Donald Trump consummated his triumphant return to the presidency of the United States this Monday. The Republican regains power with nationalist populism and an extreme agenda that keeps the United States and the entire world in suspense. In his inaugural address, the 47th president proclaimed his “America First” principle and announced “a tide of change.” “The golden age of America begins right now,” he stated in a speech in which he did not promise the Moon, but Mars, to the delirium of Elon Musk, who was present there. Trump recalled the July attack in which a bullet hit his ear to present himself as a divine chosen one: “God saved me to make America great again.”
With no time to waste, he took advantage of his speech to announce the first decrees with which to turn the page on Joe Biden’s presidency and give a coup of authority in immigration, energy and diversity matters. “The decline of the United States ends here,” he said.
Trump was sworn in at 12:02 p.m. (6:02 p.m. in mainland Spain), just two minutes late than the time set by a constitutional amendment for the change in power. A salute of cannon shots outside the Capitol marked the beginning of the presidency. Two blocks from the White House, the Proud Boys, one of the groups that led the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, celebrated Trump’s return four years after trying to retain power after losing the elections. elections.
“The golden age of America begins right now. From today, our country will flourish and will once again be respected around the world. We will be the envy of all nations, and we will not allow them to continue taking advantage of us. “For each and every day of the Trump Administration, I will very simply put America First,” he began his half-hour speech, short by his standards.
His 2017 inauguration speech remained in memory as that of “the American carnage,” an apocalyptic description of the country that still exists. However, his tone this time was somewhat more constructive. He presented himself as a “peacemaker” and “unifier” despite the fact that he is the most polarizing figure in recent decades in American politics. And, despite the fact that he obtained the closest popular vote victory in decades, with the country almost divided into two halves, he exaggerated his victory as a closing of ranks around him and his program, capable of “completely and totally reversing a horrible betrayal” that he attributes to Biden and his Government.
“I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the beginning of an exciting new era of national success. “A tide of change is sweeping the country,” he said. “My message to Americans today is that it is time for us to act again with courage, vigor and the vitality of the greatest civilization in history,” he added.
national emergency
Trump, who assured that he intends to undertake “a revolution of common sense,” descended in his speech into a programmatic detail that is unusual on these occasions. He confirmed that he will adopt multiple measures immediately. Among them is a declaration of national emergency on the border, allowing the deployment of troops to stop illegal immigration. He will also approve a law that designates drug cartels as “global terrorists,” among many other measures to what he calls “closing the border.”
Reiterating his provocation to Mexico, he announced that he will rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. And, exhibiting his imperialist desires, he assured that the United States will regain control over the Panama Canal. “China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we are going to get it back.”
Likewise, he will declare a national energy emergency to boost hydrocarbon production, although the United States has broken oil production records under Biden. Trump announced the day before that he will pardon those convicted of the assault on the Capitol (hours after Biden preemptively pardoned those who investigated Trump’s responsibility in said assault), but he did not include it in his speech.
Other of his promises were in reality proclamations as grandiose as they were empty. Thus, as of this Monday, the United States will be “a free, sovereign or independent country,” as if it were still a British colony or if the painting of the Declaration of Independence that was in the Rotunda a few meters from him was a fictional scene.
“We are about to live the four best years in the history of the United States,” he said in the most optimistic part of his speech. “America will once again see itself as a growing nation, increasing its wealth, expanding its territory, building its cities, raising its expectations and carrying its flag to beautiful new horizons, and we will pursue our manifest destiny to the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes [de la bandera estadounidense] on the planet Mars.”
600 guests
The investiture was held in the Rotunda, the space under the dome of the Capitol, due to the cold prevailing outside. There was only room for about 600 select guests. Among them was the outgoing president, Joe Biden, who accompanied him in the limousine from the White House, as is traditional in orderly transitions of power. Also attending were the living former presidents – Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama -, the leaders of Congress, their main political allies and major donors, including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, the technology magnates who have paid homage to the leader. A novelty was the attendance of foreign leaders, although all of their political orientation, such as the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán and the presidents of Argentina, Javier Milei, and of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele.
The Trump who assumes office is very different from the one who became president for the first time in 2021, a real estate developer transformed into a television star with no political or government experience, who did not have a trusted team. Although in 2017 the Republicans already had control of both chambers of Congress, now he arrives with the party apparatus in his fist and surrounded by loyalists willing to implement his program from the beginning.
Trump decided not to even wait to arrive at the White House to make his first decisions. He had a desk set up in the Capital One Arena, the covered stadium from which his followers watched the ceremony, to join the crowd and begin approving measures with the approval of his fans, as if it were a kind of Roman circus.
