Donald Trump takes the oath to be President of the United States on January 20, 2025 at the Capitol in Washington (POOL / SAUL LOEB)
“The golden age of America begins”: in an openly nationalist speech with vengeful overtones, Donald Trump, just inaugurated, announced resounding decisions on Monday to put an end to the “decline” of the country.
“God saved me so that I could make America great again,” declared the 45th (2017-2021) and now 47th President of the United States, in reference to an assassination attempt against him this summer.
“The decline of America is over,” assured the Republican, who at 78 years old is the oldest American president ever inaugurated, promising to attack a “corrupt and radical elite”.
Donald Trump during his inauguration speech at the Capitol in Washington, January 20, 2025 (POOL / Chip Somodevilla)
In front of his predecessor Joe Biden, who listened to him without showing the slightest emotion, he reported on a first series of decrees, all spectacular but for some difficult to implement.
In its sights: illegal immigration, progressive policies regarding gender and race, as well as the pro-environmental policy of the outgoing government.
A state of emergency on the border with Mexico will be declared in order to mobilize the army, the former real estate developer and former reality TV host said, adding: “We are going to begin the process of sending back millions and millions of foreign criminals.
– Mars –
He who had promised to put an end to the “transgender delirium”, will also order the “recognition” of the existence of only “two sexes” by the federal state.
Another campaign promise, the Republican wants to decree a state of “energy emergency” to boost American hydrocarbon production.
His administration announced that the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate agreement for a second time.
Donald Trump, who had manhandled the traditional alliances of the United States during his first stint in the White House, took on clearly imperialist overtones.
Donald Trump during the national anthem, at the Capitol, January 20, 2025 (AFP / Andrew Harnik)
Invoking the old concept of “manifest destiny”, according to which America would have a natural right to territorial expansion, he promised to “plant (the American flag) on the planet Mars”. He also vowed to “take back” the Panama Canal, and to “tax” foreign countries.
-– “Comeback” –
A few minutes earlier, Donald Trump had taken an oath to “protect the Constitution” under the dome of the Capitol, this temple of American political life that his supporters had stormed on January 6, 2021 to prevent the certification of the election of Joe Biden.
He thus completed the most extraordinary political “comeback” in recent American history, that of a former president criminally convicted, elected at the end of a campaign of staggering rhetorical violence, peppered with racist and sexist remarks.
Donald Trump shakes hands with Joe Biden a few minutes before taking office, at the Capitol in Washington, January 20, 2025 (POOL / Chip Somodevilla)
Joe Biden complied with all the practices of a courteous transition, but his actions betrayed a deep anguish in the face of this rival who relentlessly overwhelmed him, and whose return inflicts on him a most cruel humiliation.
The 82-year-old Democrat, for example, granted preemptive pardons at the last minute to the closest members of his family to protect them from a possible legal vendetta led by Donald Trump, now at the height of his political power. .
No huge demonstration in the streets of Washington, swept by an icy wind which led to the inauguration ceremony being moved indoors. No international commotion or hostility from the business world, as after his election in 2016.
– Big tech –
Alongside former American presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, multi-billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, as well as the now essential Elon Musk, took their place on Capitol Hill. Their presence confirms the financial and technological firepower currently behind Donald Trump.
LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault also made the trip.
Argentina’s ultra-liberal President Javier Milei attended the ceremony, as did Italy’s far-right head of government, Giorgia Meloni.
Elon Musk under the rotunda of the Washington Capitol, just before Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony on January 20, 2025 (POOL / Chip Somodevilla)
After his solemn speech, Donald Trump returned to his candidate habits by delivering a long, completely disjointed speech in front of supporters gathered in another room of the Capitol.
The Republican, who is still mulling over his defeat in 2020, repeated that this election had been “rigged” and promised “actions” for his supporters convicted after assaulting the Capitol in January 2021.
