WASHINGTON—Donald Trump, inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States, called for a “revolution of common sense” as he began a historic non-consecutive second term.
“I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country,” Trump said in his inaugural address.
“My message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor, and the vitality of history’s greatest civilization.”
The message conveyed a more optimistic tone than Trump’s 2017 inaugural speech, which pictured America as a deteriorating nation beset by high crime and uncontrolled illegal immigration.
Though Trump referred to many of the same issues he had mentioned in 2017, this inaugural imagined a stronger and more prosperous society that would result from his work.
“We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders, but refuses to defend American borders, or more importantly, its own people,” Trump said, also criticizing the government’s performance on education, health care, and emergency response.
“All of this will change. Starting today, and it will change very quickly. From this moment on, America’s decline is over.”
The ceremony, normally conducted outside the West Front of the Capitol, was moved to the Rotunda due to winter weather.
The temperature was a blustery 24 degrees with a wind chill factor of 11 under mostly cloudy skies as the ceremony began.
Some guests viewed the proceedings remotely from nearby Capital One Arena due to limited seating inside the Rotunda.
The inaugurations of Presidents Ronald Reagan in 1985 and William H. Taft in 1909 also were held indoors due to inclement weather.
Trump, flanked by his wife, Melania Trump, and his five children, placed a hand on the Bible given to him by his mother as well as the Lincoln Bible to swear the presidential oath administered by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
Trump promised to faithfully execute the duties of the office and “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States” to the best of his ability.
Moments earlier, JD Vance was sworn in as the nation’s 50th vice president by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Trump resumes office to preside over a country that has labored under high inflation and record-setting illegal immigration, events that set the stage for his victory but present significant challenges for the incoming president.
All living former presidents and vice presidents attended the Jan. 20 ceremony.
Relations between Trump and outgoing President Joe Biden have been tense, though the two appeared to chat amiably as they arrived at the Capitol.
Biden was to depart for Santa Ynez, California, via presidential aircraft after the inauguration.
Following presidential tradition, Biden left a letter for the incoming president in the Oval Office before leaving the White House for the last time.
Biden will deliver remarks at a farewell event with his staff at Joint Base Andrews before embarking for California.
Trump chose not to attend Biden’s 2021 inauguration, saying that the election had been stolen. Before departing Washington, Trump told reporters, “Hopefully, it’s not a long-term goodbye.”
Trump’s announcement of a third campaign in November 2022 began a tumultuous two-year campaign.
Within days, the former president was indicted in the first of four criminal cases brought against him during his bid for reelection.
Trump maintained that all charges were part of a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
Opponents said they were proof that “no one is above the law.”
Biden ended his presidential campaign on July 21, 2024, under pressure from Democratic Party leaders.
Vice President Kamala Harris, with Biden’s endorsement, entered the race 15 days later, creating what amounted to a second presidential campaign of just 92 days.
Throughout the campaign, Trump and his allies embraced criticism leveled against him as a badge of honor.
Following Trump’s arrest on conspiracy charges in Atlanta in August 2023, his mug shot became a viral phenomenon.
Trump’s May 30, 2024, conviction for falsifying business records in New York solidified his standing among supporters as a Washington outsider on a mission to upend the political establishment.
During the campaign, Harris portrayed Trump as an elitist and herself as an ally of the working class who had once worked at McDonald’s.
In response, Trump donned an apron over his white shirt and red tie to serve french fries at a McDonald’s on Oct. 20, 2024.
When Biden referred to Trump supporters as “garbage” on Oct. 30, 2024, Trump donned an orange vest and posed for photos waving from a garbage truck.
Supporters began attending rallies wearing orange vests and trash bags.
The most dramatic moment of the campaign came on July 13, 2024, when a bullet clipped Trump’s ear during a failed assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Trump rose from the floor, ear bloodied, fist raised, and shouted, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” resulting in possibly one of the most iconic moments in modern American history.
Assembling an unlikely coalition of billionaires and working-class Americans, Trump carried all seven battleground states in the Nov. 5, 2024, election to claim a rare nonconsecutive presidential term.
Several national leaders and foreign political figures were in attendance, something not seen since at least 1874, when the State Department began recording such matters. Argentine President Javier Milei and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attended.
Chinese communist regime leader Xi Jinping declined to attend but sent deputy leader Han Zheng as his special representative.
Tech leaders Sundar Pichai of Google, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Tim Cook of Apple, and Sam Altman of OpenAI also attended, as well as Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who have been chosen to head Trump’s Department of Governmental Efficiency.
Trump’s second term will likely differ from the first, not in direction but in effectiveness, experts say.
“Trump has a very good sense now that he didn’t have in his first term of what power is and how it’s used,” Michael A. Genovese, a professor of political science and international relations and president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University, told The Epoch Times.
However, Biden used extensive executive authority during his last days in power, in ways that complicate the implementation of Trump’s agenda.
On Jan. 6, Biden signed an order forbidding oil extraction in an additional 628 million acres of federal land. The move seemed intended to counter Trump’s plan to increase domestic energy production.
Biden also used presidential power in unprecedented ways in the days following the election.
He issued a pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, on Dec. 1, 2024, despite having pledged not to do so. Hunter Biden had been convicted on federal firearms and tax evasion charges.
Biden, on his last day in office, issued preemptive criminal pardons for Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, and members of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the Capitol.
During the final moments of Biden’s presidency, while he was seated in the Rotunda awaiting Trump’s inauguration, the White House announced that Biden had also issued preemptive pardons for five members of his family.
Trump intends to take some 100 executive actions in his first two days in office, beginning shortly after the inauguration.
At a Jan. 19 rally, Trump pledged to repeal Biden’s executive orders “within hours” of taking office, focusing particularly on his initiatives related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Other initial executive orders aim to curtail illegal immigration.
Trump will sign orders to clarify that the federal government does not recognize birthright citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants, declare a national emergency at the southern border, deploy the military to help secure the border, reinstate Trump’s previous Remain in Mexico policy, and resume construction of the border wall.
In his address, Trump said he would sign an executive order designating foreign drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks within the United States.
Trump said also that he aimed to create a society that is colorblind and merit-based.
“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female,” he said.
Trump commented on his unlikely return as proof that anything is possible. “I stand before you now as proof that you should never believe that something is impossible to do in America, the impossible is what we do best,” he said.
“We stand on the verge of the four greatest years in American history. With your help, we will restore America’s promise. We will rebuild the nation that we love.”
The noon inauguration was the centerpiece of four days of events, which began with the Trumps’ arrival in the city on Jan. 18 followed by a fireworks display at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling Heights, Virginia.
Trump met with Senate leaders over breakfast on Jan. 19 and later visited Arlington National Cemetery to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
He spoke at a victory rally at Capital One Arena that afternoon, then the Trumps attended a fundraising dinner.
The Trumps spent the two nights prior to the inauguration at Blair House.
The city was calm on the morning of Jan. 20 amid a robust presence of National Guard troops and police officers. Some streets were closed and security fences lined the routes to be used between inaugural venues.
On the morning of Jan. 20, the Trumps attended a service at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, and then met with the Bidens at the White House. Biden and Trump traveled to the Capitol together for the inauguration.
The Trumps are scheduled to attend three inaugural balls in the evening and a prayer service at Washington National Cathedral on the morning of Jan. 21.
