Washington In a bare-knuckled inaugural address that repeated the themes and grievances of his signature rally speeches, President Donald Trump said Monday that the “golden age of America begins right now” and vowed that his MAGA movement will “annihilate” the nation’s issues.
After taking the oath of office as America’s 47th president, Trump talked for almost 40 minutes in the Capitol Rotunda in a comparatively calm and concentrated manner. In a second round of free-form remarks in the Emancipation Hall of the Capitol, Trump criticized political rivals, referred to the 2020 election as “totally rigged,” and accused former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., of being responsible for his supporters’ attack on the building on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to thwart the electoral outcome.
Trump became one of just two men to lose the presidency and then win it back, along with Grover Cleveland. Due to Washington’s below-freezing conditions, he took the oath of office and gave his inaugural address indoors.
Trump, who survived a bullet that might have killed him, addressed at a rally in Pennsylvania this summer from the viewpoint of a man on a mission of destiny.
Trump stated that he wants to be a peacemaker and unifier and that he was redeemed by God to restore America to its former glory.
Trump’s allies claim that after four years in office and four years of trying to make a comeback, he has a far better sense of how to use the levers of power than he had when he was initially sworn in in 2017.
The first statements of Trump’s second presidency indicated that he plans to push the boundaries of presidential power by vigorously pursuing his agenda, which was accompanied by a broad series of executive orders he planned to publish on Monday. However, Trump has raised the bar by making a lot of promises that would be difficult to keep.
“I will declare a national emergency at our southern border,” Trump stated. “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.”
During his first term, Trump attempted to utilize military funds to construct a wall along the border, but the federal courts blocked this maneuver.
Trump has promised to rename the Gulf of Mexico and brand Mexican drug gangs foreign terrorist organizations.
He pledged to reverse Biden-era initiatives intended to slow climate change, encourage drilling for fossil fuels, and declare a national energy emergency in order to partially curb inflation.
About 500 people made up the small group inside the Rotunda, which included business titans like Elon Musk, the creator of SpaceX who donated millions of dollars to help elect Trump and is now a major advisor to the president. Trump then gave his new advisor a nod.
“We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars by launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars,” Trump stated. “Yeah!” exclaimed Musk, the world’s richest billionaire, beaming and raising two thumbs.
With his sights set on the Panama Canal, he also promised to expand his territory closer to home.
Saying, “We didn’t give it to China,” “We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.”
Trump also addressed the nine justices of the Supreme Court, his family, members of Congress, and the other four living former presidents: Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.
After Trump missed Biden’s swearing-in four years prior, Biden’s attendance restored the custom of the outgoing president attending the inauguration of his successor. Another custom that was neglected four years ago was revived earlier in the day when Biden and departing first lady Jill Biden invited Trump and first lady Melania Trump to the White House for tea. Additionally, as Biden and departing Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Rotunda on Monday, Trump family members cheered them on in a show of reciprocal comity.
But as Trump presented himself as the rescuer of a nation in decline, the previous presidents were rarely cheered.
“In the United States of America, as we gather today, our government confronts a crisis of trust,” he stated. “For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens, while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair.”
Trump reaffirmed his belief that his four criminal indictments and convictions on one set of charges were the consequence of persecution by the outgoing president rather than his own actions on the same day that Biden pardoned a number of his own family members, politicians, and former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci.
According to Trump, “the scales of justice will be rebalanced,” “The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end.”
Trump stated that he would discuss subjects unfit for an inaugural speech in his second speech. He attacked Pelosi, Biden, and former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who was a member of the House Jan. 6 committee, departing significantly from the tone of “unity” that was expressed in the official address.
Trump stated, “I was going to talk about the J6 hostages,” referring to those found guilty of offenses connected to the Capitol disturbance. “And I was going to talk about the things that Joe did today with the pardons of people that were very, very guilty of very bad crimes, like the unselect committee of political thugs.”
In 2020, Trump reaffirmed his unsupported allegation that the election he lost was “rigged.”
Due to a slight delay in Monday’s official program, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh swore in former Ohio Senator JD Vance as vice president at noon, which is when the president is supposed to take the oath. Until the young girl decided it was time to go back to the ground, Vance held their daughter in his right hand as his wife, Usha Vance, stood by his side. Vance put his left hand on the Bible that one of their sons was holding.
Then, with his wife and kids by his side, Chief Justice John Roberts gave Trump the oath. After finishing, Trump grinned widely, gestured to Roberts, and quickly shook hands with Biden.