Donald J. Trump took the oath of office as the nation’s 47th president at 12:02 p.m. yesterday marking a historic comeback for a president who has promised to disrupt Washington even more so than he did during his first term.
With four predecessors, several supportive billionaires and scores of elected officials looking on, Trump became president for a second time inside the same Capitol building his supporters stormed four years ago in an effort to halt Congress’ ratification of his defeat.
It was the first time in more than a century that a former president has taken the oath for a second time after leaving office, with the 45th and now 47th president following in the footsteps of Grover Cleveland, the only other president to serve nonconsecutive terms.
The ceremony, which was moved indoors from the traditional location on the west steps due to the sub-freezing temperatures outside, completed a political resurrection unlike anything the country has seen.
Just six months after his criminal conviction in a hush money case, the former reality TV star has made a new, ignominious bit of history, becoming the first former president and felon ever sworn in to serve as president — a testament to his unique political appeal, endurance and remarkable imperviousness to the kinds of consequences that have traditionally cost politicians their careers.
Far from being weakened by a decade of trials and tribulations in and out of office, Trump returns seemingly at his political peak.
The Republican Party that now controls both chambers of Congress has been culled of establishment naysayers and, to a large extent, remade in his image. As evidenced by the stream of CEOs and leaders from the financial, media and tech worlds who have rushed to visit him in Palm Beach during the transition — as did several heads of state — the militant resistance he faced entering the White House eight years ago has given way to resignation and fatigue from the left and an eagerness among the powerful to engage the new president.
Trump has already previewed plans to act quickly with dozens of executive orders just hours after his swearing in — cracking down on illegal immigration, eliminating federal DEI initiatives and protections for transgender people, renaming geographic locations from the Gulf coast to Alaska. Beyond that, he has described a sweeping agenda that includes sweeping tariffs, mass deportations and dramatically reducing the size of the federal government.
-Politico.com
Politics7 months ago
