Donald Trump sworn in as 47th U.S. president, says 'America's decline is over'
Trump uses inaugural speech to declare emergency at Mexican border, but spares Canada — for now
Donald Trump completed his stunning political comeback Monday when he was sworn in as the 47th U.S. president, during which he promised tariffs, deportations and a new approach to race and gender.
In his inaugural address inside the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, Trump began laying out the details of his first-day executive orders.
First up was declaring a national emergency at the southern border. He said he will send troops to the border and begin deporting "illegal" immigrants. Trump promised to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to expel gangs as quickly as possible.
Trump did not mention the northern border, as Canadian politicians prepare to respond to the president's threatened tariffs on imports. An incoming administration official said the new president will issue a broad trade memo later today; it's not expected to include new tariffs on Canada.
Trump referred in passing to his plan to impose trade penalties but remained vague. "We will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens," he said.
He promised to undo Biden's green energy policies, including an electric vehicle mandate, and to "Drill, baby, drill" more oil.
Trump said his government's view will be that there are only "two genders: male and female." He also vowed to end the effort to "socially engineer race" into every aspect of public and private life and "forge a society that is colour-blind and merit-based."
Promises of world peace, astronauts on Mars
Trump overcame impeachments, criminal indictments and two assassination attempts to win his second term in the White House, during which his Republican party will take control of Washington.
Trump is only the second president in American history to serve non-consecutive terms and the first felon to hold the most powerful political office in the world. He took the oath during an unusually small ceremony in the rotunda away from the general public, after it was moved indoors due to cold weather.
The 78-year-old's speech was more optimistic than the one he gave during his 2017 inauguration. He started by saying, "The golden age of America begins right now," and later added, "From this moment on, America's decline is over."
Referring to the Pennsylvania assassination attempt on him, he said he was saved by God to restore the country.
Trump said he will be a peacemaker and "stop all wars," while also saying he intends for the U.S. to regain control of the Panama Canal. "We're taking it back," he said, without specifying how that would happen.
He also said he will rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and restore the former name of Alaska's Mount McKinley — named for former U.S. president William McKinley — nullifying its current Indigenous name, Mount Denali.
Trump made a vague reference to expanding U.S. territory, something that has not happened in generations. He has previously talked about making Canada a state and annexing Greenland, but did not offer further details in his address.
"The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation — one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons."
Trump then said the U.S. will pursue putting astronauts on Mars — a longtime goal of billionaire Elon Musk, who has cozied up to Trump and will sit on the new Department of Government Efficiency.
Billionaires were prominently featured in attendance inside the Capitol.
Musk, along with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Sundar Pichai — a quartet whose combined GDP exceeds that of a broad swath of countries — had prime spots, seated closer than some members of Trump's incoming cabinet.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was also inside the Rotunda, seated in an area usually reserved for former presidents, family members and other distinguished guests. The U.S. banned the social media app on the weekend only for Trump to reverse the ban hours later.
Bezos and Zuckerberg later attended Trump's congressional luncheon, and each promised to donate $1 million US to Trump's inauguration committee.
Trump gave a less measured improvised speech to supporters inside the Capitol following his inauguration, in which he promised to pardon convicts from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and blasted Biden's last-minute pardons, which included members of the congressional committee probing Jan. 6.
Trudeau congratulates Trump
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement congratulating Trump on his inauguration, saying Canada and the U.S. have the world's most successful economic partnership.
"Canada is strengthening this mutually beneficial relationship. We're making massive investments to bolster cross-border trade, reinforce our supply chains, and create jobs on both sides of the border," he said.
"We are strongest when we work together, and I look forward to working with President Trump, his administration, members of the United States Congress, and officials at the state and local levels to deliver prosperity for our peoples — while protecting and defending the interests of Canadians."
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With files from Alexander Panetta and Rhianna Schmunk