Donald Trump capped off one of the most extraordinary political comebacks in American history on Monday, returning as the 47th president of the U.S. more popular and powerful than before, just a mere four years after leaving Washington in defeat.
“I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success,” Trump said. “A tide of change is sweeping the country.”
Trump nodded to that remarkable return to the White House and dramatic 2024 presidential campaign, which was marked by an assassination attempt, various legal battles and President Joe Biden’s exit from the race.
Now he is expected to issue a flurry of executive orders that will reverse many of his predecessor’s rules and regulations, and carve out his vision for the country. Chief among will be declaring a national emergency to expedite his promise to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
“Today, I will sign a series of historic executive orders. With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense,” Trump said.
The political settings are as different as the ceremony location from when Trump was sworn-in eight years ago, with inauguration moved from its usual outdoor steps of the U.S. Capitol to inside the Capitol that bummed out supporters due to bitter cold temperatures. It was the first indoor swearing-in ceremony since Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in 1985, which was held in the Capitol Rotunda while it was 7 degrees outside.
But the 24-degree weather didn’t cool Trump’s intense rhetoric about the state of the nation and his plans for his second term.
Here are the takeaways from today’s ceremony.
‘America’s decline is over’: Trump sounds nationalist notes
Unlike the 2017 inauguration speech, which was defined by combative depictions of “American carnage,” Trump’s roughly 30-minute speech on Monday tried his hand at optimism − while continuing to chest thump with pledges large and small.
He told the crowd he wants to be “a peacemaker and a unifier” which will be measured, “not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.”
There were a list of conservative priorities, but most prominent were overhauls the nation’s immigration system by vowing to declare a national emergency and send troops to the U.S.-Mexico border.
“All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came,” Trump said.
Other nationalist ideas were included in the speech, such as a promise to create a new “external revenue service,” an initiative he rolled out in recent weeks to address the tariffs that were at the core of his foreign policy and economic proposals on the campaign trail.
He also called for ending what he called an “electric vehicle mandate” for the country, though Americans are not federally required to purchase electric vehicles. He also wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” and reclaim control of the Panama Canal, which he has criticized China’s use of the canal.
‘Make his dream come true’ Trump thanks Black and Hispanic voters on MLK Day but digs at DEI
That Trump’s return came on the same day as the annual Dr. Marin Luther King, Jr. celebration was a sore spot for his liberal critics and left-leaning grassroots activists, who held separate events honoring the iconic civil rights leader.
The returning president included a shout out to voters of color who were critical in his victory last fall when many younger Black and Hispanic voters pulled the lever for him.
About 3 in 10 Black men under age 45 went for Trump, according to the Associated Press, which is about double compared to 2020.
But Trump also opposes diversity initiatives, which MLK’s supporters say undercut his legacy of racial progress.
During the inauguration speech, for instance, Trump spoke about ending policies of trying to “socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.” He also continued to pummel the transgender community and their liberal allies, saying it will be official federal policy, “that there are only two genders, male and female.”
“We have an education system that teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves, in many cases, to hate our country, despite the love that we try so desperately to provide to them,” Trump said, alluding to conservatives long-standings criticisms aimed at Critical Race Theory and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs.
“All of this will change starting today, and it will change very quickly.”
Biden issues last-minute pardons amid reports of bitterness
Outgoing President Joe Biden, now sandwiched between two Trump administrations, once warned Trump and his allies, “represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
And although he was warm to Trump in public and showed up for the usual rituals associated with the peaceful transfer of power (which Trump did not in 2021), Biden’s fear of reprisals by his adversary were demonstrated hours before the swearing-in when he issued blanket preemptive pardons for potential targets of the new administration.
Among the Trump foes given pardons were Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; retired Gen. Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who served on the House committee that investigated the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.
The unprecedented move follows Joe Biden pardoning his son Hunter for tax and gun convictions. Biden also preemptively pardoned other relatives such as his brother James shortly before leaving office.
Many reports say the 82-year-old Democrat, who is leaving office with the lowest approval rating of any exiting president, at 36%, according to CNN, remains troubled by Trump’s return. He may also harbor resentment towards Democrats who pushed him out of his reelection campaign in July: former first lady Jill Biden recently expressed anger at Rep. Nancy Pelosi over her role in the drama. angry at former friends and allies — namely — for pushing him to drop out of the 2024 contest.
‘Broke them’: Pence and tech bros attendance underscores Trump dominance
A feature of the second Trump inauguration is how much he has consolidated his dominance of not just the Republican Party, but also bringing former foes and critics to heel.
Noticeably seated together were Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg, and others of world’s richest men and many from the tech industry. Zuckerberg is the founder of Facebook, Pichai is the CEO of Google and Musk is the owner of X, formerly known as Twitter.
Another surprising attendee was former Vice President Mike Pence, who in 2023 said Trump’s “reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol” on Jan. 6, 2021 when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the building to stop certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory, with some chanting “hang Mike Pence!”
“They’re not there because they support President Trump,” Steve Bannon, a former chief strategist for Trump, told NPR. “They’re there because the Trump movement and President Trump broke them.”
There already are signs of early rifts in the Trump coalition between original MAGA supporters and the new tech bros, as the factions have argued over immigration policy.
A new USA TODAY/Suffolk poll shows Trump coming back to power with a favorable-unfavorable rating tied at 47% that is due to improved numbers with independents, from a net negative 22% in a December 2020 survey to a net negative 5% in January 2025.
Coupled with early legislative wins, thanks to more compliant Senate Democrats who advanced a tough anti-immigration measure, Trump is enjoying a bit of a honeymoon.
Democrats divided on cooperation versus resistance
That USA TODAY/Suffolk survey also finds more Americans are less troubled by Trump’s return than his initial arrival with 31% saying they felt “excited” about him taking office again equal to the 31% of respondents who said they felt “afraid.”
In December 2016, a similar question found only 16% felt “excited” versus 38% who were “alarmed.”
The biggest test will be for Democrats, who are now fully out of power without a president, or majority in either house of Congress. The question for them will be how much to work with or against Trump in the coming years.
For moderate Democrats or those in swing states the calculation is wait-and-see, while those representing heavily Democratic states such as California, Illinois and New York, plan to be on frontlines of the resistance, saying they won’t back down on protecting undocumented immigrants and other vulnerable populations.
Thousands still flocked to D.C. to wage protests against Trump again, but the crowd size was noticeably smaller than in 2017.
A tracking survey by Our Revolution, the largest grassroots progressive political action group in the country, found 63% of their membership want to “support initiatives of common ground” with the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, on things such as cutting wasteful Pentagon spending versus 37% who say the group should oppose Trump outright.
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Publish date : 2025-01-20 06:07:00
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