Trump returns to power after unprecedented comeback, emboldened to reshape American institutions

Donald Trump, emboldened by his unprecedented political comeback, set to work unravelling Joe Biden ‘s legacy Monday as soon as he was sworn in as the 47th president, claiming a mandate to reshape American institutions.

He began signing executive orders onstage at a downtown arena as thousands of supporters cheered, melding the theatrics of his campaign rallies with the formal powers of the presidency. He froze the issuing of new regulations, asserted his control over the federal workforce and withdrew from the Paris climate agreement.

Trump also rescinded dozens of directives issued by Biden, including those relating to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, global warming and sanctioning Israeli settlers involved in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. When finished, he tossed the pens into the crowd.

“We won, we won, but now the work begins,” Trump said before a crowd of people in “Make America Great Again” hats.

The Republican president abandoned the more solemn tone of his inaugural address from earlier in the day and taunted his Democratic predecessor while scrawling his name in thick black ink on his executive orders.

“Could you imagine Biden doing this?” he said. “I don’t think so!”

Trump promised to issue pardons for “a lot of people” who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, when he was trying to overturn Biden’s election victory. Despite widespread outrage over the riot, Trump has tried to recast the participants as patriots and “hostages” being held by an unfair justice system.

In the four years since losing to Biden, Trump overcame impeachments, criminal indictments and a pair of assassination attempts to win another term in the White House, and his re-ascendence was fervently welcomed by his followers.

“We all believe God’s hand has been on this man to be elected,” said Pam Pollard, 65, a longtime Republican official from Oklahoma.

Trump declared in his inaugural address that the government faces a “crisis of trust.” Under his administration, he said, “our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced.”

Trump claimed “a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal,” promising to “give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed their freedom.”

“From this moment on,” he added as Biden watched from the front row, “America’s decline is over.”

Also present at the ceremony was Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden on the ballot after he abandoned his reelection bid last summer, only to be defeated by Trump in the general election.

Trump’s executive orders are the first step in what he called “the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense.” Other goals will prove more difficult, perhaps testing the patience of supporters who were promised quick success. Trump has talked about lowering prices after years of inflation, but his plans for tariffs on imports from foreign countries could have the opposite effect.

Frigid weather rewrote the pageantry of the day. Trump’s swearing-in was moved indoors to the Capitol Rotunda — the first time that has happened in 40 years — and the inaugural parade was replaced by an event with marching bands at Capital One Arena. Trump supporters who descended on the city to watch the ceremony outside the Capitol from the National Mall were left to find other places to view the festivities.

At the Capitol, Vice President J.D. Vance was sworn in first, taking the oath read by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on a Bible given to him by his great-grandmother. Trump followed, using both a family Bible and the one used by President Abraham Lincoln at his 1861 inauguration. Chief Justice John Roberts administered his oath.

A cadre of billionaires and tech titans — including Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai — were given prominent positions in the Rotunda, mingling with Trump’s incoming team before the ceremony began. Elon Musk attended as well, and he’s expected to lead an effort to slash spending and federal employees. It was a striking display of wealth for a president who is a billionaire himself but branded himself as a working-class crusader.

Before going to the Capitol, Trump and his wife, Melania, were greeted at the White House by Biden and first lady Jill Biden for the customary tea and coffee reception. It was a stark departure from four years ago, when Trump refused to acknowledge Biden’s victory or attend his inauguration.

“Welcome home,” Biden said to Trump after the president-elect stepped out of the car. The two presidents, who have spent years bitterly criticising each other, shared a limo to the Capitol. After the inaugural ceremony, Trump walked with Biden to the building’s east side, where Biden departed via helicopter to begin his post-presidential life.

Trump followed Biden’s departure with freewheeling remarks to supporters, revisiting a litany of conspiracy theories about voter fraud and grievances against perceived enemies such as former Republican Representative Liz Cheney, whom he called “a crying lunatic.”

He spoke for even longer than in his inaugural address, saying, “I think this is a better speech than the one I gave upstairs.”

Trump’s inauguration realised a political comeback without precedent in American history. Four years ago, he was voted out of the White House during an economic collapse caused by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. Trump denied his defeat and tried to cling to power. He directed his supporters to march on the Capitol while lawmakers were certifying the election results, sparking a riot that interrupted the country’s tradition of the peaceful transfer of power.

But Trump never lost his grip on the Republican Party and was undeterred by criminal cases and two assassination attempts as he steamrolled rivals and harnessed voters’ exasperation with inflation and illegal immigration.

Now Trump is the first person convicted of a felony — for falsifying business records related to hush money payments — to serve as president. He pledged to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution from the same spot that was overrun by his supporters on January 6, 2021. He’s said that one of his first acts in office will be to pardon many of those who were convicted for their participation in the riot, and he referred to them as “hostages” on Monday.

Eight years after he first entered the White House as a political newcomer, Trump is far more familiar with the operations of federal government and emboldened to bend it to his vision. He has also promised retribution against his political opponents and critics, and placed personal loyalty as a prime qualification for appointments to his administration.

With minutes to go before leaving office, Biden issued preemptive pardons to his siblings and their spouses to shield them from the possibility of prosecution. Earlier in the day, he also pardoned current and former government officials who have been the target of Trump’s anger. Biden said “these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing.”

Trump has pledged to go further and move faster in enacting his agenda than during his first term, and already the country’s political, business and technology leaders have realigned themselves to accommodate him.

Democrats who once formed a “resistance” are now divided over whether to work with Trump or defy him. Billionaires have lined up to meet with Trump as they acknowledge his unrivalled power in Washington and his ability to wield the levers of government to help or hurt their interests.

Long sceptical of American alliances, Trump’s “America First” foreign policy is being watched warily at home and abroad as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will soon enter its third year, and a fragile ceasefire appears to be holding in Gaza after more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas. Trump, who had promised to end the Ukraine war even before he was sworn in, did not mention the conflict in his inaugural address.

Trump said he would lead a government that “expands our territory,” a reference to his goals of acquiring Greenland from Denmark and restoring US control of the Panama Canal.

He also said he would “pursue our manifest destiny into the stars” by launching American astronauts to Mars. Musk, the owner of a space rocket company with billions of dollars in federal contracts, cheered and pumped his arms above his head as Trump spoke.