Washington − Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, returning to the White House after overcoming four criminal charges and two assassination attempts in one of the most remarkable political comebacks in American history.
Trump took the oath of office shortly after noon ET in an intimate inauguration ceremony inside the Capitol rotunda, the same building that a mob of his supporters stormed four years ago to prevent the certification of Trump’s 2020 election loss. Due to below-freezing temperatures in the nation’s capital, the ceremony was moved indoors.
Trump, 78, raised his right hand and took the oath of office with a Bible his mother gave him in 1955, which was stacked on a second Bible used by President Abraham Lincoln during his swearing-in in 1861. JD Vance was sworn in as Vice President immediately before Trump.
“The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump declared in his roughly 30-minute inaugural address. “From this day forward, our country will flourish and regain global respect. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not tolerate being taken advantage of any longer during the Trump administration.
Trump arrived at the Capitol to cheers and chants of “USA! USA! USA!” He succeeds Joe Biden, who sat behind Trump as the new president lamented the “radical and corrupt” government he is inheriting.
Calling his inauguration “liberation day,” Trump declared that “a tide of change is sweeping the country” while painting a bleak picture of a nation overwhelmed by crime as a result of a “invasion of our country.”
He claimed the Biden administration “cannot manage even a simple crisis at home” and accused his predecessor of providing “sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals” who had entered the country illegally.
“All of this changes starting today,” Trump said, adding that he has a mandate to reverse the “horrible betrayal” of the Biden administration.
Trump and Vance’s family members, the president’s Cabinet nominees, and billionaire executives such as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk were all in prime seats behind Trump on stage.
Before Donald Trump took the stage, opera singer Christopher Macchio sang “Oh, America!” Carrie Underwood, a country singer, performed “America the Beautiful” following Trump’s address.
Trump is only the second former president to return to office after losing an election, following Grover Cleveland’s second term in 1893. Trump is the first impeached president to return to office, the first convicted felon to serve as president, and the oldest president to be inaugurated.
A ‘revolution of common sense,’ Trump says
Trump’s return to power represents a seismic shift in the federal government. He comes in claiming an election mandate to enact major changes after winning every battleground state and the popular vote.
The new Trump era is expected to be even more aggressive than the president’s turbulent first four years in office, during which he was impeached twice but acquitted by the Senate.
“From this point forward, America’s decline is over,” Trump declared in his speech.
In his election victory over Democrat Kamala Harris, Trump campaigned on big promises to lower consumer prices, eliminate the “deep state” from the federal government, begin mass deportations of illegal immigrants, and undo Biden’s policies on climate, energy, transgender rights, cryptocurrency, and a variety of other issues.
Trump and his advisers plan to take over 100 executive actions, dubbed “shock and awe” by allies, on his first day in office. These actions include closing the US-Mexico border and imposing new tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China.
Trump outlined some of the orders in his speech, including declaring a national emergency at the southern border, carrying out his “drill, baby, drill” agenda to increase oil production, renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, and making it official federal policy to recognize only two genders: male and female.
He stated that he will take steps to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. In addition, by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, he will direct the government to use the “full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement” to eliminate all foreign gangs and criminal networks.
“With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense,” Mr. Trump stated. “It’s all about common sense.”
Trump’s next four years are expected to show an increasingly populist GOP, one that has shifted from free markets to protectionism, and from international alliances to a “America first” mentality.
Tariffs on China, renegotiated trade agreements, and hostility toward NATO were introduced during Trump’s first term, and these ideas will be expanded upon in a second Trump administration.
Trump stated that the United States is “taking back” the Panama Canal, which he claims was “foolishly given” to Panama in a deal arranged by President Jimmy Carter. He also stated that the United States would embark on a new era of space exploration on the planet Mars under his leadership.
“We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars,” Trump told reporters.
‘I was saved by God to make America great again’
Trump’s inauguration was moved indoors due to frigid temperatures in Washington, where it was 24 degrees Monday morning. It is the first indoor swearing-in ceremony since Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in 1985, which took place in the Capitol rotunda when it was 7 degrees outside.
Thousands of Trump supporters packed Capitol One Arena, home to the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals, to watch his inauguration on a jumbotron.
Biden, former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, as well as Supreme Court justices, senators, and other lawmakers, packed the rotunda to watch. Melania Trump, the first lady, and Usha Vance, Vance’s wife, witnessed their husbands’ inaugurations.
The closest of Trump’s two assassination scares occurred in July, when a gunman’s bullet grazed his ear while he stood on stage in a Pennsylvania field, smearing his face with blood. A second man was charged with attempting to kill Trump while he was playing golf at his country club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
“I was saved by God to make America great again,” Mr. Trump stated.
Trump says ‘never again’ will government be ‘weaponized’
Last year, Trump was found guilty in New York of making hush money payments to an adult film producer in order to conceal an affair.
The Justice Department also charged him with his role in the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, possession of classified documents after leaving office, and conspiracy charges in Georgia stemming from efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden.
Only the Georgia case is still open, however. And Trump emerged from the contentious campaign with a broader coalition behind him, led by working-class voters, which helped him gain support from Hispanic, Black, and younger Americans on his way to defeating Harris.
His second inaugural address alluded to these investigations.
“Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents ‒ something I know something about,” Trump said. “We will not allow this to happen. It will not occur again under my leadership.”
Trump is likely to face fewer obstacles within his own White House than he did during his first administration, when he frequently clashed with his Cabinet and other aides. His picks for the incoming administration are widely regarded as loyal, trusted MAGA supporters eager to carry out a disruptive agenda.
Confirmation hearings began last week, with Democrats questioning Trump’s nominees about whether they would oppose some of the incoming president’s more controversial pledges, such as payback against his political opponents.
Democrats are concerned about a presidency focused on retribution. Hours before leaving the White House, Biden issued unprecedented pre-pardons to protect Trump critics such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, former Rep. Liz Cheney, and other members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack. Biden also pardoned five members of his family as one of his last acts as president.
Trump has stated that “success” will be his retribution, but in recent comments, he has demonstrated that he is still upset about the four prosecutions that followed his departure from office in 2021.
“If we work together, there is nothing we cannot do and no dream we cannot achieve,” Mr. Trump said. “Many people believed it was impossible for me to make such a historic political comeback. But, as you can see today, I’m here. “The American people spoke.”
Trump concluded his remarks by stating, “America will be respected and admired again.”
“We will not be conquered,” he declared. “We will not be intimidated, broken, or fail. The United States of America will be a free, sovereign, and independent nation beginning today. We will stand bravely and live proudly. “We will dream big, and nothing will stop us because we are Americans.”
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