WASHINGTON: Donald J Trump on Monday took oath for a second term as the United States President and immediately announced a raft of executive decisions, saying that the “golden age” of America had just begun.
In a fiery inaugural address, the 47th US president described January 20 as the “liberation day” and declared that “America’s decline is over” as changes will come “very quickly”.
“America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth, inspiring the awe and admiration from the entire world,” he said.
Trump storms back to the White House for the second term with a strongman persona and a vision of an all-powerful presidency with a promise to aggressively reset US policies in a range of domains including immigration, tariffs and energy.
The new US president listed a series of actions he would roll out immediately including declaring a national emergency at the US-Mexico border, renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, and that the US would take back the Panama Canal.
“From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer,” Trump said.
The Republican leader vowed to put America “first” and that the country would “flourish and be respected” under his leadership as a “peacemaker and a unifier”.
The American dream will soon be back and thriving like never before, he said.
“After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional restriction of expression, I will also sign an executive order to stop all censorship and bring back free speech to America,” he said.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar attended the inauguration ceremony as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s special envoy.
In his remarks, Trump said, “The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent and unfair weaponisation of the Justice Department and government will end.”
He said America will not be “conquered or intimidated”
“We will not fail. From this day on, the United States of America will be a free, sovereign and independent nation,” he said.
“The future is ours, and our golden age has just begun.”
In his address, Trump also pledged to increase domestic oil production, establish a government entity to collect promised tariffs and revoke the programme promoting electric vehicles.
JD Vance was sworn in as the vice president ahead of Trump.
Trump registered a spectacular victory over his Democratic rival Kamala Harris in the November 5 presidential election, defying two assassination attempts, two presidential impeachments and his criminal conviction.
Four years ago, Trump had left Washington as a pariah in the face of his unsuccessful attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election to stay in office.
His victory in the bitterly fought election was widely acknowledged as the most momentous comeback in American political history.
The inauguration ceremony was held indoors under the Capitol Rotunda as against the initially planned outdoor venue in view of frigid temperatures in the US capital city.
The ceremony was attended by Trump’s wife Melania, his daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, and billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Tim Cook.
On X, Prime Minister Modi congratulated Trump and said he looked forward to working closely together once again to benefit both countries and shape a better future for the world. PTI
