Donald Trump was inaugurated for a second term in the White House on Monday, ushering in a new era of potential upheaval on the domestic and global stages.
The 47th president of the United States, who is 78 years old, has promised to expand the powers of the executive branch, to deport millions of immigrants, to take revenge on those perceived as his “political enemies” and to transform the role of the United States in the diplomatic arena.
Organized in Washington at noon (5:00 p.m. GMT), the inauguration ceremony marks the triumphant return of the former real estate mogul, who escaped two impeachment procedures during his first term, to prosecution for his attempts to overturn his 2020 electoral defeat and, last year during the campaign, two assassination attempts.
Donald Trump referred in his inauguration speech to “the common sense revolution”, borrowing an expression from Thomas Paine, considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
Here are the main developments:
00h52 – One after the other, binders containing decrees are given to Donald Trump so that he can sign them, in order to show them, with an impassive expression, to the spectators present at Capital One Arena.
He signed a decree once again withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate agreement, another forcing American administration officials to return to the office full time, or even a text putting an end to the use of government as a “weapon” against political adversaries – a reference to the “witch hunt” carried out according to him by the Democrats against him over the past four years.
12:46 a.m. – Donald Trump’s speech ends. The Republican president walks away from the lectern toward a desk set up in the middle of Capital One Arena so he can sign a set of executive orders.
00h42 – As he has done many times in the past, Donald Trump denounces what he describes as political maneuvering on the part of the Democrats to exclude him from the race for the White House, also denouncing “cheating ” of the outgoing administration.
He announced in front of the crowd of supporters gathered at Capital One Arena that he wanted to sign a presidential decree which will order all federal agencies to keep any document attesting to “political persecutions” carried out by the administration of Democrat Joe Biden.
00:30 – From the stage of Capital One Arena, Donald Trump announces his intention to revoke nearly 80 decrees from the previous administration. He also said he would grant pardons to the “hostages” of January 6, in reference to his supporters tried for their involvement in the bloody insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
11:25 p.m. – After a meal at the Capitol, before which Donald Trump delivered a second speech, Donald Trump arrived at the Capital One Arena, a sports venue, to celebrate his inauguration in the middle of tens of thousands of supporters and in front of an audience of faithful .
8:10 p.m. – Donald Trump will pardon all those accused of participating in the riots committed on January 6, 2021 at the Capitol and commute the sentences of those who were convicted of the most serious charges, report CNN and ABC News.
7:45 p.m. – “The Panama Canal is Panamanian and it will remain so,” said José Raúl Mulino, the president of Panama, reacting to Donald Trump’s remarks during his inaugural speech.
6:49 p.m. – Robert Salesses will occupy the Secretary of Defense until Congress approves the nomination of Pete Hegseth to this position, reports NBC News.
6:10 p.m. – “America’s golden age begins today,” Donald Trump said as he began the inaugural speech he delivered minutes after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. “As of today, America’s decline is over.”
“We are going to launch the Common Sense revolution,” borrowing an expression from Thomas Paine, considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
Donald Trump then rolled out a series of decrees that he will take shortly, evoking the defense of the Mexican border, the “resumption” of the Panama Canal or even the sending of astronauts to the planet Mars.
6:01 p.m. – Donald Trump has been sworn in and officially becomes the 47th president of the United States.
5:50 p.m. – FBI Director Paul Abbate announces he is leaving office.
5:40 p.m. – The White House announces that Joe Biden has granted a presidential pardon to his family members James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens and Francis W. Biden.
“My family has been the subject of incessant attacks and threats with the sole aim of reaching me,” the outgoing president said in a statement.
The same message announced that a presidential pardon had been granted to Gerald G. Lundergann, a Democratic Party businessman who was convicted of illegally contributing to his daughter’s election campaign, and Ernest William Cromartie, convicted of tax evasion .
The press release finally announces the commutation of the life prison sentence to which Leonard Peltier, 79, was sentenced, a Native American activist who has maintained his innocence for nearly 50 years. He will now be under house arrest.
5:30 p.m. – Emmanuel Macron called for “a European strategic awakening” in the face of the American ally within NATO, stressing that Europeans must prepare “for worst-case scenarios”, in an allusion to a possible withdrawal of the States- United of the Alliance.
“NATO is an extraordinary framework of solidarity. (…)
It is based on the commitment of all its members, from the American continent to Europe,” said the French president during his greetings to the armies, in Cesson-Sévigné (Ille-et-Vilaine).
