Donald Trump has been sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. Here is a snapshot of how the media in America is reporting inauguration day.
USA Today
Donald Trump vowed that a “golden age” for the country begins now.
He told former presidents and other top officials gathered in the Capitol rotunda that “In America, the impossible is what we do best.” He also said he wants to be a unifying figure amid conflicts around the world.
Still, Trump called Monday “liberation day” in a speech that largely focused on his conservative priorities.
“I stand before you now as proof that you should never believe that something is impossible to do in America,” Trump said.
Trump is expected to return to the White House soon, and he’ll issue a flurry of executive orders, including acting on TikTok’s ban in the U.S.
The New York Times
Donald John Trump laid out plans for an immediate blitz of orders and actions meant to dramatically change the course of the country.
Much as Mr. Trump did eight years ago, when he decried “American carnage” in his address, he painted a grim portrait of a country on its knees that only he can revive. But even more than in 2017, he largely dispensed with lofty themes and the broad unifying strokes favored by most presidents in their Inaugural Addresses, and outlined a series of often-divisive policies.
He vowed to immediately declare a national emergency at the border and send the military to guard it. He said he would end government programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. He said he would rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and promised to seize the Panama Canal. “We’re taking it back,” he said.
Fast facts
- Returning to Washington: The inauguration was not just a restoration of power for the former president. It was a return for his family, as well. Mr. Trump’s relatives return to Washington with more political and cultural support — and a far better understanding of how to wield their soft power.
- A hot ticket: Mr. Trump decided to move his inauguration indoors to the Capitol Rotunda, which meant relegating many V.I.P.s with tickets to the event to an overflow room to watch the proceedings on video. Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, was among those who watched on video. Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor who was disbarred over his lies about the 2020 election, had a seat in the Rotunda.
- The guest list: The inauguration was attended by tech billionaires, foreign dignitaries including hard-right European leaders, former presidents and an assortment of performers and other celebrities.
- A historic start: Mr Trump, 78, became the oldest person ever inaugurated as president, eclipsing Mr Biden, who was five months younger when he took the oath four years ago. JD Vance, 40, by contrast, has become the third-youngest vice president in history. Mr Trump also became only the second president since the founding of the republic to reclaim the White House after being defeated for re-election, joining Grover Cleveland, who served nonconsecutive terms in the 19th century.
Washington Post
After his swearing-in as the nation’s 47th president Monday, Donald Trump pledged in a speech to “put America first” and said that “the golden age of America begins right now.”
Trump said the United States would “once again consider itself a growing nation” and one that “expands our territory”.
He critiqued the Biden administration and started laying out his priorities, including declaring a national emergency at the southern border. The president is promising a flurry of actions on Day 1 on immigration, energy production, crime and other issues.
President Donald Trump took the oath of office as former presidents, Supreme Court justices and Trump family members looked on in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.
NBC
President Donald Trump vowed that the nation’s challenges would be “annihilated” by his MAGA movement in a bare-knuckled inaugural address that echoed the themes and grievances of his trademark rally speeches.
Trump, in a relatively sedate and focused style, spoke for nearly 40 minutes in the Capitol Rotunda after being sworn in as America’s 47th president. In a second set of free-style remarks in the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall, Trump attacked political adversaries, called the 2020 election “totally rigged,” and blamed former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for his supporters attacking the building on Jan. 6, 2021, in a futile effort to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump joined Grover Cleveland as the only men to lose the presidency and then reclaim it. He took the oath of office and delivered his inaugural address indoors because of sub-freezing temperatures in Washington.
Trump spoke from the perspective of a man on a mission of destiny after surviving a would-be assassin’s bullet this summer at a Pennsylvania rally.
“I was saved by God to make America great again,” Trump said, adding that he wants to be a “peacemaker and unifier.”
CNN
Some congressional Democrats are condemning Donald Trump’s first actions in office — including a pledge to end birthright citizenship — even as others are vowing to work with the president, at least for now.
Sen. Ruben Gallego, for instance, declared that he will “do all I can to fight” Trump’s pledge to end birthright citizenship. The Arizona Democrat called it “anti-American and unconstitutional,” according to a post on X.
Another Democrat, Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, criticized Trump’s speech as “smothering fact with fiction, history with heresy, hope with horror, and greatness with grievance”.
“This will be remembered as the darkest inaugural address in history,” Moulton said in a post on X.
Most Democratic statements, however, sounded a more cautious note about working with the Trump administration — at least for now. But many also came with a warning: They are also not afraid to cross Trump if necessary.
“I look forward to working with the incoming administration to lower prices, create jobs and keep our communities safe. But make no mistake, if President Trump uses his position to hurt hardworking Nevadans, I will always stand strong to protect them,” Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada said on X.
Rep. Lori Trahan, who sits at House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ leadership table, attended the inauguration. The Massachusetts Democrat said in a statement she is “hopeful that there will be opportunities to find common ground.”
But she added, if Trump’s agenda winds up “slashing vital programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid — House Democrats will fight back against those efforts.”
Rep. Gabe Amo, who used to work in the Biden White House prior to his Congressional run, also offered a collaborative tone, stating “I have always said that I will work with anyone, from any party, who wants to improve the lives of Rhode Islanders. But I will also stand firm and fight to defend Rhode Island values to continue our nation’s progress, expand opportunity to the many, and bring our communities together.”
Read President Trump’s inaugural address, annotated and fact-checked, courtesy of CNN.
