President Trump was inaugurated Monday as the 47th president in a triumphant and pomp-filled return to the pinnacle of power just four years after he was ousted in disgrace.
Trump, who avenged his 2020 loss to outgoing President Biden with a decisive win over Vice President Kamala Harris, delivered a biting attack on his enemies and vowed to implement a massive crackdown on millions of undocumented immigrants.
Reprising familiar themes from his angry campaign rallies, he blamed problems like health care costs, disaster relief and inflation on a corrupt political establishment, which he vowed to vanquish once and for all.
“All of this will change starting today and it will start quickly,” Trump said. “From this moment, America’s decline is over.”
Trump took potshots at political enemies who aimed to hold him accountable for alleged misdeeds, accusing unnamed enemies of trying to imprison him and even blaming them for the failed assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania campaign rally.
“I was saved by God to make America great again.” Trump said. “January 20, 2025 is liberation day.”
Trump said he would declare emergencies to allow him to send the military to the southern border and to allow far more oil production. He vowed to implement his plan of massive tariffs on imported goods, cut government waste and called for an end to diversity, equality and inclusion programs to assist historically disadvantaged groups.
On foreign policy, Trump vowed to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and to retake the Panama Canal from Panama.
“We are Americans, the future is ours, and our golden age has just begun,” Trump said.
He drew a parallel between what he called a resurgent America and his own return to the White House after being written off following his effort to overturn his 2020 defeat that culminated in the Jan. 6 attack.
“Many people thought it was impossible to stage such a political comeback,” he said. “But as you see, I am here. The American people have spoken. In America, the impossible is what we do best.”
Along with the partisan jibes, Trump sounded a conciliatory note by thanking Black and Latino voters for increased support in the recent election. He claimed it was fitting that the ceremony was being held on the holiday marking the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“In his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality,” Trump said.
After planting a kiss on the cheek of First Lady Melania Trump and shaking hands with President Biden, Trump basked in applause from a extraordinary gathering of A-list dignitaries from the worlds of politics and business.
Then, he swore an oath administered by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
“Thank you, Joe,” he mouthed to Biden before greeting his children assembled behind him as a military choir sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
Trump swore his oath of office on the very spot where a mob of his supporters rampaged through the Capitol in a failed effort to keep Trump in power on Jan. 6, 2021.
Vice President JD Vance swore his oath on a family Bible, a nod to his extraordinary rise from lower middle-class roots in the Rust Belt that was memorialized in his bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.”
After Trump was sworn in, country star Carrie Underwood delivered a stirring rendition of “America the Beautiful.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a leader of the inaugural committee, called the ceremony a tribute to the peaceful transfer of power.
She reminded the incoming and outgoing presidents that their power derives from everyday Americans, including the firefighters battling disastrous blazes in Los Angeles.
“Our democracy’s strength and grit must match theirs,” Klobuchar said.
Biden, the nation’s oldest commander-in-chief, strode stiffly into the ceremony flanked by Harris after both failed to deliver on Democratic hopes to turn the page on the era of Trump’s bombastic populism.
Trump was expected to issue a flurry of executive actions on his first day in power, including edicts aimed at cracking down on undocumented immigration at the southern border, opening up oil drilling in the Arctic, and rolling back diversity and inclusion programs.
He also plans to proclaiming federal government recognition of only two genders, a nod to anti-transgender sentiment in his MAGA movement.
Just hours earlier, Biden issued preemptive pardons to some of Trump’s highest-profile critics, seeking to protect Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the congressional Jan. 6 committee from the incoming president’s vows of retribution.
The inauguration is traditionally held outdoors, but was moved inside the Capitol due to the frigid weather that has swept across much of the nation.
The incoming and outgoing presidents shared a limo ride to the Capitol from the White House where Biden and outgoing First Lady Jill Biden hosted Trump and incoming First Lady Melania Trump for a 30-minute sit down with tea and coffee.
“Welcome home,” Joe Biden said to Donald and Melania Trump as they walked into the residence they left four years earlier.
Biden, 82, left the traditional letter for his successor in the Resolute Desk of the Oval Office, CNN report, a tradition that Trump upheld in 2021 even amid the epic acrimony over his election loss.
Biden left in a helicopter that took off from the Capitol grounds, capping a remarkable half-century of public service. The Bidens are heading for a California vacation and retirement after Biden dropped his planned reelection campaign last summer amid widespread public concern about his age and fitness.
The Rotunda was packed with dignitaries including a stunning number of Big Tech titans like Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a close Trump ally who is expected to pay a huge role in the coming administration. He was flanked by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, all of whom have buried the hatchet with Trump.
Right-wing Trump fans like podcast host Joe Rogan and wrestling titan Dana White also enjoyed prime spots.
All three living former presidents attended the ceremony, including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, reuniting just a few days after they gathered at the funeral for former President Jimmy Carter.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama snubbed the event, making her the only former first lady to skip it.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who famously broke with Trump over Jan. 6, showed up after meeting Trump at Carter’s funeral for the first time since Jan. 6. But Pence’s wife, who declined to greet Trump at the Carter sendoff, stayed away.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, whose daughter, Rep. Liz Cheney, has also feuded bitterly with Trump, was also absent, blaming his advanced age.
