Donald Trump‘s 30-minute inaugural address in Washington combined the rhetoric of a new president with his usual grievances. Trump said that “America’s decline is over” as he declared the start of a “golden age of America.”
He also framed his next presidency as divinely inspired, talking of assassination attempt on his life: “My life was saved for a reason, I was saved by God to make America great again.”
But his speech also leaned heavily into divisive issues, including the transgender movement, while he accused the Biden administration of leading a “weaponisation” of government.
“My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal, and all of these many betrayals that have taken place and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed, their freedom,” Trump said.
The 47th president also outlined a series of executive orders he planned to sign today, including declaring a national emergency at the U.S. southern border, with plans to send U.S. troops there.
He also said that he planned to reverse Biden’s electrical vehicle mandate. Trump also said that he would sign an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, bolstering his vision of an America First agenda, while reverting Alaska’s Mount Denali to the name Mount McKinley.
The latter had symbolism, Trump said, as President William McKinley embraced tariffs.
Trump has vowed to impose tariffs, insisting that they will collect revenue for the country that can replace taxation. But economists warn that excessive tariffs will lead to higher prices, as companies will pass on the higher costs of imports to consumers.
Trump said that he was creating an External Revenue Service to collect the tariffs, which he also referred to as a “tax” on other countries.
The speech lacked gestures to the previous administration, and instead characterized the country in decline. Unemployment remains low and inflation has dropped below 3%, but Biden struggled to convince Americans that the turbulent times of the post-Covid era were over.
Trump declared that in his next term, his “proudest legacy will be as a peacemaker and unifier,” but he also vowed to take back the Panama Canal.
Trump said that it would be “the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.”
During the campaign, Trump’s campaign blanketed swing state markets with ads attacking Kamala Harris on transgender rights.
Trump also vowed that he would “bring back free speech to America.” In his first term and since then, though, Trump has called for TV networks to lose their FCC licenses for broadcasting content he doesn’t like.
Donald Trump Sworn In As 47th President Of The United States, 9:02 a.m. PT: Donald Trump was sworn in shortly after noon as the 47th president of the United States.
Trump shook hands with members of his family shortly after Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath.
JD Vance was sworn in as vice president just moments earlier, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh administering the oath.
Spotted in the background of the tight space in the Capitol Rotunda: Elon Musk, as well as Robert Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
His swearing in was followed by a soaring rendition of “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
Biden Issues Final Pardons: With just minutes left in his presidency, Joe Biden issued a final batch of pardons: Members of his family.
His pardons were yet another signal of his fear that allies will be targeted by incoming President Donald Trump.
Those pardoned include brother James Biden and wife Sara Jones Biden, sister Valerie Biden Owens and her husband John T. Owens, and brother Francis Biden.
“My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me—the worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end,” Biden said in a statement.
He added, “Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances.”
Biden also pardoned Gerald G. Lundergan and Ernest William Cromartie, and he commuted the life sentence of Leonard Peltier so he can serve the remainder of a life sentence in home confinement.
Biden told reporters that he left a letter for the incoming president, but declined to say what the contents were. “That’s between Trump and me.”
The two couples stood briefly for a photo, with a chilly wind blowing on the north end of the White House. Biden and Trump will soon travel to the Capitol for the swearing in ceremony.
“Welcome home,” Biden said to Trump after he got out of his black SUV, per a pool report.
Earlier, reporters asked Biden what his message was for the day. “Joy,” Biden said.
The tradition is one that Trump denied Biden four years ago, following the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Trump still insists, falsely, that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
The service lasted for about 25 minutes and finished with a rendition of “America the Beautiful.”
The president is expected to sign dozens of executive orders today — more than 200, per Fox News, including those dealing with the border and immigration, the federal workforce and oil drilling.
One executive order will lift an electric vehicle mandate, one of the signature efforts of the Biden administration to address climate change.
