On Jan. 20, 2025, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. For the first time in 40 years, the inauguration was moved into the Capitol Rotunda due to the weather, according to The New York Times.
President Trump opened his address by stating “the golden age of America starts right now” and for every day of his presidency, he will “put America first.” He promised that under his administration, “America’s decline is over” and addressed the “crisis of trust” in the government. In his 29-minute long inaugural address, Trump continued to claim that immigrants from “prisons and mental institutions” were entering the country illegally, as well as that “the jails of every country in the world…[are] being deposited into the United States,” although there is no evidence to support this claim, as addressed by FactCheck.org. He also said that the country “can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency,” citing Hurricane Helene response in North Carolina and the wildfire response in Los Angeles, saying the fires are “raging through the houses and communities, even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in [the] country, some of whom are sitting here right now. They don't have a home any longer. That's interesting. But [the U.S.] can't let this happen.” The claim comes despite the fact that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has responded to both disasters, providing $344 million dollars of support in disaster within weeks, according to FactCheck.org and FEMA, and continues to provide individual, public, and hazard mitigation assistance for victims of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee. According to their page, FEMA is also currently offering emergency needs and housing assistance in Los Angeles County as damage estimates continue. Trump also criticized the education system, claiming it “teaches children to be ashamed of themselves” and “to hate [this] country.” He stated that his administration “will be working to meet every crisis with dignity and power and strength” and “move with purpose and speed to bring back hope, prosperity, safety and peace for citizens of every race, religion, color and creed.”
Trump said that he felt that he “was saved by God to make America great again,” referencing the assassination attempt made in Butler, PA. He also claimed that he has “been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250-year history.” Trump continued to make claims about the 2020 election and once again insisted that it was “totally rigged.” There remains no evidence, according to FactCheck.org, that there was any widespread fraud in the 2020 election. He promised to “sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America” and to end the persecution of political opponents. “Under [his] leadership,” Trump said that his administration “will restore fair, equal and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law.”
Trump laid out his agenda for his second term. He promised to “declare emergency at [the] southern border” and promised to return “millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came,” as well as reinstate his Remain in Mexico policy, end catch and release policies, and send troops to “repel the disastrous invasion of [the] country.” He also stated that he would designate cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which gives the president the power to detain and deport natives or citizens of an enemy nation during wartime, in order to “eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks” on U.S. soil. He also promised to address “record inflation” and “rapidly bring down costs and prices,” blaming high inflation rates on “massive overspending and escalating energy prices.” Trump claimed that he would lower energy prices and “drill, baby, drill,” as well as end the Green New Deal and save the American auto industry. However, Trump oversimplified the causes of inflation; according to FactCheck.org, the main underlying issue for inflation was the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic itself, not just pandemic relief spending under the Biden administration, and the main cause for increased energy prices is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He also promised to restore the “American Dream” through tariff and taxes on foreign countries and by establishing an “External Revenue Service” to collect the tariffs and duties in order to “enrich” American citizens. However, the Council on Foreign Relation and the National Bureau of Economic Research find that the costs of tariffs are often passed on to the consumer, and Trump did not mention any plan to prevent this in his address. He also claimed that he would establish a “Department of Government Efficiency” to restore efficiency and confidence in the federal government. Trump stated that he would “end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life” and that “As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female.”
Trump said that his administration will “again build the strongest military the world has ever seen.” He claimed that “this week,” he would reinstate service members who were discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine “with full back pay” and “stop…warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments” so that the armed forces “will be free to focus on their sole mission.” Trump stated that he wanted his legacy to be that of “a peacemaker and a unifier,” and that “America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth, inspiring the awe and admiration of the entire world.”
Trump also heavily touted imperialism, and stated that the U.S. will “once again consider itself a growing nation,” claiming that the U.S. will expand its territory under his administration. He once again claimed that the name of the Gulf of Mexico will be changed to the Gulf of America and that the name of “Mount McKinley” will be restored, in reference to the fact that Alaskan Mountain Mt. McKinley, named for president William McKinley, was officially renamed to Mt. Denali in 2015, according to the National Parks Service. He also said that the Panama Canal was “foolishly given” to Panama, and that the U.S. should take back control of the canal. He incorrectly claimed that the U.S. lost “38,000 lives” building the canal; the estimated death toll of the canal’s construction was about 7,600, most of whom were not American, according to FactCheck.org. He also claimed that “China is operating the Panama Canal.” This claim is also exaggerated, as while a Hong Kong-based company does manage ports at either end of the canal, the canal is operated by Panama, as reported in the New York Times. He also promised to pursue the “manifest destiny into the stars,” with the goal of landing American astronauts on Mars.
Trump concluded his address by praising the ambition of the U.S., saying that “Americans pushed thousands of miles through a rugged land of untamed wilderness. They crossed deserts, scales, mountains, braved untold dangers, won the Wild West, ended slavery, rescued millions from tyranny, lifted billions from poverty, harnessed electricity, split the atom, launched mankind into the heavens and put the universe of human knowledge into the palm of the human hand.” He stated that his administration will “be a nation like no other, full of compassion, courage and exceptionalism.” “America will be respected again and admired again, including by people of religion, faith and goodwill,” Trump said.
Trump’s speech arguably laid out a vision for an isolationist America. His long standing rallying cry of “America First” is now coupled with a desire to expand American borders and build a strong military. According to the Associated Press, since his election in November, Trump has threatened to seize the Panama Canal and Greenland, and has refused to rule out the use of military force, citing “national security purposes.” He has also threatened to use economic pressure to make Canada the 51st state, according to AP News. According to David E. Sanger of the New York Times, Trump’s inaugural address “described a reinvigorated country that exerts its power by economic dominance, by fear and, if needed, by force.” Analysts have raised concerns that an American president openly threatening other NATO countries at a time where Russia and China are also looking to expand their borders could embolden other countries to do the same, as noted by the Associated Press. In the New York Times article, Sanger also noted that Trump is continuing to reject “deep-state” opposition, rejecting establishment figures for his cabinet and instead showing a reliance on “outsiders” like Elon Musk, Pete Hesgeth, and Kash Patel as a part of his plan to reform institutions of the federal government like the Pentagon and FBI.
Since his inauguration, Trump has issued a number of executive orders. According to The Associated Press, Trump has issued pardons for the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. capitol, eased regulations on oil and natural gas production, paused Congress’ ban on the social media site TikTok for an additional 75 days, pulled the U.S. out of the World Health Organization, temporarily suspended the U.S. Refugee Admission Program, rolled back federal protections for transgender people, and terminated diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government. Trump has also started making efforts to fulfill campaign promises like ending birthright citizenship, although this order will likely not survive as birthright citizenship is protected in the U.S. Constitution. Trump formally empowered the Department of Government Efficiency, an unofficial agency to streamline government efficiency to be headed by Elon Musk. He has also planned to rename the Gulf of Mexico and Mt. Denali as he promised in his inaugural address.
By Lola Mestas, Copy Editor
Graphic by Shae-Lynn Henderson, EIC