Washington (AP)As Republicans take control of Washington and begin to restructure the nation’s institutions, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president on Monday, vowing a revolution of common sense and taking command.
Trump will move quickly following the ceremony, with executive orders ready for his signature to crack down on border crossings, boost the development of fossil fuels, and terminate diversity and inclusion initiatives across the federal government. Trump overcame impeachments, criminal indictments, and two assassination attempts to win another term in the White House.
In his inaugural address, Trump declared that the government is facing a crisis of trust and that our sovereignty would be restored under his administration. We’ll be safe again. We shall rebalance the justice scales.
Trump promised to restore the people’s confidence, prosperity, democracy, and even their freedom, claiming a mandate to fully and utterly undo a terrible betrayal.
“From now on, America’s decline is over,” he continued.
Trump has called for a revolution of common sense and the full restoration of America, and the executive orders are the first step in that direction.
The splendor of the day was rewritten by the cold weather. For the first time in forty years, Trump’s swearing-in ceremony was held indoors at the Capitol Rotunda, and the inaugural parade was swapped out for a gathering at a downtown arena. Trump fans who flocked to the city to see the inauguration ceremony from the National Mall on the Capitol’s West Front will have to find another location to observe the events.
Using a bible that his great-grandmother had given him, Vice President JD Vance took the oath read by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh first at the Capitol. As Chief Justice John Roberts delivered his oath, Trump followed shortly after noon, using a family bible as well as the one used by President Abraham Lincoln during his inauguration in 1861.
Before the ceremony started, a group of internet giants and billionaires, including Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, and Sundar Pichai, were given prominent places in the Capitol Rotunda and mixed with Trump’s new staff. The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, was also present and is anticipated to spearhead a drive to reduce federal workers and spending.
At St. John’s Episcopal Church, Trump led a prayer service to start the day. Outgoing President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden subsequently welcomed him and his wife, Melania, to the traditional tea and coffee ceremony at the executive mansion’s North Portico. This marked a significant change from four years prior, when Trump declined to attend Biden’s inauguration or acknowledge his triumph.
After the president-elect got out of the car, Biden greeted Trump, “Welcome home.” The two presidents rode together in a limousine to the Capitol after years of sour criticism.
With Trump’s inauguration, a political resurgence unprecedented in American history was achieved. During the economic crisis brought on by the fatal COVID-19 pandemic four years ago, he was voted out of the White House. Trump attempted to hold onto power while denying his defeat. While parliamentarians were confirming the election results, he ordered his followers to march on the Capitol, igniting a riot that disrupted the nation’s custom of a peaceful handover of power.
However, Trump maintained his hold on the Republican Party despite two assassination attempts and criminal prosecutions, using people’ frustration with illegal immigration and inflation to his advantage.
According to Cynde Bost, 63, of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, “I am ready for a new United States.”
Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrates the martyred civil rights leader, and Trump mentioned this in his inaugural address. Trump praised Black and Latino people for their support in November and stated, “We will work together to make his dream a reality.”
Trump is now the first person to be found guilty of a felony for fabricating financial records pertaining to hush money payments in order to gain the presidency. He vowed to defend, uphold, and safeguard the Constitution from the same location that his followers took over on January 6, 2021. He has stated that pardoning a large number of riot participants will be one of his first actions as president.
Trump is much more accustomed to the workings of the federal government and feels more confident in his ability to manipulate it to suit his interests, eight years after he initially took office as a political rookie. By restricting immigration, imposing import duties, and reversing Democratic social and climate measures, Trump hopes to bring very rapid change.
In addition, he has made personal loyalty a requirement for appointments to his cabinet and pledged retaliation against his political rivals and detractors.
In order to protect his siblings and their spouses from potential punishment, Biden granted them preemptive pardons just minutes before he left office. In a statement, he added that his family has been the target of constant threats and attacks, and he has no reason to think that these attacks would stop.
Bident did a similar action earlier in the day with both former and present government officials who Trump has been upset with. “These are extraordinary circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” Biden stated.
The nation’s political, business, and technological leaders have already repositioned themselves to accommodate Trump, who has promised to advance and expedite his agenda beyond what was accomplished during his first term. Former resistance Democrats are now split on whether to support Trump or oppose him. As they recognize Trump’s unparalleled influence in Washington and his capacity to use the levers of government to further or undermine their interests, billionaires have gathered to meet with him.
Trump’s America First foreign policy, which has long been skeptics of American ties, is being closely monitored both domestically and internationally as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches its third year and a tenuous ceasefire seems to be holding in Gaza following more than 15 months of conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The leader of TikTok, a well-known Chinese-owned social media platform that the United States has classified as a national security threat, will also be in attendance. As the new president tries to demonstrate rapid progress, Trump has pledged to lift an effective ban on TikTok through one of several executive orders that are anticipated to be issued on Monday.
Trump intends to quickly implement his 2020 strategy to crack down on the southern border once more by imposing a national emergency, restricting the number of refugees who may enter the country, and using the military. He is anticipated to take further steps, including ones that are constitutionally dubious, including trying to revoke the automatic citizenship granted to Americans by birth.
Additionally, Trump will issue an executive order to terminate federal diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Federal agencies would be instructed by the order to work with the White House to identify and end DEI programs. Programs that grant preference based on sexual orientation, gender, or race have long been challenged by conservatives who claim they are unconstitutional.
Other orders are anticipated to revoke Biden’s recent directive on artificial intelligence and to reverse Biden-era regulations on domestic energy output, so permitting more oil and gas drilling.
The federal workforce is set to undergo additional adjustments. In addition to requiring workers to return to the office and laying the foundation for staff reductions, Trump wants to terminate the DEI programs.
Republicans are collaborating with the new administration on legislation that will further rescind Biden’s initiatives and establish their own objectives now that they control Congress.
___
By Michelle L. Price, Chris Megerian, and Zeke Miller. Aamer Madhani, Lindsey Bahr, Will Weissert, Lisa Mascaro, and Josh Boak all made contributions.
