TOI CORRESPONDENT FROM WASHINGTON: In a script few historians could have written, Donald Trump returned to the White House on Monday for a second term, promising to end “four years of American decline” under his predecessor Joe Biden and “begin a brand-new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride.”
Trump, 78, took the oath of office at shortly after noon, in the Rotunda of the Capitol, the seat of the US legislature stormed by Trump’s MAGA loaylists on January 6, 2021, to protest what they felt was an election victory stolen from Trump. “In America the impossible is what we do best,” Trump said, describing his own political comeback after his defeat in the 2020 election.
In an address that was in parts inspiring and uplifting while recycling some familiar grievances, Trump said the “golden age of America begins right now” and the country will flourish and be respected again. “We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer,” he asserted, returning to the questionable claim of foreign countries ripping off the US while maintaining, “we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer.”
“I will very simply put America first. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed and safety restored…we will be a nation that is proud, prosperous and free. America will soon be greater, stronger and far more exceptional than ever before,” Trump said, adding that “From this moment on, America’s decline is over,” and describing his return to office as “liberation day.”
Outgoing President Biden and and vice-president Kamala Harris sat behind him during the 35 minute address and remained seated as most of the 800-person audience was on its feet applauding often. Shortly before Trump was sworn in, his vice-president JD Vance took the oath of office, with his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance and their three children by his side. Usha will be the first American Second Lady of Indian-origin.
Trump later laid out a series of executive actions he would sign later in the day to end illegal immigration to the US and energize its economy in moves he called the “revolution of common sense.” Among them are declaring a national emergency on southern border to enable sending of troops to repel what he called an “invasion,” reinstating his remain in Mexico policy, ending the Biden’s administration’s policy of “catch and release” and designating drug cartels as “Foreign Terrorist Organisation.
He promised to deport “millions and millions” of immigrant criminals although no data shows they are in such large numbers. He also repeated his promise to rename the Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America and to retake the Panama Canal from Panama without going into details.
But in a nod to the black and hispanic community in what coincidentally is Martin Luther King’s day, Trump pledged to forge a society that is “color blind and merit based.”
Significantly, he wore a purple tie — a mix of red and blue that are typically seen as Republican and Democratic colors — for the inauguration. In a smackdown of the Democrat’s liberal agenda of on sexes, he also said his administration will recognize two genders, male and female.
The inauguration ceremony, shifted indoors due to icy weather, was attended by political and tech elites from the US and across the world, leaving Trump’s MAGA hoi polloi out in the cold in -10c temperatures. Among the 800-strong attendees — more than half of them lawmakers — were the so-called tech bros including Elon Musk, Jeff Besoz, Sundar Pichai, Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Despite the political pathology and vitriol that accompanied the 2024 election campaign, principals from both parties, including former Presidents Bill Clinton (and Hillary Clinton), and President Barack Obama (without his wife Michelle Obama) attended the peaceful transfer of power that is an American political rite of passage, as did former President George Bush and his wife Laura.
