Donald Trump returns to the U.S. presidency Monday with an inauguration ceremony in Washington that will make him the first president to serve non-consecutive terms since the 1890s.
Millions of Americans are expected to watch on television as the 78-year-old Trump takes the oath of office for a new four-year term in the White House while President Joe Biden, 82, leaves the presidency after a single term.
The inauguration ceremony will be a scaled-down event due to frigid weather, with about 600 people witnessing the change of power inside the Capitol instead of the typical outdoor event where 250,000 people had secured tickets.
The traditional inaugural parade along Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House has also been canceled because of the weather, with bands, marching units, drill teams and the like now parading past Trump, his wife, Melania Trump and other officials in his new administration at the nearby 20,000-seat Capital One Arena. Lavish black-tie balls are still planned for Monday evening.
Trump pledged late Sunday to “act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country,” as he spoke to supporters in Washington.
“Tomorrow at noon, the curtain closes on four long years of American decline, and we begin a brand new day of American strength and prosperity," Trump said.
He has pledged to sign a flurry of executive orders upon entering office, including those undoing Biden administration policies. Prominent among his pledges during the election campaign was carrying out mass deportations of people who are in the country illegally.
Trump has also vowed to quickly impose heightened tariffs on key trading partners, including Canada, China and Mexico.
The incoming president says he plans to pardon many of the 1,500 supporters of his who stormed the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to block Congress from certifying that Biden won the 2020 election. Trump has called those arrested and convicted “patriots” and “hostages” wrongly prosecuted.
Charges that Trump, a Republican, tried to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden were dropped when he defeated his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, in the 2024 election because of a long-standing Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.
Trump will become the first felon to serve as U.S. president, after his conviction last year on 34 criminal charges linked to falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to porn film star Stormy Daniels, although a judge declined to penalize him in any way.
Trump vowed for months to end Russia’s war on Ukraine before he takes office, but in recent days his aides have said the goal now is to try to reach a truce in the fighting in the first 100 days of his administration, which would be around the end of April.
He also wants more oil drilling in the U.S. even though in 2023, U.S. energy production exceeded consumption by a record amount, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Two transgender issues have also drawn Trump’s attention.
Trump has repeatedly referred to transgender women as men, telling his supporters that he will ensure transgender women cannot compete in women’s sports.
“I will keep men out of women’s sports, 100%, immediately, first day,” Trump told one political rally during the campaign. He also frequently has assailed gender-affirming care, which can include hormone therapy. “On day one, I will revoke Joe Biden’s cruel policies on so-called ‘gender affirming care.’”
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
