Welcome to a special Inauguration day edition of From the political office. Donald Trump is president again after being sworn in this afternoon. We’ll take you through the very different speeches he’s given and the executive orders he’s planned, as well as Joe Biden’s latest actions in the White House.
—Adam Wollner
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A tale of two Trump speeches
By Jonathan Allen
America watched at length as two Donald Trumps on Monday, one in his official inaugural address and the other in a freewheeling second speech inside the Capitol.
Get used to it.
In the newly sworn-in president’s first set of remarks, delivered in the Capitol rotunda to former presidents, lawmakers, families and high-end supporters, Trump proclaimed a new ‘golden age’ for America , pledged to pursue unity and outlined an action plan. an aggressive program faithful to the promises he made during the electoral campaign and during his transition.
In other words, the first Trump was the most focused and policy-driven candidate who won the 2024 election and the national popular vote. He was serious, if grim, in his descriptions of “America’s decline” and his plans to reverse it.
“America’s golden age begins now,” Trump said.
Associated with a sweep set of decrees which he planned to release on Monday, the first remarks of Trump’s second presidency indicated that he intended to test the limits of presidential power by aggressively pursuing his agenda. And he’s set a high bar for himself, piling on promises that might be difficult to keep.
In less than an hour, he marched to the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall and unleashed wild claims, old grievances and attacks on his political opponents in front of a crowd of supporters. It was raw, moving and more energetic than the official speech.
He walked back his oft-repeated false claim that the 2020 election was “totally rigged.” He criticized former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for failing to protect the Capitol from her own supporters when they stormed it to try to keep him in power four years ago. And he called members of the committee that investigated his actions on January 6, 2021, “thugs.”
“I think that was a better speech than the one I gave upstairs,” he told the crowd before leaving.
Trump often likes to take both sides of an issue – including whether he has to give in to his thirst for retaliation. If Monday was any indication, that won’t change during his second term.
Read more about Trump’s remarks →
Trump prepares a series of executive orders
Trump will deliver a third round of remarks this evening at the Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, where he is expected to begin signing a series of executive orders.
Among those on his first day priority list are:
- Declare a national emergency at the US-Mexico border
- Order the resumption of construction of its border wall
- Seeking to end birthright citizenship
- Reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy (although it is unclear whether that country has agreed to the terms)
- Declare a “national energy emergency» this would give him the power to increase American energy production
- End diversity programs in federal agencies
- Demand that more federal workers return to in-person work
- By proclaiming that the American government recognize only two sexesmale and female
- Creation of the Department of Government Effectiveness (of which Vivek Ramaswamy is already ready to leave as he considers running for governor of Ohio)
- One changing the name of Mount Denali in Alaska to Mount McKinley and another seeking to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America (although it is unclear whether it has this authority, as it is considered international waters)
The scope and number of executive orders Trump is expected to sign will far exceed what he did on his first day in office in 2017, when he signed an executive order targeting the Affordable Care Act.
It also goes beyond the number signed by Joe Biden from his first day in office. Biden signed nine executive orders on topics ranging from ethics commitments for executive branch personnel to combating discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, while also signing executive orders rescinding Trump’s directives on immigration and deregulation.
Biden grants preemptive pardons in his final acts at the White House
In his final hours as president, Joe Biden announced a series of measures radical preventive pardons for his family members.
Biden said he granted the pardon because he feared his family had faced politically motivated attacks, and “I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.”
“The granting of these pardons should not be misconstrued as an acknowledgment that they have committed any wrongdoing, nor as an admission of guilt for any offense,” Biden said in announcing he was pardoning his brothers James and Francis, his sister, Valerie Biden Owens, as well as the spouses of James and Valerie.
Biden had criticized the idea of an outgoing president preemptively pardoning his family members. interview with CNN in 2020. At the time, it was suggested that Trump might make such a decision.
Earlier Monday, Biden granted preventive pardons to several other officials who he said were “threatened with criminal prosecution,” including lawmakers and staffers who served on the committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, and police officers who testified before it committee. Biden also pardoned former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Although Biden emphasized that those receiving preemptive pardons had committed no crimes, Republicans were quick to criticize the measures as admissions of guilt.
Biden also commuted the life sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American rights activist convicted of killing two FBI agents and escaping from federal prison.
That’s all that’s coming from the politburo for now. Today’s newsletter was written by Adam Wollner and Bridget Bowman.
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