For Trump, Validation of the Man and His Actions

Donald John Trump completed a remarkable return to power on Monday when he was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States and promised to take immediate action to begin radically changing the country’s course and include the new “golden age of America”. .”

In a victory for the man and his actions, Mr. Trump took the oath of office in a ceremony at the Capitol, four years after the voters expelled him, re-convicted for another term aimed at restoring of America in his vision. He wasted no time in outlining an ambitious program of often divisive politics to “take back our Republic” and purge his enemies and his own.

“My recent election is a mandate to fully and completely restore the terrible treason and the many betrayals that have occurred, and restore the people’s faith, wealth, democracy and freedom,” said Mr. Trump said during his 29-minute inauguration speech as former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. looked on. “For now, America’s decline is over.”

Feeling vindicated by voters after being impeached, indicted and convicted of 34 crimes, Mr. Trump claims to have personal as well as political power. “A lot of people thought it was impossible for me to make such a historic political comeback,” he said. “But as you can see today, here I am. The American people have spoken. “

Indeed, he has seen divine intervention in returning him to the White House, citing his close calls during an assassination attempt this summer. “It made me feel better, and I believed even more that there was a reason that saved my life,” he said. “God saved me to make America great again.”

Mr Trump was inaugurated in the same building where a mob of his supporters stormed four years ago in a failed attempt to overturn the election results, resulting in a political comeback unlike any other. in the history of the United States. In a sign of the changing power system in America, Mr. Trump has planned to pardon or commute the sentences of hundreds of rioters convicted of their role in the attack.

Mr. Biden, wary of Mr. Trump’s promise to take “retaliation” against his perceived enemies, used his final hours in office to use his pardon power to stave off possible prosecution. political by his successor. Mr. Biden is survived by five family members, including his two brothers, as well as other high-profile figures targeted by Mr. Trump: former Representative Liz Cheney, retired Gen. Mark A. Milley and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci.

But Mr. Biden, who has warned for more than four years that Mr. Trump is a threat to democracy, observed the formality of the day, unlike his predecessor four years ago. He hosted Mr. Trump for coffee at the White House before the ceremony.

“Welcome home,” Mr. Biden told Mr. Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, as they arrived at the executive building.

Mr. Trump planned to move quickly beyond the Inauguration Day ceremony to re-stamp the government with 100 executive orders and actions. He vowed to immediately declare a national emergency on the southern border and send troops to guard it. He said he would end government programs promoting diversity, equality and inclusion. He said he would rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America and promised to seize the Panama Canal. “We’re taking it back,” he said.

Just as he did eight years ago, when he denounced “American genocide” in his first inaugural address, Mr. Trump painted a picture of a nation on its knees that only he can revive. But even more than in 2017, he has largely eschewed the lofty themes and broad unifying strokes that most presidents have favored after taking the oath of office and spelled out the specific policies he will enact.

Seated a few feet away, Mr. Biden looked down during some of the speech, while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton laughed over the Gulf of Mexico line. The State of the Union address quickly felt like action as Republicans jumped to their feet to applaud their own policy plans while Democrats remained silent and uncomfortable.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. administered the 35-word oath of office to President Trump at 12:01 p.m., one minute past the constitutional time limit, during a ceremony where the president-elect’s team moved into the house because of the cold weather. James David Vance was sworn in one minute before becoming the nation’s 50th vice president by Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.

Mr. Trump, 78, is the oldest person to be inaugurated president, surpassing Mr. Biden, who was five months younger when he was sworn in four years ago. Mr. Vance, 40, is the third most recent vice president in history.

Mr. Trump also became the second president since the Republican establishment to regain the White House after losing re-election, joining President Grover Cleveland in the 19th century.