President Donald Trump cemented a political comeback not seen in over a century Monday afternoon as he delivered an aspirational inaugural address promising a new dawn for America.
“The golden age of America begins right now,” Trump said in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, where moments earlier he was sworn in as the 47th president. “From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation.”
“America will soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before,” he added. “I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success.”
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Trump spent the speech revisiting the themes of his presidential campaign, bemoaning the “radical and corrupt establishment” and an immigration crisis that grew to historic levels after he left the White House in 2021.
Trump said that he would establish a “colorblind and merit-based” society, alluding to the previous White House’s policies on diversity and transgender participation in sports. “It will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female,” Trump said.
In a not-so-subtle shot at his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, Trump said, “From this moment on, America’s decline is over.”
Biden would smirk throughout the speech and clapped at its conclusion, though he sat quietly on the Rotunda platform as his former political rival promised a wholesale reversal of his presidency.
The speech, delivered indoors due to frigid temperatures in Washington, D.C., struck a more optimistic tone than his 2017 inaugural speech, in which Trump vowed to end the decades of “American carnage” he said had been inflicted on the country.
Trump expressed his desire to be a “peacemaker and unifier” as he stuck closely to prepared remarks, delivered via teleprompter, that ticked through the first actions he would take as president.
Trump did not wait long, however, to return to the grievances of the last four years, repeating his unfounded claims that he won the 2020 election in a second speech delivered minutes later at Emancipation Hall.
Trump, flanked by Vice President J.D. Vance and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), excoriated Democratic leaders such as Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), suggesting she deserves jail time for the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“She’s guilty as hell,” Trump said of Pelosi, teasing pardons for those convicted of trespassing and other charges stemming from the riot. The federal charges related to his own efforts to overturn Biden’s election victory were dropped after Nov. 5.
Trump also bristled over the spate of last-minute pardons issued by Biden, including to members of the Jan. 6 committee that spent years investigating Trump.
“Why are we helping Liz Cheney? I mean, Liz Cheney’s a disaster – she’s a crying lunatic. Crying Adam Kinzinger. He’s a super cryer,” he said.
Trump joked that he gave the latter audience the “A+ treatment,” expressing greater satisfaction with his unscripted remarks.
“Now we have to get to work and get it done,” Trump said. “I think this was a better speech than I made upstairs.”
In the Rotunda, Trump offered an expansionist vision for America, articulating his desire to expand the country’s territorial control, not just globally but into space.
“We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars by launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars,” Trump said.
At one point, Hillary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 rival, laughed onstage as he promised to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Trump also reiterated the more isolationist approach he would take on trade, promising to reset the nation’s trading relationships and create an “External Revenue Service” for tariffs.
The president comes into office four years after it appeared his political career was in shambles over the Jan. 6 attack, with members of Trump’s Cabinet resigning and Republicans condemning his actions.
But that nadir quickly fell away as he steamrolled GOP rivals during the presidential primary, survived two assassination attempts, and endured a 34-count felony conviction before dominating Biden during their sole presidential debate. He went on to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden’s replacement on the Democratic ticket, in November.
“Over the past eight years, I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history, and I’ve learned a lot along the way,” Trump said about his trials.
“Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear,” he continued to standing applause. “But I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.”
Trump not only won the popular vote during the November election, but he also won all seven battleground states and chipped into the Democratic Party coalition by winning higher shares of minority voters.
Only former President Grover Cleveland in 1893 has served two nonconsecutive terms in the White House.
At 78 years old, Trump is now the oldest president sworn into office, narrowly beating out Biden, and the first commander in chief who is a convicted felon. His vice president, Vance, is the third-youngest in American history and the first millennial to serve in the role.
As Trump returns to power, he is aided by a GOP that has bowed to his vision of the Republican Party.
Republicans hold control of both chambers of Congress and are quickly working to enact Trump’s agenda, centered on renewing his 2017 tax cuts, a border crackdown, and reforms to domestic energy production.
The Senate is preparing to send Trump the Laken Riley Act, a bill to make the detention of illegal immigrants easier, while at the same time moving to confirm his Cabinet, with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) expected to be approved as secretary of state on Monday.
Several of Trump’s foes even attended the inauguration, among them former Vice President Mike Pence, who challenged Trump for the GOP nomination, and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who stepped down as GOP leader in January.
“This is a day when every American does well to celebrate our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power under the Constitution of the United States,” Pence wrote on social media.
Michelle Obama did not attend, but the former presidents and their spouses otherwise appeared with Trump on the dais for the inauguration ceremony. Joining them were members of Trump’s future Cabinet, his family, and special guests including Joe Rogan and a spate of tech CEOs.
The last group, in particular, signals the softening attitudes toward Trump in Silicon Valley and beyond as he returns to power more popular than in 2017.
In December 2016, Trump’s presidential transition had a 48% approval and 48% disapproval rating, according to Gallup. By December 2024, Trump’s approval ratings hit 51%, with 44% disapproving.
Even Democrats have taken a more conciliatory approach to Trump eight years later. Several skipped the inauguration on Monday, but others, including the top Democrats in the House and Senate, attended the Rotunda ceremony.
Despite the peaceful transfer of power, Biden took a series of controversial actions on Monday, preemptively pardoning family members who he said could face retribution from Trump in the coming days.
Earlier that morning, Biden pardoned members of the Jan. 6 committee, but also former White House COVID-19 adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci and Gen. Mark Milley.
Trump’s decision to hold his inauguration in the Capitol Rotunda marks a rare break from precedent and was made at the last minute as Washington braced for sub-freezing temperatures. A president has not been sworn in at the Rotunda since former President Ronald Reagan in 1985, also due to cold weather.
However, Trump’s inauguration included seating for guests in the Rotunda, unlike Reagan’s standing-room-only ceremony.
In another parallel, Trump’s inauguration came just after Biden announced a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas following a year of fighting. Minutes before Reagan was sworn into office, Iran released hostages in a deal negotiated by former President Jimmy Carter.
As Trump championed the ceasefire deal on Monday, Biden clapped and stood with the audience.
At another point, Trump teased the executive orders he would sign at the Capital One Arena, where a smaller contingent of supporters were allowed to congregate after inauguration festivities were scaled back.
“With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense,” Trump said about his executive actions during his speech.
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Chief among those orders are at least 10 that will focus on the southern border and curbing illegal immigration.
“First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border,” Trump said. “All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.”
