Donald Trump signed a blizzard of divisive presidential orders as he was sworn in for a historic second term Monday, pardoning supporters who violently attacked the US Capitol and clamping down on immigration, even as he vowed a new “golden age” for America.
Trump also withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Accord and the World Health Organization and threatened huge trade tariffs on neighbouring Canada and Mexico in a whirlwind return to the White House.
The Republican said in a speech after taking the oath at the Capitol — in a ceremony held indoors due to freezing weather — that “America’s decline is over” after four years of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency.
“The golden age of America begins right now. From this day forward our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world,” Trump said beneath the ornate dome of the Capitol’s Rotunda.
But after the pomp and ceremony, it was the showman Trump of his first term — along with the sometimes strongman-style rhetoric — who was on display later in the day.
“Could you imagine Biden doing this? I don’t think so,” Trump told a cheering crowd at a Washington sports arena as he threw them the pens he had used to sign a first round of orders.
Trump, 78, then made his triumphant return to the White House, four years after leaving in disgrace, to complete the most remarkable comeback in US political history.
‘Drill baby drill’
Back in the Oval Office, he held an impromptu 50-minute press conference as he signed more orders — including one pardoning around 1,500 Capitol rioters.
They were charged for taking part in the assault on Congress on January 6, 2021, by thousands of Trump supporters seeking to stop certification of Biden’s election victory.
“We hope they come out tonight frankly,” Trump said. “They’re expecting it.”
He signed orders declaring a national emergency at the Mexican border and said he would deploy US troops to tackle illegal immigration — a key campaign issue that drove his election victory over Kamala Harris.
Trump also vowed to “drill, baby, drill” for oil, and scrap rules aimed at persuading motorists to buy electric vehicles.
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Finally, he vowed to “plant the Stars and Stripes” on the planet Mars.
The returning president often struck a nationalistic tone, pledging to impose trade tariffs, rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, and take “back” the Panama Canal, which has been controlled by the Central American country since 1999.
But he played down his earlier promises to get a peace agreement in Ukraine before taking office.
He confirmed he would meet Vladimir Putin and said Putin was “destroying Russia” by not making a deal to end the war.
Biden pardons
In contrast to his ousting four years ago, Trump was surrounded by America’s wealthy and powerful for the inauguration.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, plus Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos and Google CEO Sundar Pichai all had prime seats in the Capitol alongside Trump’s family and cabinet members.
Musk — who will lead a cost-cutting drive in Trump’s administration, raised controversy however on Monday when he made a gesture at a later event that some on social media likened to a “Nazi” or “fascist” movement.
Former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton all attended the ceremony with their spouses — except for ex-first lady Michelle Obama who pointedly stayed away.
“I feel on cloud 10,” Gregg Donovan, a 65-year-old from Hollywood wearing a top hat with a photo of Trump tucked into the brim, said outside the Capitol after Trump was sworn in.
Biden, 82, watched stony-faced during the inauguration ceremony as his political nemesis read the last rites over his single term in office.
Biden’s extraordinary last acts in office showed his own disdain for Trump, whom he faced in the 2024 election before concerns about his age forced him to drop out.
He preemptively pardoned former officials and his own siblings to shield them from “baseless and politically motivated investigations” under Trump.
Yet Biden also tried to restore a sense of tradition to the inauguration after Trump skipped his in 2021, inviting Trump and Melania to the White House for tea.
Trump is making history — as both oldest president ever to take office and as the first felon, after a conviction related to paying a porn star hush money during his first presidential run.
He is also just the second president in US history to return to power after being voted out, after Grover Cleveland in 1893.
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