-“In NATO, the strengthening of the European pillar must be our horizon,” he insisted.
“Tomorrow what will we do in Europe if our American ally withdraws its warships from the Mediterranean? If it switches its fighter planes from the Atlantic to the Pacific? These are all these scenarios for which we must prepare.”
4:45 p.m. – Donald Trump has arrived at the Capitol for his inauguration.
3:44 p.m. – A decree declaring a “state of energy emergency” in the United States is also planned in order to provide American homes with “affordable and reliable American” energy.
3:43 p.m. – Among the decrees he will sign on Monday, Donald Trump plans two regulatory acts putting an end to diversity and equality inclusion (DEI) programs and ruling that the federal government only recognizes two biological sexes – male and female – and in no way funds “gender ideology” and gender transitions, said a member of the future administration.
3:40 p.m. – One of the first executive orders signed by the 47th President of the United States will concern the creation of a Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE, in English) under the leadership of Elon Musk and Republican business leader Vivek Ramaswamy.
3:06 p.m. – Donald Trump will declare a state of national emergency on the southern border of the United States with Mexico on Monday and announce his intention to send additional armed forces to help secure the border, a future official said Trump administration.
2:51 p.m. – Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the president-elect on taking office hours before his inauguration in Washington and said he was open to dialogue with the new US administration on Ukraine and nuclear weapons.
The head of the Kremlin added, during a meeting of the Russian Security Council, that he wanted to guarantee lasting peace in Ukraine rather than a short-term ceasefire.
2:41 p.m. – Donald Trump will issue a memo on Monday directing agencies to investigate trade deficits and unfair trade practices, but will not impose new tariffs on his first day in office, the Wall Street Journal reported.
1:50 p.m. – Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wished Donald Trump a “fruitful” second term and hopes to maintain the “historic” partnership between their two countries.
“For our part, we do not want to enter into conflict with the United States, nor with Venezuela, China, India, Russia,” declared the Brazilian leader. “We want peace, harmony and relations in which diplomacy is the most important thing.”
1:49 p.m. – A few hours before the inauguration of Donald Trump, outgoing President Joe Biden granted preventive pardons to former members of his administration and to elected officials who served on the commission of inquiry into the assault from the Capitol on January 6, 2021 by supporters of the Republican, as well as to police officers who testified before this body.
Among the personalities, derided by Trumpists, to benefit from this measure: the former chief of staff of the armed forces, General Mark Milley, and the former medical advisor to the White House Anthony Fauci, who supervised the anti-Covid-19 strategy in the United States.
1:15 p.m. – French Prime Minister François Bayrou once again urged France and the European Union to “get their act together” in the face of the “incredibly domineering” policy desired by Donald Trump.
“If we do nothing, we are going to be dominated, crushed, marginalized. This decision, which is up to us, French and Europeans – because it is impossible without Europe – is recovery,” he said. -he declared during his greetings to the municipal staff of Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), the city of which he is mayor. “The inauguration of Donald Trump confronts us with our responsibility.”
1:13 p.m. – Donald Trump’s new mandate will promote a second wave of major political changes in Europe, for the benefit of the right which is in a position to “occupy” Brussels, declared Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban
“The big attack can therefore begin. I am launching here the second phase of the offensive which aims to occupy Brussels,” he said during a conference.
1:00 p.m. – The market value of Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency soared on Monday to around $12 billion (€11.6 billion), with enthusiasm for the digital currency launched on Friday remaining strong.
The currency, named $TRUMP, was trading for $52.88 at 11:55 GMT, bringing its total value to $11.6 billion, making $TRUMP the 18th largest cryptocurrency, according to CoinMarketCap. The currency hit a high of $74.59 during the session while over 24 hours the traded volumes reached $52.5 billion.
12:38 p.m. – Pope Francis sent, as tradition dictates, his greetings to Donald Trump, wishing him “wisdom, strength and protection” on the occasion of his inauguration.
“I hope that under your mandate, the American people will prosper and always strive to build a more just society, where there is no place for hatred, discrimination or exclusion,” declared the sovereign in particular pontiff in his message.
12:14 p.m. – Donald Trump will call for a “common sense revolution” during his inauguration speech, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing language prepared for the ceremony that Reuters also viewed.
“I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of an exciting new era of national success. A wave of change is sweeping across the country,” he is expected to declare.
“My message to Americans today is that it is time for us to act again with the courage, vigor and vitality of the greatest civilization in history.”
(French version Paris Editorial, edited by Kate Entringer)
