* revokes 80 executive orders from the Biden’s administration
*Biden, Obama, Bush, Kamala Harris attend swearing-in
President Donald Trump was yesterday sworn in for another tenure as the 47th President of the United States, signaling one of the most remarkable return to the White House in American history.
Trump signed executive orders proclaiming that the U.S. government will recognise only two sexes, male and female, and ending “radical and wasteful” diversity, equity and inclusion programs inside federal agencies.
He also signed a few other executive orders in front of the crowd at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., just a few hours after being sworn in, including the revocation of nearly 80 executive orders from the Biden administration.
In a phone call on Monday morning ahead of Trump’s swearing-in, senior White House officials detailed both orders, grouping them under the Trump administration’s wider “restoring sanity” agenda.
Trump also said he would “bring law and order back to our cities” and bring in “a society that is colourblind and merit-based”, adding “there are only two genders – male and female”. He also promised to raise tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich American citizens.
He declared that America “must drill baby drill” referring to his desire to expand America’s oil production capacity. He vowed to cut regulation and ensure America remains the dominant oil producing nation in the world. By cutting regulations, and lifting ban on new drilling, Trump hopes to boost America’s quest for energy self sufficiency and stabilise prices.
Trump is entering office as a disruptive force, vowing to remake the federal government and expressing deep skepticism about the US-led alliances that have shaped post-World War Two global politics.
Trump, who pledged to save America from decline, announced a range of policies in his inaugural address – some of them bound to cause controversy, proclaiming that a “golden age begins right now” for the world’s most powerful country. He has already announced the withdrawal of the US from the Paris Climate Treaty and an end to US Electric Cars Mandate.
He reiterated that he would rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” and take back the Panama Canal, even though he promised to be a ‘peacemaker and unifier’.
Trump, a Republican, said he would declare a national emergency at the southern border with Mexico as well as declare a national energy emergency.
The new American president’s inauguration was attended by many tech billionaires, as well as former American leaders and their wives. However former President Barack Obama’s wife, Michelle was conspicuously absent.
Among others, he promised to reinstate any armed services members who were expelled for objecting to the COVID vaccine mandate – on full back pay as well as build the strongest military the world has ever seen.
Touching on the assassination attempt in which he was shot during his campaign, Trump stated that”I was saved by God to make America great again,” receiving wild applause from supporters.
Ex-US leaders who attended the event included: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. In attendance at the inauguration were also former first ladies Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Jill Biden.
It was also an event attended by billionaires and world’s wealthiest persons, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (worth $239.4 billion); Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg ($211.8 billion); Tesla Chief Executive and presidential confidante, Elon Musk ($433.9 billion) as well as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman ($1.1 billion).
Also at the inauguration ceremony was Apple CEO, Tim Cook, ($2.2 billion); billionaire backer Miriam Adelson ($31.9 billion) and former Fox News Chairman Rupert Murdoch ($22.2 billion).
Besides, Bernard Arnault ($179.6 billion), the head of the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton luxury empire and the richest person in France, was at the inauguration with his son, Alexandre. Trump’s friend Phil Ruffin, a Las Vegas casino executive worth $4.7 billion, was also spotted at the Capitol. TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew also attended. A host of foreign politicians were also in the room to watch the transfer of power.
The ceremony is usually held outside but was brought inside the Capitol Rotunda because of the weather as it was expected to be the coldest inauguration day in 40 years.
In his speech, Trump talked about America being in chaos, being broken, being lawless, being leaderless, being corrupt, explaining that it was his job to fix it.
In his second coming, the new American president said he would sign an executive order to bring back common sense, drill more crude oil, and designate cartels in Mexico as foreign terrorist organisations.
Trump pledged to rescue America from what he described as years of betrayal and decline , prioritising a crackdown on illegal immigration and portraying himself as a national savior chosen by God.
“For American citizens, January 20, 2025, is Liberation Day,” Trump, 78, said inside the Rotunda of the US Capitol, the symbol of US democracy that was invaded on January 6, 2021, by a mob of Trump supporters intent on reversing his 2020 election defeat to Biden.
