Trump is president, sworn in for a second time after biggest win of his political career

Jeff Barker, The Baltimore Sun on Jan 20, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Donald J. Trump was sworn in for a second time as president Monday, completing an extraordinary political comeback and becoming the second chief executive to occupy the White House in non-consecutive terms.

On a frigid day, the 78-year-old Republican, the oldest to be sworn in, took the oath of office—surrounded by leaders of the three branches of government—in the Capitol Rotunda instead of the traditional spot at the west front of the U.S. Capitol overseeing the National Mall and Washington Monument. The shift was made for the safety of spectators in the bitter cold.

It wasn’t as cold as Ronald Reagan’s 1985 inauguration — when the temperature was in the single digits — but the freezing temperatures and icy winds Monday tested the mettle of supporters who gathered on the National Mall. Some gained access to Capital One Arena where a viewing and indoor parade were scheduled.

Trump took the oath eight years after being sworn in for his first term, delivering a speech targeting the political establishment and pledging to rid the country of crime, gangs and drugs he called “American carnage.”

He enters office with a “trifecta” — Republican control of the White House, Senate and House. He has promised to carry out mass deportations, make deep cuts and changes to the federal workforce, and pare federal spending with his newly created, nongovernmental Department of Government Efficiency headed by billionaire Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Trump, the 45th and 47th president, lost his 2020 reelection bid to Democrat Joe Biden but defeated Vice President Kamala Harris last November. Only Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th president, had previously won non-consecutive four-year terms.

Trump’s return to power seemed improbable after supporters violently stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, seeking unsuccessfully to halt the final electoral count declaring Biden the winner. Even members of his party denounced Trump.

But he regained GOP support in the intervening years, winning election by criticizing Democratic border policies and inflation that Republicans said was generated by federal overspending.

In May, he became the first former president convicted of felony crimes. A New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to a porn actor who said the two had sex.

The conviction seemed to galvanize his supporters after Trump railed against the New York prosecutor who brought the case.

In November, Trump got 34% of the vote in Maryland, a reliably blue state, and Harris 63%. However, Trump was widely supported in far Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore, where Republicans outnumber Democrats. U.S. Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, whose district includes the Eastern Shore, Harford County, is a loyal Trump backer and leads the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

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