By Joseph Ax and Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump will be sworn in as U.S. president on Monday, ushering in a turbulent new four-year term with promises to expand the limits of executive power, deport millions of immigrants, ensure retaliation against his political enemies and transforming the role of Donald Trump. of the United States on the world stage.
Even before Trump took office at noon ET (1700 GMT), his aides detailed a series of executive actions he will sign immediately, including 10 focused on border security and immigration, his top priority.
The president will declare a state of national emergency at the southern border, send armed troops to the region and reimpose a policy forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico for their U.S. court date, the president said. urges a new White House official.
The inauguration completes the triumphant return of a political disruptor who survived two impeachment trials, a felony conviction, two assassination attempts and an indictment for trying to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
The ceremony will take place in the rotunda of the US Capitol, four years after a mob of Trump supporters violated the symbol of American democracy in a failed attempt to prevent Republican Trump’s defeat by Democrat Joe Biden. The swearing-in took place indoors for the first time in 40 years due to the extreme cold.
Trump, the first US president since the 19th century to win a second term after losing the White House, said he would pardon “on day one” many of the more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the attack on January 6, 2021. . Biden, in one of his final acts, pardoned lawmakers and congressional staff who investigated the riot, as well as police officers who testified.
The pledge is part of a series of executive actions that Trump plans to sign as early as Monday after he is sworn in.
Trump will reinstate the federal death penalty, which Biden had suspended, and require that official U.S. documents such as passports reflect citizens’ gender as assigned at birth, officials in the new administration told reporters.
He will also sign an executive order ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the federal government on his first day, which is also Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the officials said.
“A wave of change is sweeping the country,” Trump plans to say in his inaugural address, according to excerpts seen by Reuters. “Through these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense.”
Trump and new first lady Melania Trump began the day at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, where several tech executives — including the world’s three richest men, Trump confidant Elon Musk, CEO ‘Amazon (NASDAQ:) Jeff Bezos and Meta (NASDAQ:) CEO Mark Zuckerberg joined.
DISRUPTIVE FORCE
As he did in 2017, Trump enters office as a chaotic and disruptive force, promising to reshape the federal government and expressing deep skepticism about the U.S.-led alliances that have shaped post-war global politics. -Second World War.
The former president returns to Washington emboldened after winning the national popular vote against Vice President Kamala Harris by more than 2 million votes thanks to a wave of voter frustration over persistent inflation, even though he did not still not obtained a 50% majority.
In 2016, Trump won the Electoral College – and the presidency – despite receiving nearly 3 million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton.
Jeremi Suri, a presidential historian at the University of Texas at Austin, compared the current era to the late 19th century, when Grover Cleveland became the only other president to win nonconsecutive terms. Like today, he says, it was a time of upheaval, as industrial progress transformed the economy, wealth inequality exploded, and the proportion of American immigrants reached an all-time high.
“What we’re really talking about is a fundamentally different economy, a fundamentally different country in terms of its racial, gender and social composition, and we as a country are struggling to understand what that means,” he said. “It’s an existential moment.”
Trump, who will be the oldest president ever sworn in, will enjoy a Republican majority in both houses of Congress, which have been almost entirely purged of any dissidents within the party. His advisers have outlined plans to replace nonpartisan bureaucrats with hand-picked loyalists.
Even before taking office, Trump established a rival power center in the weeks after his election victory, meeting with world leaders and sowing dismay by thinking aloud about seizing the Panama Canal, taking the controlling the territory of Greenland, NATO ally Denmark and imposing tariffs on the largest American country. business partners.
Its influence has already been felt when Israel and Hamas announced a ceasefire agreement last week. Trump, whose envoy joined the negotiations in Qatar, warned of “hell to pay” if Hamas did not release its hostages before the inauguration.
Unlike in 2017, when he filled many top positions with institutionalists, Trump prioritized loyalty over experience by appointing a series of controversial cabinet picks, some of them critical virulent from the agencies they were chosen to lead.
The inauguration will take place under tight security after a campaign marked by increased political violence that included two assassination attempts against Trump, including one in which a bullet grazed his ear.
“AMERICAN CARNAGE”
Eight years ago, Trump delivered a somber inaugural address in which he pledged to end the “American carnage” of what he called crime-ridden cities and soft borders, a change from to the tone of optimism adopted by most newly elected presidents.
Foreign governments will review the content of Trump’s speech on Monday after he ran a campaign marked by inflammatory rhetoric.
The traditional parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House will now take place inside the Capital one (NYSE:) Arena, where Trump held his victory rally on Sunday. Trump will also attend three inaugural balls in the evening.
Amid the day’s spectacle, Trump will begin signing his first executive orders, many of which are likely to face legal challenges.
Trump will be the first criminal to occupy the White House after a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to conceal money paid to a porn star.
Winning the election also cleared Trump of two federal indictments — for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election and for retaining classified documents — thanks to a Justice Department policy that presidents cannot be prosecuted for their mandate.
In a report released last week, special counsel Jack Smith said he had enough evidence to convict Trump in the election case if Trump had reached trial.