President Donald Trump cemented his return to power on Monday as the 45th and 47th commander in chief of the country, moving swiftly to destroy some professional orders after his swearing-in service.
The opening was formerly an outdoor occurrence, but after citing windy conditions Friday, Trump called for the meeting to take place at the Capitol Rotunda.
Trump mainly focused on Monday moving swiftly to reposition the White House apart from President Joe Biden’s history during his opening statement before addressing his supporters at the Capital One Arena where the annual parade was held.
“Now, the work begins, ” Trump declared to his supporters just before he signed executive orders establishing his invasion of Washington.
Here are the best takeaways from Trump’s opening day.
Opening DAY LIVE UPDATES: John Republican SWORN IN FOR SECOND TERM
1. Trump’s show of force with professional commands
Trump’s change team hinted he may begin his second administration with a purpose of signing many executive orders on the first day. The leader confirmed that ambitious schedule while addressing the crowd at the market.
“I’ll withdraw almost 80 dangerous and extreme executive actions of the past supervision, one of the worst governments in history, ” Trump said taking another jab at Biden. The order Trump eventually signed rescinded 78 of Biden’s orders.
“And next to gain immediate control of the vast federal out-of-control bureaucracy, I will implement an immediate regulation freeze which will stop Biden bureaucrats from continuing to regulate most of those bureaucrats are being fired, ” Trump added. “They’re gone. ”
Other orders Trump signed in front of the crowd included the return of federal workers to the office full-time immediately, the withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, an end to the weaponization of government against the political adversaries of the previous administration, a directive to federal government agencies to address the rising cost of living, the restoration of freedom of speech, and a freeze on all federal hiring, except the military and select excluded categories.
Trump returned to a newly revamped Oval Office where he signed more orders, including pardoning approximately 1,500 Jan. 6 participants convicted of crimes and commuting 6 sentences.
At least 10 of the orders Trump signed are related to the southern border and immigration with Trump declaring a national emergency at the border, designating criminal cartels and others as specifically designated global terrorists, and ending birthright citizenship, a policy that will likely invite legal challenges.
Trump also issued orders implementing the Department of Government Efficiency, increasing energy production in Alaska, withdrawing from the World Health Organization, giving TikTok a 75-day extension to avoid an immediate ban, and eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
2. Trump’s sunny inaugural speech does n’t last long
The president promised to restore American “greatness ” to the nation now that he is the 47th president during his inaugural speech at the Capitol Rotunda.
“The golden age of America begins right now, ” Trump declared. “ From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation. ”
But that sunny disposition of a new era of the United States quickly fell apart when Trump gave a second speech to supporters gathered at Emancipation Hall afterward.
Trump used the additional remarks to tear into his political rivals in a speech that did not include a teleprompter.
“ I was going to talk about the J6 hostages, but you’ll be happy because it ’s action, not words, that count. And you’re going to see a lot of action on the J6 hostages, ” Trump told the crowd as he fumed against Biden’s last-minute pardons to former White House COVID-19 adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, members of the House Jan. 6 investigatory committee, and members of Biden’s family.
“ I was going to talk about the things that Joe did today with the pardons of people that were very, very guilty of very bad crimes, like the unselect committee of political thugs, where they literally, I mean, what they did is they destroyed and deleted all of the information, all of the hearings, practically not a thing left, ” Trump continued.
The president railed against the 2020 election results, falsely claiming it was “rigged ” against him.
The two competing speeches could foreshadow how Trump intends to lead the nation over the next four years.
3. Tech leaders get a seat at the table
After moving the inauguration from an outside event to inside the Rotunda, congressional members were barred from inviting their spouses to the ceremony.
Yet the nation’s tech leaders, however, were not only given prime seating spots, but they were also allowed to bring their partners.
Tesla owner Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg were seated closer to Trump than his Cabinet nominees in a symbolic gesture of tech’s influence in the president ’s White House.
Musk, who Trump tapped to head the Department of Government Efficiency, even reportedly has a White House email address. His co-chair, Vivek Ramaswamy, is stepping down from DOGE to run in the Ohio gubernatorial race.
It’s an abrupt change from Trump’s first administration when Silicon Valley largely eschewed the president.
4. Trump supporters left out in the cold
Perhaps one of the biggest disappointed people on inauguration day was Trump’s supporters who traveled to the nation’s capital but were unable to attend the event due to the limited number of seats at the Rotunda.
The public viewing at the Capital One Arena only held 20,000 people, far below the 250,000 expected at the now-canceled outside inauguration, meaning most supporters who came into town were missing out.
“ I had a ticket, ” Stephanie Fischer of Mankato, Minnesota, told the Washington Examiner. “Worthless now! ”
Another supporter, Kris from Oklahoma, said he was “disappointed ” about the move indoors but believed there was “more to it, ” claiming security may have played a role.
Congressional offices attempted to give their constituents alternative solutions to watch the event with Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO ) holding a broadcast in his office, complete with coffee and pastries.
5. Trump seeks to deliver on campaign promises
After voters soundly rejected Democratic leadership, Trump has made it clear his administration has been given a mandate to enact his legislative vision for the nation.
Along with the hundreds of executive orders issued on Monday, Trump sought to fulfill the campaign promises he made on Day One of his administration.
Trump wasted little time on Monday; The administration shut down the Biden administration ’s CBP One app, which had allowed more than 740,000 immigrants into the nation.
“Effective January 20, 2025 at 12:00PM Eastern Time, the functionalities of CBP One ™ that previously allowed undocumented aliens to submit advance information and schedule appointments at eight southwest border ports of entry is no longer available. All appointments have been cancelled, ” said a U. S. Customs and Border Protection Instagram post.
The Senate passed the Laken Riley Act Monday evening in a 64-35 vote that is all but guaranteed to hand Trump another legislative victory. The bill aims to curb illegal immigration by allowing federal authorities to detain migrants accused of theft-related offenses until they can be deported.
The House will need to vote on the bill again after the Senate amended the bill before it heads to Trump’s desk.
Trump scored another victory Monday evening after the Senate voted to confirm former Sen. Marco Rubio, 99-0, as secretary of state.
6. Biden ruffles feathers on the way out
As Biden left office for the last time in his political career, he not only pardoned public officials and family members who may have faced political retribution from Trump but also took a parting shot at his successor.
“We’ve a lot more to do, ” Biden said during a farewell speech at Joint Base Andrews before departing Washington. “We heard the inaugural address today. We have a lot more to do. ”
Biden urged his aides not to give up the political fight whether in public office or the private sector.
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“We’re leaving office, but we’re not leaving the fight, ” he said. “You’re smart, you’re skilled , you’re passionate. Stay engaged in all the ways you can. I give you my word. We believe in you. ”
On pardoning some of his closest allies, Biden stressed his “family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me — the worst kind of partisan politics. ”
Rachel Schilke, Naomi Lim, Ramsey Touchberry, and Jack Birle contributed to this report.
