In his inaugural address yesterday, Donald Trump promised to save America from what he described as years of betrayal and decline, prioritizing the crackdown on illegal immigration and presenting himself as the nation's savior, "sent by God."
At a ceremony held inside the Capitol building due to freezing temperatures, Trump immediately took a nationalist tone while criticizing the administration and policies of former President Joe Biden, promising to "put America first."
“America’s golden age begins now. From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected around the world again. We will be the envy of every country, and we will not allow anyone to take advantage of us again. Every day of the Trump administration, I will, quite simply, put America first,” he said. “The decline of America is complete.”
The inauguration capped the triumphant return of a political disruptor who had been impeached twice, survived two assassination attempts, was convicted in a criminal trial, and faced charges of attempting to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election.
“God saved me to make America great again,” Trump said, referring to the assassination attempt last July.
Confirming expectations of a wave of activity on his first day in office, Trump announced a series of executive orders he would sign immediately, many of which focused on immigration, including declaring a national emergency at the US southern border to allow the deployment of armed forces and attempting to end birthright citizenship.
Trump has said he will designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, end the mandate for electric vehicles, and establish a foreign tax agency to collect tariffs on imported goods, although he did not specify what those rates would be.
As announced yesterday by his administration, Trump will not immediately impose new tariffs, but will order federal agencies to assess the US's trade relations with China, Canada and Mexico.
“I will immediately begin reforming our trade system to protect American workers and families,” Trump said. “Instead of taxing our own citizens to enrich other countries, we will impose tariffs and taxes on foreign countries to enrich our own citizens.” He added that his policies would make America “a manufacturing nation again.”
European Commissioner for the Economy Valdis Dombrovskis said last night that the European Union is ready to defend its economic interests against any move by the new Trump administration, while emphasizing that trade relations between the EU and the US must be preserved.
Trump promised to rename the Gulf of Mexico "Gulf of the Americas" and "return" the Panama Canal, to which the President of Panama immediately reacted yesterday, emphasizing that "Panama has responsibly managed the canal for the benefit of the world and international trade, including the United States," and that it "will remain Panamanian."
Trump also said he would declare a national energy emergency with the aim of increasing oil and gas production in the US and reducing costs for American consumers.
The declaration of a state of emergency is just one of many actions expected from Trump to strengthen the US oil, gas and energy industries and stop the Biden administration's efforts to accelerate the development of the electric vehicle industry.
“The inflationary crisis is caused by massive overspending and rising energy prices, which is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency,” Trump said in his inaugural address at the Capitol. “We’re going to drill, people, we’re going to drill.”
"Our success will be measured not only by the battles we win, but by the wars we end, and most importantly, by the wars we never enter... my proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and a unifier," Trump said.
The White House announced last night that Trump will again withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement, removing the largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases from global efforts to combat climate change for the second time in a decade.
The decision will place the US alongside Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only countries in the world outside the 2015 agreement, which saw governments agree to limit global warming to 1,5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
Trump also withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement during his first term, although that process took years and was immediately reversed during Biden's presidency in 2021. This time, the withdrawal will likely last shorter - just a year - as Trump will not be bound by the agreement's initial three-year commitment.
Trump did not directly mention Ukraine in his speech, but he said: "Our success will be measured not only by the battles we win, but by the wars we end, and most importantly, by the wars we never enter... my proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and a unifier."
Although he sought to portray himself as a unifier, Trump's speeches were often sharply partisan, unlike those of previous presidents. As Biden sat nearby with a polite smile, Trump delivered a scathing denunciation of his policies, from immigration to foreign policy.
“We have a government that has provided unlimited funding to defend foreign borders, but refuses to defend America’s borders or, more importantly, its own people,” Trump said. “We have a government that is incapable of managing even a simple crisis at home, while simultaneously engaging in a series of catastrophic events abroad. It fails to protect our great, law-abiding American citizens, while providing sanctuary and protection to dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions, who have entered our country illegally from all over the world.”
In a move that is certain to draw a strong backlash from civil rights activists and organizations, Trump has vowed to sign an executive order that would strip transgender people of their rights in the U.S. military and schools. He said his administration's policies would be based on the view that there are only two genders - male and female.
Trump announced that immediately upon taking office, he would take steps to issue pardons for some of the hundreds of people convicted or charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol by his supporters on January 6, 2021.
A number of tech leaders seeking to curry favor with the new administration — including three of the world's richest people, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg — had prominent seats on stage, alongside cabinet nominees and members of Trump's family.
Trump said he would send astronauts to plant a US flag on Mars, prompting Musk, who has long talked about colonizing the planet and will be part of the Trump administration, to raise his hands in celebration.
Outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in November, sat next to Biden in a section reserved for former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in 2016, arrived with her husband Bill, while Barack Obama's wife, Michelle, chose not to attend.
Trump did not attend Biden's inauguration in 2021 and continued to claim that the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Biden, was rigged.
Hours before handing over the reins to Trump, Biden issued a series of preemptive pardons to family members, members of Congress and officials to protect them from "unwarranted and politically motivated prosecution."
As was the case in 2017, Trump is once again coming to office as a disruptive force, promising to reshape the federal government and expressing deep skepticism about the US-led alliances that have shaped global politics since World War II.
He returns to Washington reinvigorated after defeating Harris by more than two million votes, thanks to a wave of frustrated voters.
Trump's influence is already visible in last week's announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Trump, whose envoy participated in the talks in Qatar, warned of "terrible consequences" if Hamas did not release the hostages before his inauguration.
Unlike in 2017, when he filled many key positions with institutionalists, Trump this time prioritized loyalty over experience in nominating a series of controversial cabinet members, some of whom are outspoken critics of the agencies they were appointed to run.
Even as he prepared to assume the presidency, Trump continued to expand his business ventures, raising the market value of his business empire by billions of dollars with the launch of the “mim coin” crypto-token, which raised questions about ethics and regulation.
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