A “common sense revolution” will be called for by the president-elect during the inaugural address, as he seals a historic comeback and launches an agenda that includes mass deportations, steep tariffs and shrinking the size of the federal government.
“I return to the presidency with confidence and optimism that we are at the beginning of an exciting new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country”Trump is expected to say, according to comments he shared with the Wall Street Journal. “My message to Americans today is that it is time to act again with the courage, vigor and vitality of history’s greatest civilization.”
While a combative Trump in his 2017 address denounced “American carnage,” his speech today is designed to be more upbeat, people familiar with the speech’s writing say, though Trump has been known to deviate from the script. At the same time, the 47th president is expected to shed some of the big-mouthed rhetoric of his predecessors and lay out in blunt terms what he sees as the nation’s most pressing problems and his solutions to them.
Trump is expected to sign several executive orders at the US Capitol after his inauguration, in a flurry of first-day action.
the first since Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in 1985. Washington has been largely fortified, but officials did not expect widespread protests, a sign of waning public opposition to Trump, whose comfortable victory in November left Democrats disheartened and without a clear leader.
For now, Trump enjoys mostly unified Republican support and the party controls the House and Senate, giving him the opportunity to pursue his ideas, which include taking advantage of the massive tax cut package enacted during his first term and boosting US fossil fuels. Since the election he has outlined provocative plans, including a bid to acquire Greenland, highlighting its strategic location. He is also vowing to overhaul the Justice Department, which he has accused of conducting politically motivated investigations of himself and other Republicans.
During a rally on Sunday, Trump promised to “act with historic speed and strength and fix every crisis facing our country” and celebrated his victory in one of the most tumultuous elections in modern times, including one in July.
Thousands of his supporters have flooded Washington with hotels, bars and restaurants packed over the weekend, reflecting a more festive atmosphere than his first inauguration. In fact, taxi drivers downtown drove their customers while Trump’s unofficial song, “YMCA” by the Village People, played.
The first executive orders of the second term
Trump plans to issue dozens of executive orders in his first days in office, and energy production, and plans to travel to states to highlight those actions, according to people involved in the planning. It will also move to cut federal diversity programs.
Trump plans to issue , buying more time to reach a deal for the platform to divest itself of its Chinese ownership or shut down in the U.S. On Friday, he is scheduled to tour fire-ravaged Los Angeles.
At 78, Trump will be the oldest president to take office, displacing the “record” set by his predecessor Joe Biden, whose age became a central issue on the campaign trail, prompting the surprising turn of events that led to his replacement on the ballot by Vice President Kamala Harris.
The former Ohio senator will be sworn in as vice president, who at the age of 40 will be the third youngest in history to assume this position.
A new Wall Street Journal poll finds voters want a less assertive set of policies than Trump promised on the campaign trail, including on immigration and his plans to replace thousands of career civil servants with persons to be chosen by the president.
Still, Trump enters the White House with more support than when he first took office. He further expanded the GOP coalition during his campaign, attracting more working-class, black and Hispanic voters, largely because of his economic message. Inflation has cooled significantly since the pandemic, and Trump inherits an overall strong economy.
He has softened his vows to bring down food prices quickly and backed away from his boast of a quick end to the war in Ukraine. , who will oversee an external advisory group to the Department for Government Efficiency, has limited discussions about the size of cuts that can be achieved.
The resounding absence of Michelle Obama
Musk, the world’s richest man, will attend the inauguration, . Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg also plan to attend the ceremony. Dozens of other top executives are expected to attend – intent on further currying favor with the incoming president – including TikTok CEO Shou Chew.
Biden will attend, as will former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Former first lady Michelle Obama will be absent, underscoring tensions with Trump, who has for years attacked her and her husband. Trump was absent from Biden’s inauguration four years ago, angry about his defeat and affected by the , where his supporters tried to stop the certification of the vote. More than 1,500 people have been charged in connection with the attack, and Trump has hinted that he plans to pardon many of them.
Trump’s efforts to overturn the election led to prosecutions in Washington and Georgia, but he overcame them. Earlier this month he was convicted in New York of a hush money case, which makes it a felony, but faced no punishment.
His ability to resist legal cases was just part of his comeback. The GOP establishment in Washington was ready to abandon him after his 2020 loss to Biden, but Trump is banking on his supporters across the country sticking with him. He defeated more than a dozen opponents and easily won the Republican nomination. Along the way, Trump faced two assassination attempts, one of which left him covered in blood during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The last defeated president to make a successful comeback was Grover Cleveland, who was not re-elected in 1888 before recovering in 1892.
