Trump returns to power promising ‘America’s golden age’

WASHINGTON (TNND) — Donald Trump was sworn in Monday as the 47th president of the United States with a renewed grip on the Republican Party and big ambitions for a second term with a markedly different political dynamic than eight years ago.

His return to Washington caps a remarkable turnaround in just four years after leaving the White House following a riot at the Capitol amid the coronavirus pandemic. After leaving office as the most unpopular president in U.S. history, he will return for another four-year term driven by Electoral and Popular College victories.

“America’s golden age begins now,” Trump said after taking the oath of office.

Trump takes office with big plans to remake the United States in his image and Republican majorities in the House and Senate that hope to fast-track some of his biggest priorities. Republican congressional leaders have been meeting for weeks to chart a path forward once Trump takes over the Oval Office to determine how to pass massive tax cut legislation and an immigration bill.

Trump is also expected to sign dozens of executive orders upon taking office, touching on issues ranging from immigration to energy production and renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. The newly inaugurated president reviewed a long list of orders he plans to carry out, many of which will reverse Biden-era policies, as the outgoing president sat just feet away and watched a speech attacking the leadership of his administration.

Trump declares a national emergency at the southern border, sends U.S. troops to support immigration agents and revives his “wait in Mexico” policy, which forces asylum seekers to wait outside the United States. United while their application is processed. He also signs orders to remove regulations on oil and natural gas production.

Trump was sworn in at noon EST, although festivities began earlier in the morning with a service at St. John’s Church in Washington. He and his wife Melania Trump attended the service with several of his Cabinet picks and billionaire Elon Musk filling the pews before the Trumps headed to the White House for coffee and tea with the Bidens. Outgoing President Joe Biden and Trump traveled together to the Capitol for his swearing-in ceremony.

“Welcome home,” Biden told Trump as he stepped out of the car in his motorcade to the White House.

Trump also makes it a new priority to prevent a ban on popular video-sharing app TikTok from going into effect after the Supreme Court upheld the law requiring it to divest from its China-based owner or to stop its activities in the United States. He initially attempted to ban the app during his first term, but changed his stance after amassing a large following on the platform.

TikTok briefly went dark Saturday night through Sunday afternoon after Trump announced he would sign an executive order delaying the ban. Trump has said he would seek to facilitate at least a partial sale to a U.S. buyer, although it is unclear whether ByteDance – TikTok’s parent company – would reverse its adamant stance that it would not sell.

Even Democratic governors and members of Congress have changed their attitudes toward Trump, with many advocating finding ways to work with the new administration instead of mounting fierce resistance.

Inauguration Day was marked by a return to traditional norms surrounding the peaceful transfer of power, with the outgoing president welcoming the new president to the White House and attending the swearing-in ceremony. Senators who led planning for the event over the past four years delivered speeches before Trump’s inauguration, hinting at the enduring power of American democracy.

“Our great American experiment, based on the rule of law, has endured. As we inaugurate a new president and a new vice president, let us remember that the power of those in this room comes from the people,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said in a speech.

Sen. Deb Fischer, the top Republican on the planning committee, offered similar praise.

“Our democracy promises the American people the power to change, to decide their own destiny,” Fischer said. “That’s the beauty, that’s the importance of democracy. This allows for endurance, permanence of a nation and never changing.

Biden leaves the White House after just one term with a complicated legacy that will take time to sort out, ceding power to a man he described for months as a threat to democracy and American values ​​before abandoning his re-election efforts.

Biden signed several major bipartisan pieces of legislation, oversaw steady growth in the economy and stock market, but also experienced pitfalls with a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, record levels of illegal immigration and inflation levels. 40-year record that hampered his approval ratings throughout his tenure. time in the Oval Office.

Trump spent his final day before taking office with events scattered around Washington, meeting with Republican senators in the morning before holding a rally with his supporters later.

Business leaders also made efforts to extend an olive branch to Trump before his inauguration. Numerous tech moguls visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and business leaders spent seven-figure sums to help finance his inauguration ceremonies. Many of them were present in the limited space of the Capitol rotunda with front-row seats to watch the ceremony, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and CEO Sundar Pichai from Google.

Much of Washington is on lockdown with tight security, high fences and road closures, although authorities do not expect massive protests like during his first swearing-in. Rather, most of the crowds that descended on the nation’s capital are there to celebrate Trump’s return to power.

Most festivities were moved indoors due to freezing temperatures and high winds. Trump will take the oath of office inside the Capitol rotunda rather than outside, where thousands were expected to gather along the National Mall.