Trump takes oath, promising 'a golden age' and reversal of Biden policies

WASHINGTON — Donald J. Trump was sworn in for a second time as president Monday, promising America will be the “envy of the world” and calling his election a mandate to reverse the “horrible betrayal” of his predecessor.

“The golden age of America begins right now,” he said.

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.

Without mentioning his predecessor by name, Trump centered his speech on a reversal of Democrat Joe Biden’s policies, criticizing the 46th president on education, the southern border, health care and other issues and saying America had been in “decline.”

“My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal and all of these many betrayals that have taken place, and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed their freedom,” the 47th president said.

Trump promised to declare a national emergency at the border, lower energy prices by tapping more oil and gas, and “tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.”

He didn’t promise in his speech to pardon defendants charged in the violent Jan. 6, 2021 storming of the Capitol to try to halt the electoral count declaring Biden the 2020 election winner.

But Trump, speaking later to supporters at the Capitol, referred to such defendants as “hostages” and said “You’re going to see a lot of action” related to Jan. 6.

Trump’s left hand did not appear to be on one of the Bibles as he was sworn in. But that is not a constitutional requirement.

Trump’s inauguration completed an extraordinary political comeback as he became the second chief executive to occupy the White House in nonconsecutive terms.

Trump recounted his campaign to win back the White House, including a failed assassination attempt by a gunman during the campaign in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“I was saved by God to make America great again,” Trump said.

Former Ohio Sen. JD Vance was sworn in as vice president before Trump took the oath.

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.

Outside the Waldorf Astoria hotel that Trump owned during his first term, the crowd lining Pennsylvania Avenue between the Capitol and the White House was sparse, a stark contrast to the mobs of people who would typically be there to watch the new president travel back to the White House.

Cheers broke out from some watching the live stream of the ceremony as Trump took the oath of office. “We just saved America!” a woman in an American flag-patterned sweatshirt yelled.

Between Capital One Arena and Pennsylvania Avenue, about two dozen Proud Boys members congregated four years after the organization was part of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

A local Kentucky chapter president, who said his name was Dave Sermonizer, said they were expecting Trump to follow through on his plans to pardon the rioters. “We would like to raise awareness to the political prisoners that are being held hostage in the D.C. gulags. We are hoping for pardons today,” he said.

Cheers of “Trump is president” rang out among the crowds waiting to enter Capital One Arena as Trump was sworn in.

For Aneesh Swaminathan, president of College Republicans at Johns Hopkins University, this past November was the first national election when he was eligible to vote. He chose Trump in part because of his views on education reform.

“I’m very keen on intellectual diversity on campus and viewpoint plurality,” said Swaminathan, a sophomore majoring in molecular biology and political science. “That’s something higher education needs.”

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.”

In his speech Monday, Trump largely focused on how he plans to restore the country’s greatness.

Supporters held inauguration watch parties around the state.

Over the last few decades, Ron Wagner said he has always tried to use common sense when casting his ballot, voting for whoever he thinks will do a good job, Democrat or Republican. But when people ask Wagner if he personally likes Trump, his answer is no. “I never watched his show, I don’t like braggers, I don’t like schoolyard bullies — that’s not my thing,” he said at a watch party in Severna Park. “But will he do the job? I believe he will. He will put us on what I think is the right track.”

In Baltimore, it’s not popular for people “to say they voted for Trump, but a lot of them did vote for him undercover,” said Chris Anderson, chair of the Maryland Black Republican Council and a member of the Baltimore City Central Committee.

Some big reasons why he voted for Trump in November: Trump’s passage of the First Step act — a 2018 criminal justice reform bill — and his passage of funding for historically Black colleges and universities.

Overall, Trump got 12% of the vote in heavily Democratic Baltimore.

U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume, a Democrat whose district includes much of the city, did not attend the inauguration because he habitually does service work on the holiday marking Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Some other Maryland lawmakers, including Reps. Jamie Raskin and Glenn Ivey, also said they also planned to honor the slain civil rights leader and did not attend the inauguration.

Trump 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 Biden but defeated Vice President Kamala Harris last November. Only Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th president, had previously won nonconsecutive four-year terms.

Trump’s return to power seemed improbable after supporters violently stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 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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