York court hearing. He faces a charge of second-degree murder, though terror-related murder charges against Mangione have been dropped. Photo Credit: Mike Segar / Reuters
October 15 – An intersection in Gaza City, like most around it, lies in ruin as citizens walk through it. 2025 offered a brief ceasefire beginning in January, though March brought a missile strike issued by Israel that killed 400 people, ending the ceasefire. The Gaza Ministry of Health has reported that since the war’s beginning, nearly 65,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces. Photo Credit: AP
November 4 – Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani celebrates winning New York City’s mayoral election. He is New York City’s first Muslim mayor, and is the first South Asian to hold the office. Mamdani’s policies are focused around providing more affordable services such as housing, childcare, and raising the minimum wage. Photo Credit: Victor Llorente for The New Yorker
November 26 – A fire engulfing multiple apartment buildings in Hong Kong resulted in the deaths of at least 156 people. 30 people were listed as missing for a week after the event. The wife of Wong, the man in the image, was among those still missing. The fire was Hong Kong’s deadliest since 1948. Photo Credit: Tyrone Siu / Reuters
December 13 – A manhunt for the perpetrator of a Brown University shooting was underway last December. The shooting resulted in two students dead and nine injured. Classes were canceled for the following week, and a nine-hour lockdown left students and staff trapped on campus. In 2025, America saw 406 mass shootings, 77 of which were targeted at schools (including universities). Photo Credit: Christopher Capozziello / The New York Times / Redux
December 14 – Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, suffered a blow to its Jewish community after a mass shooting targeted those who gathered on its shores to celebrate Hanukkah. Australia’s deadliest mass shooting in 30 years, it left 15 killed and at least 27 others hospitalized. Photo Credit: Matthew Abbott / The New York Times / Redux
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Thank you for the compilation, Sirena. I’ll bet this was a hard one to put together. These pictures display a sad reality in our world. I wish it wasn’t this way.
Mrs. Keitel • Feb 4, 2026 at 2:13 pm
Thank you for the compilation, Sirena. I’ll bet this was a hard one to put together. These pictures display a sad reality in our world. I wish it wasn’t this way.