Donald Trump completed his stunning political comeback on Monday by being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, during which he promised tariffs, deportations and a new approach to race and gender.
In his inaugural address at the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, Trump began laying out the details of his first-day executive orders.
The first step was to declare a national emergency at the southern border. He said he would send troops to the border and begin deporting “illegal” immigrants. Trump has promised to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and invoke the Foreign Enemies Act of 1798 to expel the gangs as quickly as possible.
Trump did not mention the northern border, as Canadian politicians prepare to respond to the president’s threats of tariffs on imports. A new administration official said the new president would issue a broad trade memo later today; it should not include new tariffs on Canada.
Trump mentioned in passing his plan to impose trade sanctions but remained vague. “We will tax and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” he said.
He promised to reverse Biden’s green energy policies, including the electric vehicle mandate, and to “drill, baby, drill” more oil.
Trump said his administration’s view will be that there are only “two genders: male and female.” He also pledged to end efforts to “socially introduce race” into all aspects of public and private life and to “forge a colorblind, merit-based society.”
Promises of world peace, astronauts on Mars
Trump overcame impeachments, criminal charges and two assassination attempts to win his second term in the White House, during which his Republican Party will take control of Washington.
Trump is only the second president in American history to serve non-consecutive terms and the first criminal to hold the most powerful political office in the world. He was sworn in in an unusually small ceremony in the rotunda, away from the general public, after it was moved indoors due to the cold.
The 78-year-old’s speech was more optimistic than the one he gave at his inauguration in 2017. He began by saying, “America’s golden age begins now,” and then added: “From this point on, America’s decline is over. »
He spoke of the assassination attempt against him in Pennsylvania and said he was saved by God to restore the country.
Trump said he would be a peacemaker and would “stop all wars,” while promising to “take back” the Panama Canal.
He said he would rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America and that the United States would continue sending astronauts to Mars – a long-held goal of billionaire Elon Musk, who has grown close to Trump and will serve to the new Ministry of Government Effectiveness. .
Billionaires were prominently featured inside the Capitol.
Musk, along with Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Google’s Sundar Pichai — a quartet whose combined GDP exceeds that of a wide range of countries — took pride of place, sitting closer than some members of Trump’s new cabinet.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was also inside the Rotunda, seated in an area usually reserved for former presidents, their family members and other distinguished guests. The United States banned the social media app over the weekend, but Trump reversed the ban hours later.
Trudeau congratulates Trump
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a statement congratulating Trump on his inauguration, saying Canada and the United States have the most successful economic partnership in the world.
“Canada is strengthening this mutually beneficial relationship. We are investing heavily to boost cross-border trade, strengthen our supply chains and create jobs on both sides of the border,” he said.
“We are stronger when we work together, and I look forward to working with President Trump, his administration, members of the U.S. Congress, and state and local officials to ensure our people prosper – while protecting and defending interests. Canadians. »
